Titans take down Catbirds, split Aquinas tourney

The Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro wrestling team had a busy week, stacking up multiple wins along the way.

The Titans took down area power West Salem/Bangor in a dual last Tuesday before leaving a quad meet at Aquinas on Friday with a win, a tie and a loss.

This week will see G/M visit Viroqua on Thursday before they take part in Arcadia’s invitational on Saturday.

G/M 41 WSB 34

Seven different G/M wrestlers walked away with wins against West Salem last Tuesday.

The Titans opened Tuesday with three straight pins, as Braydon Lockington took care of business at 220 pounds in two minutes, 22 seconds. Teammates Cisco Jimenez (285, 0:57) and Colton Koss (106, 4:00) followed with pins of their own.

Other points for G/M came from Jackson Blaken (132), David Hiles (138), Carson Koss (145) and Ben Peterson (170), all pinning their Catbird opponents.

G/M 36 Aquinas 36

A tie against the tournament hosts greeted the Titans in their tournament opener on Friday.

Middleweight wrestlers continued their strong stretch for G/M–Blaken earned a pin in 3:05, and Carson Koss pinned Aquinas’s Jesse Penchi in 1:08. David Hiles won by a 9-3 decision for the Titans, and Peterson got a 6-3 decision triumph at 170 pounds.

Jayce Stetzer also got a victory at 120 pounds.

Down by 12 with two matches remaining, the Titans got a big pair of wins.

Braydon Lockington and Cisco Jimenez each claimed their second victory of the week to earn the team 12 points and secure a tie.

Prairie du Chien 44 G/M 25

Prairie du Chien overpowered the Titans in the second tournament showdown on Friday, winning nine of the 14 weight classes.

Peterson again won by decision, and Colton Koss secured a 16-1 tech fall victory. Alex Wieczorek (195) earned G/M points by pinning Prairie du Chien’s Jack MacEachern in 3:17.

Koda Purney (113) and Lockington scored points for the Titans as well, winning by forfeit.

G/M 42 Wrightstown 27

A busy week ended on a positive note for G/M.

With a handful of matches remaining in their final tournament clash, the Titans trailed Wrightstown 27-12. Coach Pete Peterson’s team responded with five straight victories to finish the tournament 1-1-1.

Ben Peterson capped a perfect 4-0 week, pinning his opponent in 5:10. The Titans were helped to the strong finish with wins from Lockington, Jimenez, Wieczorek and Mitch Berg (182).

Lockington and Jimenez also finished 4-0 last week.

Blaken won by pin against Wrightstown, and the Titans were helped by a 12-11 decision win from Hiles. Colton Koss won by forfeit.