Waubonsie Valley stifles Neuqua Valley’s hopes

The Neuqua Valley wrestling team had a tenuous margin for error Friday night in Aurora.

Forced to forfeit back-to-back weight classes at heavyweight and 106 pounds, the Wildcats needed to make up 12 points in an equal number of remaining matches.

But Waubonsie Valley eroded whatever hope its sister school still retained with a 27-point unanswered burst early in the schools’ Upstate Eight Conference Valley collision.

Ten of the 14 matches were maximum-point victories for the two schools as Waubonsie Valley, the defending divisional champion, remained undefeated in league action with its 43-29 triumph.

The twin forfeits and a docked team point for unsportsmanlike behavior was the difference as the teams had six wins each in the 12 contested matches.

“We knew it was going to come down to the close matches,” Waubonsie Valley coach Brad Caldwell said. “Win big and lose small, that’s what we have been talking about.”

The Warriors (9-8, 4-0) had a mixture of both as Josh Cadavaz began the match at 126 pounds by eking out a 3-2 victory over the Wildcats’ Brian Jones.

Neuqua Valley (4-8, 2-2) had its only lead of the night in the next match; junior Colton Ratz had a first-period fall to give the Wildcats a 6-3 lead.

It did not last for long.

Jimmy Davis’ second-period fall ushered in a dominant Waubonsie Valley run as the team had four pins in a five-match stretch.

“I don’t want to coast off past accomplishments,” said Davis, the Warriors’ returning state qualifier who improved to 23-1 on the season at 138 pounds. “(A dual meet) is about bonus points. The thing that is even more important than getting them is not giving them up.”

Jack Timberlake secured a second-period pin at 170 pounds to complete the Warriors’ 27-point unanswered run.

Cesar Salinas’ followed Davis’ fall with another pin, and freshman Mason Kroening needed less than three minutes to terminate his match at 160 pounds.

Michael Grosch had a takedown five seconds before the buzzer to cement his 9-5 victory over the Wildcats’ Alex Pierce at 152 pounds.

The Warriors’ clinic of pins quintupled its lead over Neuqua Valley to 30-6.

But the Warriors’ final points came on the twin forfeits as the Wildcats staged a memorable comeback.

Connor Swier began the Neuqua Valley run as the senior shutout Mitch Kroening in a battle of top-six athletes at 182 pounds.

Neuqua Valley won the last three contested matches with falls as D.J. Warkenthien, Andy Sykes and Justin Killacky made the final score far more respectable with abbreviated matches at 220, 113 and 120 pounds, respectively.

“We knew we were going to end the meet well,” Killacky said. (The forfeits) are nothing new for us.”

“We got pinned too many times,” Neuqua Valley coach Mick Ruettiger said. “We know we can overcome those (forfeit) points if we wrestle well.”