Demon grapplers score huge win over Badger

By David Paulsen
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
When two wrestling squads split their 14 matches in a dual, which team wins is usually decided by the types of victories each team has.
Such was the case Tuesday night at Burlington High
School when the Demons and Badger met in a big Southern Lakes Conference dual.
Both teams won seven matches, but Burlington gained a 34-29 win by virtue of four pins, one major decision and two decisions compared to Badger’s two pins, two major decisions and three decisions.
“It was a close one,” head coach Jade Gribble said. “I don’t think we wrestled our best. We definitely have a lot of work to do.”
The Demon boys got pins from Ben Hornickle at 113 pounds, Josh Bird at 126, Brody Fitzpatrick at 138, and Max Shenkenberg at 160, plus a 13-5 major decision win from Cody Elsbury at 152.
The two victories by decision came at 170, where Kyle Crayton scored an 8-3 win, and at 285, where Tyler Kirkeeng won by a 10-4 score.
Gribble noted those two decision victories were huge for the team. Crayton battled hard to get his win, coming from behind.
“That was a huge win for Kyle,” Gribble said.
Kirkeeng’s match was the final one of the night. With the score at 31-29, if Badger wins the match, they win the dual, but Kirkeeng came out on top.
Both teams were state ranked coming into the dual.
With the win, Burlington improved to 3-0 overall and in the SLC.
The Demon grapplers will participate in the highly competitive Marty Loy Invitational at Fond du Lac on Saturday.
Next week, they will be at Wilmot in another big SLC dual on Thursday, Dec. 20, at 7 p.m.