Veling wins 182-pound championship at GMC wrestling tournament

Senior Nic Veling won Brookfield Central's only championship on Friday in the Greater Metro Conference Tournament at Brookfield East.

Veling, 9-0 in league matches at 182 pounds, defeated Andrew Buelow of West Allis Hale (5-4) with a pin in 3 minutes, 45 seconds.

He had won by technical fall (18-3) over Cameryne Dziewik of West Allis Central (4-3) by an 18-3 score after getting a bye in the opening round. He finished with 25.50 team points.

"I think Nic put together a solid performance," said Central coach Chris Demos, whose team finished sixth at the tournament. "This season he has competed consistently at a high level. He picked up two losses to solid wrestlers and that only made him better.

"He was able to recognize some of his weaknesses and made some great adjustments to his offense. If Nic wrestles his best and gets a good draw at state he will be on the medal stand."

The Lancers also had Matt Wilcox at 220 finish third (18 team points). He pinned (1:38) Matt Aili of Menomonee Falls (3-7) in the third-place match. He had pinned (0:31) Ryan Petrovich of West Allis Central (1-5); lost a 7-6 decision to P.J. LeClaire of Brookfield East (5-4) and then pinned (1:23) Carlos Sanchez of Marquette (1-6) in the consolation semifinals on his road to third.

"I was also really proud of Matt Wilcox," Demos said. "It will be hard to find another kid that works as hard as he does in and out of season. The way he has developed as a wrestler is amazing and the fact he just missed being in the conference finals was great. This kid only weighs 206 pounds and placed third at conference."

Sam Murphy at 138 (13 points), Mike Egan at 132 (11) and Mark Craig at 152 (nine) finished fourth.

Murphy (2-5): lost by a pin (1:55) to Bob Holzem of Sussex Hamilton (8-1); received a bye, won by a pin (2:38) over Sam Behling of Brookfield East (5-5) and then lost by a pin (0:31) to Sam Schwabenlander of Menomonee Falls (6-4) in the third-place match.

Egan (2-3): lost by a major decision (16-8) in the first round to Austin Meyers of Menomonee Falls (5-5); received a bye; won an 11-9 decision over Gino Senymanola of Sussex Hamilton (2-5) and lost a 5-3 decision to Josh Petrovich of West Allis Hale (5-5) in the third-place match.

Craig (4-5): won by an 18-11 decision over Micah Childs of Brookfield East (4-5); was pinned (1:09) by Brian Smith of West Allis Central (7-0); received a bye and was pinned (3:17) by Logan Mocco of West Allis Hale (6-2) in the third-place match.

OTHER FINISHES

Jacob Benning at 106 and Nick Olsen at 113 each took fifth and scored seven points apiece.

Benning lost by a pin, received a bye; lost by a pin (3:27); and received a bye. Olsen lost an 11-2 major decision; received a bye; lost by a pin (2:30) and won by a pin (2:30).

The Lancers also had four sixth-place finishes - Dan Amundson at 145 (five points), Josh Mokwa at 195 (five), Joshua Peltier at 126 (three) and Joe O'Brien at 170 (three).

UP NEXT

The Lancers will host the Brookfield Central Regional at 10 a.m. Saturday. Joining the Lancers will be Brookfield East, Kettle Moraine, Waukesha North, Waukesha South, Waukesha West, West Allis Central and West Allis Hale.