Three individual champs help Demons unify title
By Mike Ramczyk
Correspondent
They seem to win at least a share of the Southern Lakes Conference wrestling title each year, but winning the whole darn thing is still rare.
The Burlington Demons captured the outright SLC crown Saturday after hosting and winning the conference tournament.
They also went a perfect 7-0 in the conference dual meets, so the Demons can call themselves outright champs, two years after winning it all in 2020, when studs like state champion Max Ehlen, Jaden Bird and Qwade Gehring led a stacked roster.
Burlington was the only school to have wrestlers in all 14 weight classes Saturday, and they made the most of it.
The Demons sent six to championship matches with three champions – Austin Skrundz at 145, Zeke Tiedt at 220 and Grant Otter at 285.
Burlington won the team title with 228 points, well ahead of second-place Union Grove’s 167.5.
After the tournament, Burlington head coach Jade Gribble said it was a good day for his guys.
“Winning isn’t everything, but if it was on the multiple choice test, I know what I would choose every time,” Gribble said. “Winning is an outcome. Scoring points is your goal. Even in an individual match, when you start thinking about winning, you’re not really present in the match. You need to stay present and think about scoring. A pin fall can always happen. As soon as that momentum changes, it’s really hard to get it back.
“We preach that you have to just keep wrestling.”
Burlington has now won at least a share of the conference title in each of the past five years.
To read the entire story and get the full rundown on all the sports from Burlington and Catholic Central high schools see the Feb. 10 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
-
-
-
-
-