*Note: This was written on January 10th, 2018. Due to some human and technological errors, the website post was deleted soon after being posted. Luckily, this write-up was still saved as it was when it was written.*
On January 5th and 6th, the Lockport Porter wrestling team traveled up to Kaukauna, Wisconsin, for one of the most unique tournaments and tougher tournaments in the country, as well as it being a team favorite. Despite some strong showings by a handful of wrestlers and solid efforts in the consolation brackets by others, Lockport finished in 12th place with 274.5 points. Montini won this year’s tournament with a record-setting 806 team points, well ahead of second-place OPRF, who had 481 points of their own.
For Lockport, the weekend was very hit or miss. In a trend over the last two years, the team put out yet another lineup, different than one seen thus far this season. Only five of the fourteen wrestlers that Lockport brought won that ever-important pigtail bout, but those that did had pretty good tournaments. Many of those who lost the pigtail also bounced back to have solid showings, but with no context for how the tournament works, their performance would look rather poor.
The tournament set up is as follows: some wrestlers (the number of which is dependent upon total wrestlers in the bracket) are seeded into four pools of four wrestlers each. Pool A has the top seed, Pool B the second seed, Pool C the third seed, and Pool D the fourth seed. The rest of the spots in the pools are filled through extremely important pigtail matches. Winning a pigtail match guarantees you join the pool rounds, and that the lowest you can place is 16th. The pool round is a round-robin robin in which the wrestlers in a single pool will face one another in order to determine their pool placement, 1st-4th. The top-two wrestlers in each of the four pools are then combined into an 8-man bracket that is the 1st-8th place bracket. The 3rd and 4th place wrestlers in the pool are placed into a separate 8-man bracket, where the wrestlers finish between 9th-16th place. For those wrestlers losing that very first pigtail, however, they are placed into a separate larger bracket, and the best they can finish is 17th place.
Leading the way for the Porters on the weekend were Matt Ramos (113) and Baylor Fernandes (145) who each earned a 3rd place finish. Anthony Molton (120) came away with a solid 4th place finish, while Zach Reese (152) finished in 5th. Rounding out the championship bracket wrestlers for Lockport was Mike Kaminsky (106) who finished in 6th place.
In the Consolation Bracket, the Porters had another handful of placers. Top of them were Austin Kolada (160), who finished in 17th place, Brandon Baker (285), who took home 18th place, Malik Daghash (170), who finished in 19th, while Matt Mahalik (138) and John Tomas (195) who each finished in 21st place. Competing for Lockport but coming up short of placing were Nate Ramsey (126), who was shut out in the win department, Anthony Crapia (132) who notched two wins but came up just short, Yousif Salah (182) who had an unfortunate setback in a pigtail loss Friday and then did not compete Saturday, and Parker Pavlacka-Piel (220) who also picked up two wins but came up short of earning a placement.
The Porters yet again trotted out a different lineup this week. Jimmy Pierandozzi was set to return to the mat at 132 for the tournament but was unable to do so, whereas Salah dropped to 182, bumping Tomas up to 195, and Pavlacka-Piel up to 220.
There were great matches to be had everywhere, even if we did not always come out on the winning end. Kaminski battled Mt. Carmel’s Colton Drousias twice, dropping a pool match by a tight 5-4 decision and a semifinal wrestleback 7-3. Kaminski also battled two other tough 106 pounders from Illinois in the tournament – Montini’s Nain Vazquez, where Vazquez notched a 6-1 victory, and Joliet Catholic’s Dean Hamiti, where Kaminski couldn’t maintain a third period lead and surrendered back points, leading to a 5-3 loss and 6th place finish for Kaminski.
At 113, Matt Ramos looked to have all cylinders firing until the first round (Quarterfinal) of the championship bracket, where he squared off against OPRF’s Josh Ogunsanya. Neither was able to score many points, but Ogunsanya managed to prevent Ramos from escaping in the third period, earning himself a 3-2 win in the process. Ramos bounced back though, earning two consolation victories (including another over Mt. Carmel’s impressive freshman Noah Mis), to put himself in the 3rd place match – a rematch against Ogunsanya. This time, Ramos was able to stay more active and create more opportunities, and came away with 3rd place finish following an 8-2 win.
At 120, Anthony Molton came through the pigtail, three pool rounds, and the quarterfinal unscathed, before going up against top-seeded and #2 in the nation Joey Melendez of Montini. Molton was able to get to his offense, but not at the same level that Melendez was, and dropped the bout 14-7. In his consolation semifinal, he beat Mt. Carmel’s Rehan Uribe in their third meeting of the season and second of the tournament, before squaring off against Cody Phippen of Platte County (WI) for 3rd. Unfortunately, Phippen was able to put more points on the board, knocking Molton off, 5-2, and Molton ended the day with a respectable 4th place finish.
Baylor Fernandes, at 145, was the other highest-placing Porter, taking 3rd place over the two days of the tournament. Much like Molton, Fernandes won through the quarterfinals, before suffering defeat in the semifinals. There, he squared off against the #1 ranked 145-pounder in Illinois and 9th-ranked 145 pounder in the nation, Montini’s Jake Stiles. In a great defensive battle, Fernandes came within a hands-length of pushing the match into overtime, but Stiles escaped his grasp and came away with a 4-2 decision. Fernandes bounced back in convincing fashion in his consolation semifinal, pinning his opponent in a mere 0:19 seconds. In the third-place match, Fernandes came from behind to score a handful of third period points and pick up a 6-3 win over Cade DeVos of Southeast Polk (IA). Worth noting is that out of Fernandes’s six wins, five of them came by way of fall or technical fall.
The final wrestler to place in the top-eight for the porters was Zach Reese. Reese had a close pigtail, winning it 6-4 in sudden victory to earn a place in the pool round. There, Reese went 2-1, earning a spot in the championship bracket. Reese would drop a close quarterfinal match, 4-2, to Josh Otto from Heartland Arrowhead, but then bounced back with a controlling major decision. In the consolation semifinal, Reese found himself squaring off against Southeast Polk’s Lance Runyon, who had defeated Reese handily in the first pool round. This time, Runyon still came away with a win, but Reese kept it closer, a 6-0 decision, not giving up a major decision. In the 5th place match, Reese controlled the bout against Quayin Short of Simley, coming away with a 5-0 victory to earn the 5th place finish.
As said earlier, places in this tournament can be a bit misleading as well. Austin Kolada placed 17th at 160, but posted a 4-1 record for the tournament. Brandon Baker (285) took home 18th place but posted a 3-2 record on the tournament, as did Malik Daghash (170), though Daghash came away in 19th instead. Both of our 21st place finishers, Matt Mahalik (138) and John Tomas (195) also posted 3-2 records for the tournament.
*Side note: Any national rankings mentioned would have been FloWrestling’s rankings from January 9th.*
Tournament Results
Click here to go directly to the TrackWrestling page for the Cheesehead Invitational, where you can see all results for all teams. Box scores for Lockport wrestlers are listed below.
Cheesehead 2018 Results for Lockport
106
Mike Kaminski (16-9) placed 6th and scored 42.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Mike Kaminski (Lockport) 16-9 won by fall over Kaden Stanelle (Wrightstown) 22-7 (Fall 2:28)
Round 2 - Colton Drousias (Mt Carmel) 20-7 won by decision over Mike Kaminski (Lockport) 16-9 (Dec 5-4)
Round 3 - Mike Kaminski (Lockport) 16-9 won by major decision over Jaden Verhagen (Kaukauna) 21-8 (MD 8-0)
Round 4 - Mike Kaminski (Lockport) 16-9 won by major decision over Ayden Kingery (Southeast Polk) 12-9 (MD 11-0)
Quarterfinal - Nain Vazquez (Montini Catholic) 21-5 won by decision over Mike Kaminski (Lockport) 16-9 (Dec 6-1)
Championship Back - Mike Kaminski (Lockport) 16-9 won by decision over Logan Vaughan (Kasson-Mantorville) 13-6 (Dec 7-3)
Championship Back - Colton Drousias (Mt Carmel) 20-7 won by decision over Mike Kaminski (Lockport) 16-9 (Dec 7-3)
5th Place Match - Dean Hamiti (Joliet Catholic) 25-4 won by decision over Mike Kaminski (Lockport) 16-9 (Dec 5-3)
113
Matt Ramos (31-4) placed 3rd and scored 56.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Matt Ramos (Lockport) 31-4 won by tech fall over Cael Cunningham (Southeast Polk) 2-10 (TF-1.5 3:31 (18-3))
Round 2 - Matt Ramos (Lockport) 31-4 won by fall over Tyler Eby (Aurora Christian) 17-5 (Fall 5:19)
Round 3 - Matt Ramos (Lockport) 31-4 won by fall over Jack Ganos (Hartland Arrowhead) 11-5 (Fall 4:35)
Round 4 - Matt Ramos (Lockport) 31-4 won by major decision over Regan Schrempp (Apple Valley) 13-8 (MD 11-2)
Quarterfinal - Joshua Ogunsanya (Oak Park River Forest) 27-3 won by decision over Matt Ramos (Lockport) 31-4 (Dec 3- 2)
Championship Back - Matt Ramos (Lockport) 31-4 won by decision over Noah Mis (Mt Carmel) 18-11 (Dec 5-3)
Championship Back - Matt Ramos (Lockport) 31-4 won by decision over Jared Johnson (Kasson-Mantorville) 17-3 (Dec 8- 1)
3rd Place Match - Matt Ramos (Lockport) 31-4 won by decision over Joshua Ogunsanya (Oak Park River Forest) 27-3 (Dec 8-2)
120
Anthony Molton (31-5) placed 4th and scored 49.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Anthony Molton (Lockport) 31-5 won by tech fall over Luke Beyer (DeForest) 10-11 (TF-1.5 3:43 (20-5))
Round 2 - Anthony Molton (Lockport) 31-5 won by decision over Rehan Uribe (Mt Carmel) 19-10 (Dec 16-12)
Round 3 - Anthony Molton (Lockport) 31-5 won by major decision over Bryce Boumans (Neuqua Valley) 20-11 (MD 18-5)
Round 4 - Anthony Molton (Lockport) 31-5 won by decision over Hunter Lewis (Stoughton) 26-4 (Dec 9-2)
Quarterfinal - Anthony Molton (Lockport) 31-5 won by major decision over Dominic Dentino (Hartland Arrowhead) 15-3 (MD 11-2)
Semifinal - Joey Melendez (Montini Catholic) 25-1 won by decision over Anthony Molton (Lockport) 31-5 (Dec 14-7)
Championship Back - Anthony Molton (Lockport) 31-5 won by decision over Rehan Uribe (Mt Carmel) 19-10 (Dec 10-9)
3rd Place Match - Cody Phippen (Platte County) 21-3 won by decision over Anthony Molton (Lockport) 31-5 (Dec 5-2)
126
Nathan Ramsey (1-6) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Evan Yant (Waverly-Shellrock) 19-7 won by fall over Nathan Ramsey (Lockport) 1-6 (Fall 3:34)
Cons. Round 1 - Isaac Hatch (Hudson) 11-10 won by fall over Nathan Ramsey (Lockport) 1-6 (Fall 3:30)
Cons. Round 2 - Nathan Ramsey (Lockport) 1-6 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 - Domenic Campo (Lyons TWP) 16-9 won by major decision over Nathan Ramsey (Lockport) 1-6 (MD 17- 3)
132
Anthony Crapia (6-15) place is unknown and scored 2.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Brandon Micksch (Kaukauna) 22-8 won by tech fall over Anthony Crapia (Lockport) 6-15 (TF-1.5 5:38 (16-1))
Cons. Round 1 - Anthony Crapia (Lockport) 6-15 won by fall over Trent Helms (Fennimore) 3-7 (Fall 2:50)
Cons. Round 2 - Freeman Detweiler (Stoughton) 13-7 won by decision over Anthony Crapia (Lockport) 6-15 (Dec 6-0)
Cons. Round 3 - Anthony Crapia (Lockport) 6-15 won by decision over Andrew Stewart (Aurora Christian) 4-9 (Dec 8-1)
Cons. Round 4 - Luis Fierro (Simley) 6-9 won by decision over Anthony Crapia (Lockport) 6-15 (Dec 4-2)
138
Matt Mahalik (12-11) placed 21st and scored 4.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Chris Panfil (Carl Sandburg) 14-10 won by fall over Matt Mahalik (Lockport) 12-11 (Fall 5:42)
Cons. Round 1 - Matt Mahalik (Lockport) 12-11 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 - Aaron Ragsdale (Two Rivers) 5-13 won by fall over Matt Mahalik (Lockport) 12-11 (Fall 4:44)
Cons. Round 3 - Matt Mahalik (Lockport) 12-11 won by fall over Alexander Aguirre (Metea Valley) 1-19 (Fall 0:32)
Cons. Round 4 - Matt Mahalik (Lockport) 12-11 won by decision over Paul Cozzi (Lyons TWP) 5-5 (Dec 9-3)
21st Place Match - Matt Mahalik (Lockport) 12-11 won by fall over Andrew Schwab (Waverly-Shellrock) 7-8 (Fall 2:08)
145
Baylor Fernandes (26-4) placed 3rd and scored 60.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Baylor Fernandes (Lockport) 26-4 won by tech fall over Brandon Hing (Metea Valley) 3-21 (TF-1.5 1:26 (15-0))
Round 2 - Baylor Fernandes (Lockport) 26-4 won by fall over Nolan Wanzek (Simley) 19-7 (Fall 1:12)
Round 3 - Baylor Fernandes (Lockport) 26-4 won by tech fall over Tyler Villa (Carl Sandburg) 17-14 (TF-1.5 2:38 (15-0))
Round 4 - Baylor Fernandes (Lockport) 26-4 won by tech fall over Eli Ibarra (Aurora Christian) 24-5 (TF-1.5 3:15 (15-0))
Quarterfinal - Baylor Fernandes (Lockport) 26-4 won by fall over Logan Hatch (Hudson) 16-10 (Fall 1:55)
Semifinal - Jake Stiles (Montini Catholic) 28-2 won by decision over Baylor Fernandes (Lockport) 26-4 (Dec 4-2)
Championship Back - Baylor Fernandes (Lockport) 26-4 won by fall over Dalton Woodyard (Waverly-Shellrock) 18-9 (Fall 0:19)
3rd Place Match - Baylor Fernandes (Lockport) 26-4 won by decision over Cade DeVos (Southeast Polk) 23-2 (Dec 6-3)
152
Zach Reese (22-10) placed 5th and scored 44.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Zach Reese (Lockport) 22-10 won in sudden victory - 1 over Alex Guardiola (Waterford) 13-5 (SV-1 6-1)
Round 2 - Lance Runyon (Southeast Polk) 18-3 won by major decision over Zach Reese (Lockport) 22-10 (MD 13-2)
Round 3 - Zach Reese (Lockport) 22-10 won in sudden victory - 1 over Cade Spilde (Stoughton) 25-7 (SV-1 6-1)
Round 4 - Zach Reese (Lockport) 22-10 won by major decision over Brandon Harrison (Mukwonago) 12-11 (MD 9-1)
Quarterfinal - Joshua Otto (Hartland Arrowhead) 19-1 won by decision over Zach Reese (Lockport) 22-10 (Dec 4-2)
Championship Back - Zach Reese (Lockport) 22-10 won by major decision over Sam Peters (Freedom) 17-6 (MD 10-2)
Championship Back - Lance Runyon (Southeast Polk) 18-3 won by decision over Zach Reese (Lockport) 22-10 (Dec 6-0)
5th Place Match - Zach Reese (Lockport) 22-10 won by decision over Quayin Short (Simley) 25-10 (Dec 5-0)
160
Austin Kolada (8-8) placed 17th and scored 2.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Jacob Hageman (Simley) 16-8 won by decision over Austin Kolada (Lockport) 8-8 (Dec 5-1)
Cons. Round 1 - Austin Kolada (Lockport) 8-8 won by major decision over Griffin King (Lyons TWP) 6-14 (MD 13-2)
Cons. Round 2 - Austin Kolada (Lockport) 8-8 won by major decision over Zack Kaminski (Waterford) 8-11 (MD 16-2)
Cons. Round 4 - Austin Kolada (Lockport) 8-8 won by decision over Caleb Harrold (Edwardsville) 9-11 (Dec 3-0)
17th Place Match - Austin Kolada (Lockport) 8-8 won in sudden victory - 1 over William Browder (Thompson) 9-9 (SV-1 7- 5)
170
Malik Daghash (18-10) placed 19th and scored 5.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Ethan Shea (Kasson-Mantorville) 10-8 won by decision over Malik Daghash (Lockport) 18-10 (Dec 4-3)
Cons. Round 1 - Malik Daghash (Lockport) 18-10 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 - Malik Daghash (Lockport) 18-10 won by major decision over Alex Durocher (Wrightstown) 13-16 (MD 14- 4)
Cons. Round 4 - Bennett Tabor (Simley) 11-9 won by decision over Malik Daghash (Lockport) 18-10 (Dec 7-6)
19th Place Match - Malik Daghash (Lockport) 18-10 won by fall over Jacob McPhearson (Thompson) 12-21 (Fall 1:00)
182
Yousif Salah (4-6) place is unknown and scored 2.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Julian Jaimes (Aurora Christian) 17-13 won by fall over Yousif Salah (Lockport) 4-6 (Fall 1:25)
Cons. Round 1 - Yousif Salah (Lockport) 4-6 won by fall over Jaden Lacy (Joliet Catholic) 4-11 (Fall 1:43)
Cons. Round 2 - Mekhi White (Metea Valley) 12-6 won by forfeit over Yousif Salah (Lockport) 4-6 (For.)
Cons. Round 3 - Mike Fedder (Pewaukee) 8-16 won by medical forfeit over Yousif Salah (Lockport) 4-6 (M. For.)
195
John Tomas (8-14) placed 21st and scored 2.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Elijah Osit (Oak Park River Forest) 19-10 won by decision over John Tomas (Lockport) 8-14 (Dec 4-2)
Cons. Round 1 - Travis Dohmen (Simley) 4-11 won in sudden victory - 1 over John Tomas (Lockport) 8-14 (SV-1 5-3)
Cons. Round 2 - John Tomas (Lockport) 8-14 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 - John Tomas (Lockport) 8-14 won by decision over Logan Krebs (Mukwonago) 1-3 (Dec 5-2)
Cons. Round 4 - John Tomas (Lockport) 8-14 won by decision over Nate Keskinen (Pewaukee) 6-14 (Dec 3-1)
21st Place Match - John Tomas (Lockport) 8-14 won by decision over Alonzo Madsen (Hudson) 8-13 (Dec 3-0)
220
Parker Pavlacka-Piel (9-13) place is unknown and scored 3.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Gavin Miller (Stoughton) 19-9 won by decision over Parker Pavlacka-Piel (Lockport) 9-13 (Dec 9-4)
Cons. Round 1 - Brian Ziech (Oak Park River Forest) 4-1 won by fall over Parker Pavlacka-Piel (Lockport) 9-13 (Fall 3:56)
Cons. Round 2 - Parker Pavlacka-Piel (Lockport) 9-13 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 - Parker Pavlacka-Piel (Lockport) 9-13 won by major decision over Bill Linko (Carl Sandburg) 3-5 (MD 9-1)
Cons. Round 4 - Tony Montalvo (Kaukauna) 9-15 won by fall over Parker Pavlacka-Piel (Lockport) 9-13 (Fall 2:33)
285
Brandon Baker (9-15) placed 18th and scored 2.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Damien Bullock (Two Rivers) 22-6 won by decision over Brandon Baker (Lockport) 9-15 (Dec 3-1)
Cons. Round 1 - Brandon Baker (Lockport) 9-15 won by fall over Dylan Kehoe (Fennimore) 6-16 (Fall 4:37)
Cons. Round 2 - Brandon Baker (Lockport) 9-15 won by decision over Martin Arbide (Lyons TWP) 15-9 (Dec 3-1)
Cons. Round 4 - Brandon Baker (Lockport) 9-15 won by decision over Matt Spreitzer (Joliet Catholic) 14-11 (Dec 1-0)
17th Place Match - Joe Boyce (Carl Sandburg) 22-7 won by decision over Brandon Baker (Lockport) 9-15 (Dec 3-0)