Mukwonago’s power, depth win wrestling regional
WEST ALLIS – Aaron Schulist wanted to keep it simple Saturday.
“The plan was to just get on and off the mat,” he said.
Senior year hasn't been ideal for the Mukwonago wrestler. He suffered a shoulder injury in early December that sidelined him for more than two months.
He returned to action at the WIAA regional on Saturday at West Allis Central and followed orders: Get on and off the mat. The 126-pounder did that to the tune of two pins that earned him a regional title.
His return was just a piece of a big day for Mukwonago overall.
The team advanced a wrestler to the sectional in each weight class on the way to winning the regional title and a berth in the team sectional Tuesday at Waukesha South against Pewaukee.
Setting the tone for that performance were Schulist and fellow senior Aric Bohn (220 pounds). Senior Lucas Benn (132) won his first regional title, and senior Jacob Stachowski won his 170-pound final by pin.
“For us it was just a max effort,” Mukwonago coach Jon Wierzbicki said. “We had all 14 guys qualify for sectionals, which I think is a first in program history. We just got out of the chute in the first round and had an undefeated first round.”
The sectional at Central feature a strong group of teams. Waterford, which won the regional last year, took second in the Southern Lakes tournament as did Greenfield in the Woodland tournament. Muskego was third in the Classic 8 tournament.
A year ago, Mukwonago, with a lineup heavy on underclassmen, wasn’t ready to conquer the elite, but on Saturday they won comfortably, outscoring Waterford, 256-223.5.
Add the victory to a résumé that includes victories at the West Allis Central’s Ed Stech Invite and the Classic 8 tournament, a second-place finish at the Battle of the Bay and a third-place showing at the Zelinski Duals.
“For us, we’re just so battled-tested. I put the guys through a wringer of a schedule, tough workouts. I think they’ve just grown as a group,” Wierzbicki said. “This year I think a big X factor for us is that even though we had only four seniors in the lineup today almost all of them were returning lettermen from last year.”
The regional also featured two of the state’s best in their class. Both cruised through the regional, which for Division 1 advanced the top four finishers in each weight class to the sectional meet Saturday.
• West Allis Hale senior Peyton Mocco, the defending state champion at 160, needed less than a minute to win each to his first two matches before winning the final by injury default.
• At 182 pounds, Waterford senior Jared Krattiger beat Muskego’s Tyler Larsen,
the Classic 8 champion, 16-4, in the final.
The other big-name performer at the meet was Bohn, who is ranked No. 1 in the state in his weight class in Division 1 by
wiwrestling.com.
Schulist, despite his absence, fits that category, too. The three-time state qualifier was the state runner-up at 106 as a freshman and 113 as a sophomore before taking fifth at 126 this year. The plan early in the season was for him to compete at 132 pounds, but with just two matches under his belt entering the regional, he filled the 126-pound spot for his team.
On Saturday, Schulist and his teammates started what they hope is a journey that ends in at the state tournament.
“We’ve just have a lot of balance through all 14 weights,” Wierzbicki said. “We don’t have that real weak link. We’ve just been preaching all season 14 full weights, 6 full minutes and let’s do it.”