Tremper wrestlers take sixth in Mid-States Classic - Nichols, Rice, Garcia bring home titles

Article Excerpt from Kenosha News - 12/29 11:34 p.m. / Updated 12/29 11:36 p.m.

The Tremper wrestling team came away with three championships in placing sixth at the powerhouse Mid-States Classic, which concluded on Thursday at UW-Whitewater. Claiming crowns for the Trojans at the two-day tournament were Jared Nichols at 113 pounds, Tyler Rice at 120 and Dominic Garcia at 126. Tremper scored 141 points. Burlington won the 42-team tournament with 193.5 points points while Mukwonago was second at 168.

“(Nichols, Rice and Garcia) definitely stepped up for this tournament,” Tremper coach Joel Dutton said. “We’re young this year so our goal was to make the top 10 for this tournament and we almost made the top five so I am real pleased with how things went.” Rice (27-1), ranked second in the latest Wisconsin Wrestling Online Division-1 rankings, won his first three matches by pin before defeating Chris Alcock of New Trier (Ill.) 10-5 in the championship match. Nichols (27-1), ranked 12th, topped Wausau East’s Nick Diny 5-4 for his crown. He advanced to the final by downing Brookwood’s Josh Marten 13-8,

Garcia (26-1) won his first match by pin, his second and third matches by technical fall before defeating Burlington’s Derek Gill 6-3 in the semifinals. The fifth-ranked Garcia secured the title with a 10-2 major decision over Wrightstown’s Brett Buchler. “His weight class was stacked,” Dutton said. “He was as dominant as I’ve seen him in his four years at Tremper.” Seventh-ranked Christian Haggarty finished sixth at 106 and Bryan Fuhrer took seventh at 152 for Tremper.

Article Excerpt from Kenosha News - 12/15 10:02 p.m. / updated 12/15 11:58 p.m.

Tremper wrestlers defeat Bradford

KENOSHA — The host Tremper wrestling team overcame a slow start to retain the Glen McCullough Traveling Trophy for the fourth straight season on Thursday night. After Bradford won four of the first five matches, defending Southeast Conference champion Tremper won eight in a row to pull away for a 45-23 dual meet victory and keep possession of the trophy named after the longtime Kenosha High School wrestling coach and Kenosha Unified athletics coordinator.

Tremper freshman Corey Cross, a true 285-pounder according to Dutton, then pinned Bradford senior Hunter Corrigan in 1:33 to trigger Tremper’s run of eight consecutive victories. “We looked really good and we had the momentum going and then they got the pin at heavyweight, which we weren’t expecting,” Bradford co-coach Ed Foster said. “That’s when the momentum changed and they took over.” 

Added Dutton: “It was a nice win for us. Corey is new to our program. He’s a freshman this year and sometimes some of the things are learning on the fly. He got out there and got after it right away. I was really excited for him. That was great.”

Christian Haggarty (12-1, No. 5 by WWO at 106) pinned Anna Cerdas in 1:05, and Kamal Bitar pinned Thomas Miller in 1:04 in the 113-pound match to give Tremper its first lead at 21-20. Jared Nichols (12-1, No. 11 by WWO at 113) and Tyler Rice (12-1, No. 2 by WWO at 120) each received forfeits at 120 and 126 pounds, and Dominic Garcia (13-0, No. 3 by WWO at 126) pinned Bradford’s Cherry Campbell in the 132-pound match to push the Trojans’ lead to 39-20. Jon Loffredo (138) and Josh Skarda (145) also won their matches.

Dutton said he isn’t exactly sure why his team has recently dominated Bradford after the Red Devils had won 8-of-10 meetings against Tremper from the 1998-99 season through the 2007-08 season. “I think with everything it probably just goes in cycles,” he said. “I know we work hard, and they wrestled well tonight. They definitely came and battled us. “It’s one of those things where you kind of get on a roll. Maybe your mentality (is) that every time you step out against someone after you’ve beaten them for a while (you believe) you’re going to win. Hopefully, it continues in that direction.”