Wrestling: East Senior Night highlighted by win over Marquette

Brookfield East pounded Marquette, 45-18, on Jan. 19 on Senior Night and then placed 12th at the 18-team Sheboygan Raider Invitational on Saturday.

Senior Night is a special night for any sports program and the Spartans celebrated by winning their second consecutive conference match.

Three senior wrestlers - Stu Jennings, Casey Dentino and Andrew Sobczak - escorted their parents to center mat in front of a cheering home crowd during a classy display that included introductions, flowers and pictures.

During a blizzard Jan. 12, the Spartans wrestled a thriller winning the match 37-36 against Brookfield Central. Against the Hilltoppers, the match was highlighted by the consistent pounding on the mat by the referee slapping pins for five of the first seven Spartans matches.

Freshman Micah Childs got the match started at 170 pounds, taking his opponent down a couple of times and finally pinning him in a front cradle at the end of the first period in 1 minute, 58 seconds. Junior Sam Brunker (182) had the fastest pin of the match with his quick takedown, tilt move and pin (1:16).

Sobczak (285) dominated his match and pinned (1:41) his man with a powerful takedown directly into a back point scoring and pinning combination. Junior Ben Lingeman (120) pinned his opponent in the second period. Freshman Josh Dempsey (126) continues to win big matches, getting a second-period pin.

The 132 match was a thriller, as Dentino, the eighth-ranked Division 1 wrestler, lost 1-0 to the sixth-ranked wrestler from Marquette. Gabrial Grahek. Grahek was warned for stalling, but he was not actually penalized a point for backing up in the third period by the referee. Dentino let Grahek up to start neutral in the third period giving the Marquette wrestler a one-point win.

Afterward coach John Veal said "I'm happy with the win."

East placed five individual wrestlers on Saturday, as Two Rivers won the event (215.5 points). East scored 74.5 points.

Dentino (132) and junior John LeClaire (195) led the way each taking home a second-place medal. Dentino started the day with a technical fall winning 18-3 and then pinned his next two opponents to get into the finals. LeClaire received a bye in the first round and then pumped up the East fans with two first-period pins of his next two wrestlers that stood in his way to getting into the finals.

Sobczak (285) placed sixth in the 18-team tournament, Dempsey (126) took home seventh place and Brunker (182) finished eighth.

The Spartans travel to West Allis Central for an important Greater Metro Conference match at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26.