Solid footing

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Dec. 11, 2013

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News Sports Editor

TOWN OF JACKSON — Kettle Moraine Lutheran’s Jacob Oyster couldn’t wait for this moment.

It was one for the history books.

Oyster pinned his opponent, Watertown Luther Prep’s Brayxton Alexander, in 2:49 to score the first pin during a home dual in school history Tuesday.

“I wasn’t thinking about it at first,” Oyster said. “Then one of the coaches said something and I was like, ‘Oh man. That’s awesome.’” The Phoenix still won the dual 42-36, but it was tightly contested.

Luther Prep led 30-6 heading in to Oyster’s bout at 152 pounds.

After a couple of takedowns, Oyster got Alexander onto his back, which was quickly followed by a slap of the hand by the referee onto the mat.

“I was nervous since the last period of the day,” Oyster said.

Oyster’s pin started a chain reaction that turned the dual around in KML’s favor. After his pin, Min Kwan Kim at 160 pinned his opponent in 1:29. Then Scott Jeske at 170 got a pin in 12 seconds before Luther Prep forfeited at 182.

Suddenly, it was tied at 30-30 with three bouts remaining.

“That was good to see,” KML coach Jeremy Simms said. “It was nice to see the work that the boys have put in really pay off,” he added. “Just good solid wrestling against pretty well-matched opponents. To bring it back to even was a pretty good feeling.”

Luther Prep got pins in the next two bouts to secure the dual.

KML’s Alec Doehrmann got a pin in 47 seconds at 285 to finish the dual.

Brandon Peske won KML’s first match of the evening, receiving a forfeit at 126.

“I think it went well,” Simms said. “The guys wrestled strong, wrestled hard; couldn’t ask for a lot more.”

By hosting its first wrestling dual, KML made a big step away from the equipment shed across the parking lot from the school.

“I wasn’t nervous, but excited,” Simms said about his emotions heading into the school’s first home meet.

It is the first year of varsity competition for the Chargers after spending last season as a club sport. Because of the unfamiliarity to the rules for the wrestlers and supporters, a 20-minute tutorial was held on the mat by the referee before the dual began.

Doehrmann, Jeske, Kim, Brett Liebau and Alex Sitzman, all seniors, and Oyster, a sophomore, will be the backbones of the program this season. They were the six wrestlers to stick it out for the first season as a club sport. And as a first-year sport, they weren’t afforded many opportunities to showcase itself. For example, they wrestled in the equipment shed, which sits behind the football field at KML. Plus, they didn’t have any home matches.

That all changed Tuesday night as it was the first home dual in school history for KML wrestling.

“It’s awesome,” Oyster said. “We get to represent our school. We were so excited to wrestle tonight.”

Now they’re a varsity sport, the opportunities greatly open up. They’ll get to wrestle for conference championships, a spot in the postseason and hopefully someday at state.

“We’ve got a lot more structure,” Simms said. “We’ve got a little bit more development in the program. They can see it growing and the student body can see it growing.

“It’s good to see students, fans and teachers, and everybody in the stands coming out to support us and being here for a huge night in KML history.”