The Riverdale wrestling team got off to a great start Friday night defeating Richland Center 48-27. 

In front of a big hall of fame night crowd, the Chieftains wasted little time getting going.  Caleb Johnson would score a first period fall, followed by a forfeit to Bradon Roen, Isaiah Snyder would follow suit using an aggressive ankle pick off the whistle to score a takedown and turn his opponent over for a first period fall to give Riverdale an 18-0 lead. 

“Very impressive start for the heat of our order,” said head coach Jeff Campbell. “I am expecting big things from Caleb, Bradon and Isaiah this season.” 

At 170-pounds, first year wrestler Athan Karabetsos would go out and show a lot of heart and grit, but was unable to fight off a relentless half nelson and was pinned in the 2nd period.  Kenny Elliott battled one of Center’s top returning wrestlers.  Kenny got behind early 5-1, He would score a third period takedown to close the gap, but took 6-3 defeat.  Terry Hrubes collected a forfeit at 195 to make the score 24-9 Riverdale.

Mike Helt was pinned by a solid wrestler at 220.  Garret Wilmot would make his Chieftain debut at 285 and use a takedown and two point near fall to open an early 4-0 lead before scoring a fall a minute into the match.  Bryndl Nalepinski received a forfeit at 113 to give Riverdale a 36-15. 

“It was great to see Garret back on the mat after missing last year with a knee injury,” Campbell said. “He looks primed for a good season.” 

Shale Meyer would move up a weight class against a very strong and aggressive wrestler. Unable to stop his offense, he was pinned in the first period.  At 126 pounds Brian Mathews used a second period reversal to take a 2-0 lead and would work hard to get the fall.  Colt Pechan closed out the night coming back from a 2-1 first period deficit to score an escape and takedown in the second period and a 3:14 fall. 

“Brian and Colt looked good,” Campbell said. “These two drill hard every night.  There hard work is paying off as they both scored second period falls in tight matches. Overall, it was nice to get on the mat and get the season rolling.  The kids need to keep focusing on improving.  I thought it was a great atmosphere for a high school wrestling match.  The kids and coaches appreciate all of the support!”     

Second at Boscobel, Roen named MVW

The Riverdale wrestling team traveled to Boscobel on Saturday for a four team dual tournament.  Riverdale would finish the day 2-1, good enough for second place.  Bradon Roen was voted by the coaches as the Most Valuable Wrestler.

The Chieftains started the day out against a strong Prairie Du Chien/Wauzeka-Steuben team.  The team scored four victories in the dual.  Bradon Roen and Garrett Wilmot scored falls while Caleb Johnson won by major decision and Isaiah Snyder collected a forfeit. 

The rest of the squad had a hard time getting much offense going against the much stronger and experienced Prairie Du Chien team.

“The Prairie kids were big and strong,” Campbell said. “We were overmatched by strength in a lot of the matches we wrestled and seemed a little flat.  Prairie has a nice team and will be a contender to win their conference this season.” 

The kids rebounded nicely the next round to take down Boscobel 50-15.  Garret Wilmot, Bradon Roen and Isaiah Snyder would record pins while Brian Mathews and Caleb Johnson looked impressive in scoring major decision victories.  Four other Chieftain wrestlers received forfeits to round out the scoring. 

“The kids rebounded nicely from a tough first match,” Campbell said. “We will see Boscobel again in two weeks and I expect us to pull out the two matches that we lost.” 

The day ended with a 51-12 win over De Soto.  The Chieftains used pins by Brian Mathews, Caleb Johnson, Bradon Roen, Isaiah Snyder and four forfeits to build a 48-12 lead going into the final match of the day.  Terry Hrubes would pull out an exciting 12-9 come from behind victory to round out the final winning margin. 

“Terry is a big, strong freshman that will be a mainstay in those upper weights for the next four years,” Campbell said. “He battled a bigger upperclassman in an back and forth match to get the victory.  It was a great way to end the tournament.

“This tournament was a good starter tournament for us on the season.  Caleb, Bradon, Isaiah and Garret finished the day 3-0 and Bradon was named MVW.  We left Saturday with some hardware but also a number of aspects that we need to improve on.  We are getting some guys back healthy soon which will help solidify our lineup and allow some of our younger and beginning wrestlers to focus on development in the junior varsity ranks.  Looking forward to seeing a lot of people out to support the kids again Friday night as the Pointers come to the high school.”

Friday night will also be t-shirt night. 

Come out early and watch the future of Riverdale wrestling as the youth will scrimmage Mineral Point at 5:15 p.m. with junior varsity to follow at 6:30 and the varsity match set for 7.         

Team statistics:

145: Caleb Johnson (RIVE) over Logan Morris (RICE) (Fall 1:21) 152: Bradon Roen (RIVE) over (RICE) (For.) 160: Isaiah Snyder (RIVE) over Brock Gunderson (RICE) (Fall 1:30) 170: Evan Thomas (RICE) over Athan Karabetsos (RIVE) (Fall 3:11) 182: Caleb Coleman (RICE) over Kenny Elliott (RIVE) (Dec 6-3) 195: Terry Hrubes (RIVE) over (RICE) (For.) 220: Adam Rynes (RICE) over Michael Helt (RIVE) (Fall 0:47) 285: Garret Wilmot (RIVE) over Eli Shieldt (RICE) (Fall 1:00) 106: Double Forfeit 113: Bryndl Nalepinski (RIVE) over (RICE) (For.) 120: Cade Furgason (RICE) over Shale Meyer (RIVE) (Fall 1:40) 126: Brian Mathews (RIVE) over Kolten Achenbach (RICE) (Fall 3:08) 132: Tylor Miller (RICE) over (RIVE) (For.) 138: Colt Pechan (RIVE) over Sam Hart (RICE) (Fall 3:14) 182: Ethan Swiggum (PDCW) over Kenny Elliott (RIVE) (Fall 2:18) 195: Stephen Ronnfeldt (PDCW) over Terry Hrubes (RIVE) (Fall 0:38) 220: Peyton Hall (PDCW) over Michael Helt (RIVE) (Fall 0:20) 285: Garret Wilmot (RIVE) over Jeremy Lessard (PDCW) (Fall 2:17) 106: Reid Koenig (PDCW) over (RIVE) (For.) 113: Blake Garcia (PDCW) over Shale Meyer (RIVE) (Fall 5:52) 120: Keenan Holley (PDCW) over (RIVE) (For.) 126: Clayton Beers (PDCW) over Brian Mathews (RIVE) (MD 12-0) 132: Matt Chase (PDCW) over (RIVE) (For.) 138: Nick Rogge (PDCW) over Colt Pechan (RIVE) (MD 9-0) 145: Caleb Johnson (RIVE) over Tyler Smock (PDCW) (MD 10-1) 152: Bradon Roen (RIVE) over Zach Swiggum (PDCW) (Fall 2:40) 160: Isaiah Snyder (RIVE) over (PDCW) (For.) 170: Brendan Fleshner (PDCW) over Athan Karabetsos (RIVE) (Fall 3:08) 195: Terry Hrubes (RIVE) over (BOSC) (For.) 220: Michael Helt (RIVE) over (BOSC) (For.) 285: Garret Wilmot (RIVE) over Wyatt Roth (BOSC) (Fall 2:12) 106: Double Forfeit 113: Shale Meyer (RIVE) over (BOSC) (For.) 120: Brandon Mindham (BOSC) over (RIVE) (For.) 126: Double Forfeit 132: Brian Mathews (RIVE) over Roger Schulz (BOSC) (MD 16-3) 138: Dakota Frazier (BOSC) over Colt Pechan (RIVE) (Fall 0:53) 145: Caleb Johnson (RIVE) over Chase Beinborn (BOSC) (MD 9-1) 152: Bradon Roen (RIVE) over Wyatt Faust (BOSC) (Fall 1:15) 160: Isaiah Snyder (RIVE) over Tanner Bassett (BOSC) (Fall 2:55) 170: Athan Karabetsos (RIVE) over (BOSC) (For.) 182: Preston Baker (BOSC) over Kenny Elliott (RIVE) (Dec 8-3) 220: Michael Helt (RIVE) over (DESO) (For.) 285: Garret Wilmot (RIVE) over (DESO) (For.) 106: Double Forfeit 113: Shale Meyer (RIVE) over (DESO) (For.) 120: Double Forfeit 126: Brian Mathews (RIVE) over Ben King (DESO) (Fall 5:13) 132: Double Forfeit 138: Colt Pechan (RIVE) over (DESO) (For.) 145: Caleb Johnson (RIVE) over Brandon Parr (DESO) (Fall 1:54) 152: Bradon Roen (RIVE) over Logan Scoville (DESO) (Fall 5:36) 160: Isaiah Snyder (RIVE) over Gavin Gemein (DESO) (Fall 0:53) 170: Morgan Lemke (DESO) over Athan Karabetsos (RIVE) (Fall 3:25) 182: Lance Buckles (DESO) over Kenny Elliott (RIVE) (Fall 0:33) 195: Terry Hrubes (RIVE) over Jakob Hensley (DESO) (Dec 12-9)