SOUTH WAYNE – A trio of second-place performances highlighted the day for two area teams at the 2015 Darlington/Black Hawk Wrestling Invitational held at BHHS on Saturday, Dec. 5.
    Senior Conrad Blosch at 182-pounds and sophomore Brody Milz at 195-pounds earned second-place finishes for the host WarBirds, while sophomore Isaac Wiegel turned in a hard-fought second-place effort at 113-pounds for Belmont/Platteville at the meet.
    The WarBirds placed fourth overall at the 15-team event with 149 points and the Braves finished up 12th with 40.5 points.
    Wiegel, the defending Black Hawk Invite champion at 106-pounds and a 2015 state qualifier, advanced to the finals at 113 this season with a pair of byes and a 15-0 technical fall win over Beloit Tuner’s Jack Sagaitis.
    In the finals, Wiegel went toe-to-toe with Parkview freshman Jackson Hauri. The two battled to a 0-0 stallmate through three periods, but in the first overtime period Hauri was able to toss Wiegel onto his back to earn a 4-0 decision.
    “It’s hard not to be happy when someone makes the finals of a tournament. But, at the same time, we had our chances to win but didn’t,” said Belmont/Platteville head coach Andrew Campbell. “Isaac took a shot (in overtime) and got tossed to his back giving up a takedown and two-point near fall.”
    Blosch made the finals for the second year in a row at 182, earning a rematch against defending champion Matt Blome of Mount Horeb. However, the Viking senior was able to get the best of Blosch once again with a pin in 2:48.
    Blosch advanced to the finals with a bye, a pin and a 7-1 decision.
    “He knew the kid he had in the finals was going to be tough because he met him in the finals here last year. He went out there and didn’t back down. He tried a few things that didn’t work out, but he gave it his all,” said Darlington/Black Hawk co-head coach Tom Donar.
    Milz, competing in his first-ever varsity event, made the finals at 195 with a bye and a pair of first-period pins. In the championship match, the Black Hawk sophomore grabbed an early 2-0 lead, but Turner’s Shane Swing rallied to score eight unanswered points to lock up the title.
    “Being his first year back in wrestling (since junior high), he definitely did well in a tough weight class,” Donar commented.
    In addition to the two runner-up finishes, the WarBirds garnered six fifth-place finishes, two seventh-place finishes and an eighth-place finish on the day. Three of their six wrestlers who placed fifth lost in the quarterfinal round to the eventual champion for their only loss of the day, while two of the remaining three suffered their only loss to their classes’ runner-up in the quarterfinals.
    Sophomore Grady Reilly went 4-1 on the day with four pins in a fifth-place effort at 138, while senior Caleb Novak went 4-1 with three pins to place fifth at 145 and freshman Kolbe Ubersox went 4-1 with two pins and a major decision to take fifth at 132.
    Adding fifths with 3-1 records were freshman Hunter Bredeson at 113 with a pin, freshman Connor Novak at 126 with two pins and junior Jacob Tuescher at 285 with a pin.
    Sophomore Lance Ubersox at 152 and freshman Karl Seffrood at 220 each placed seventh after going 2-2 with two pins apiece, while sophomore Curtis Blosch placed eighth at 160.
    “We were a bit handicapped today, so we knew it would be tough to get into the top three but we almost did it,” said Donar, noting the team was without their 120-pound wrestler (sick), 170-pound wrestler (not at weight) and state qualifying 220-pound wrestler (injured) on Saturday. “We did alright. There were some good things and some bad things that happened today. I saw a lot of good things from all our freshman.”
    Freshman Chris Gillen was fourth at 106 for Belmont/Platteville. Juniors Alex Sargent at 126 and Grey Genzoli at 170 each placed sixth for the Braves, while freshman Quinn Kafar was eighth at 182 for B/P.
    “We were not aggressive enough. We need to initiate more of the scoring, especially on our feet,” said Campbell.
    Beloit Turner claimed the team title with 212.5 points after sending five wrestlers to the finals and crowning three champions. Mount Horeb was second with 175 points, while Parkview crowned a meet-high four champions on the way to a third-place finish with 167 points.
    Darlington/Black Hawk’s SWAL dual at Riverdale, which was originally scheduled for Friday, Dec. 4, was moved to Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.
    Next up, the WarBirds host Fennimore in a SWAL dual on Friday, Dec. 11, starting at 7 p.m.
    Belmont/Platteville will compete at the Sugar River Raider Scramble on Saturday, Dec. 12, at New Glarus High School, starting at 9 a.m.
   
DARLINGTON/BLACK HAWK INVITATIONAL
Team Standings: Beloit Turner 212.5, Mount Horeb 175, Parkview 167, Darlington/Black Hawk 149, Dodgeville 142, Cuba City/Southwestern/Benton 104, Ithaca/Weston 98.5, Richland Center 94, Westfield 85, Sugar River 63, Pecatonica/Argyle 63, Belmont/Platteville 40.5, Madison Memorial 38, Milwaukee Madison/Languages 33, River Ridge/Cassville 26.

Darlington/Black Hawk Individual Results: 106-pounds- NW; 113- 5- Hunter Bredeson, 3-1; 120- NW; 126- 5- Connor Novak, 3-1; 132- 5- Kolbe Ubersox, 4-1; 138- 5- Grady Reilly, 4-1; 145- 5- Caleb Novak, 4-1; 152- 7- Lance Ubersox, 2-2; 160- 8- Curtis Blosch, 0-3; 170- NW; 182- 2- Conrad Blosch, 3-1; 195- 2- Brody Milz, 3-1; 220- 7- Karl Seffrood, 2-2; 285- 5- Jacob Tuescher, 3-1.

Belmont/Platteville Individual Results: 106-pounds- 4- Chris Gillen, 0-3; 113- 2- Isaac Wiegel, 3-1; 120- NW; 126- 6- Alexander Sargent, 0-2; 132- NW; 138- Josh Taber, 0-2; 145- NW; 152- Tristian Prater, 0-2; 160- NW; 170- 6- Grey Grenzoli, 3-2; 182- 8- Quinn Kafar, 0-3; 195- NW; 220- NW; 285- NW.