Norse eighth at BRF tournament

The Whitehall wrestling team had one champion as it finished eighth in the Black River Falls Invitational on Saturday.

Nolan Thompson (113) got his season off to a strong start, winning his weight class. Thompson had a bye in the first round before he pinned Ladysmith’s Wyatt Bosteder. He advanced to the championship match with a 20-5 win over Vanessa Gavilan of Sparta before he stuck Cera Philson of Thorp in 3:36 to claim the title.

Whitehall had just five wrestlers in its season-opening competition. Two others, Eric Kleinhans and Matthew Poulos came away with top-three finishes.

Kleinhans (182) took second, being pinned in the championship match by Matthew Roach of Ladysmith. The Whitehall senior had a bye in the first round then picked up two pins, topping Mason Dieringer of Spencer/Columbus in the first period and Emerson Pease of Portage in the second.

Poulos (145) won his first two matches by pin, taking down Joseph Mitchell of Nekoosa-Assumption in 50 seconds and Abraham Sanchez of Sparta in 4:40. He lost a close match in the semifinal, falling to Portage’s Garett Crawford, 4-2. The Whitehall senior rebounded and ended his tournament with a 7-3 win over Landon Hoel of Stanley-Boyd.

Freshman Frank Juresh IV (106) finished fifth in his first ever varsity tournament as he went 4-1 on the day. His lone loss came in the quarterfinal round, but he rebounded with three pins to claim fifth place.

The only other Whitehall wrestler to compete was Brock Coburn, who went 2-2 on the day and did not place.

Portage won the tournament with 187 points, ahead of Ladysmith (156.5) and Auburndale (151.5). Whitehall’s 92.5 points were ahead of Pardeeville (88), Nekoosa-Assumption (76) and BR Falls (63). They finished behind Viroqua (115).

The Norse were in action again on Tuesday of this week, welcoming Arcadia for Whitehall’s first dual of the season. On Saturday, the Norse will wrestle at Eau Claire North.