The Wisconsin Wrestler
The Wisconsin Wrestler is a podcast dedicated to all things involving Wisconsin high school wrestling. Made by the Wisconsin wrestling fan, for the Wisconsin wrestling fan, we try to hit on all corners of the sport at the high school level, from season previews, to recaps, to interviews with guests throughout the offseason.
The Wisconsin Wrestler
D1 Sectional G Preview
Homestead coach Ernie Millard joins for a preview of D1 Sectional G! We discuss every team in the sectional and talk about their top returners, along with teams that have the best chance to see major growth this year! We then make postseason predictions and look ahead to what could be one of the most highly contested Team Sectionals in the state! Ernie also has a chance to talk about his program and all the work that has lead to his team potentially competing for a spot at Team State this year, how him and the folks around him have helped make sure that the Homestead program will remain strong after he retires, and also takes the time to talk about the type of person that his son Charlie is off the mat.
Regional 1-15:00
Regional 2-1:04:00
Team Sectional Predictions-1:32:45
you. Welcome to the Wisconsin and Steve Lurkwin.
Speaker 2:Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another edition of the Wisconsin wrestler podcast. I'm your host, teague Fenwick, coming to you from Holman. Joining me, as always, from Fort Ackinson, is my co-host, steve Lurkwin. Steve, great to be here.
Speaker 1:Hey, pumped to be here. Teague, as always, kind of crazy here, right? I mean, this is the start of our home stretch of sectional previews. We start them off, and you know, in a good way it feels like they're going to go on kind of forever. And here we are in our final, final four, right?
Speaker 2:It's. It is flying by man the last week of a division one this week and, yeah, I'm excited we got a first time guest on on a Thursday and Mr Sean Fortman of Mosquigo. We'll introduce our guest here in just a moment. Steve, we're at the big cheese this weekend. We'll wait until we introduce our guest to talk about that. But yeah, how was your weekend overall?
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, that was kind of the highlight of it, right? Other than that, it's just trying to get out in a household in order and that's not fun. So getting away and watching some wrestling and that's probably the cool thing I know you're you're you're telling me not to talk to about later, but meeting the cool people that are associated with the sport is just. It's like. The more and more people I meet adults, kids I'm like I'm really proud to be from Wisconsin. It's fun.
Speaker 2:Steve, I had a it's crazy I mean, my brain just is weird like this but I ended up having a week filled, filled with M's. I had a very M centric week and, just to go in detail here, I don't know what that means, but go ahead. So Thursday night we had a mineral point coach Curtis Fiedler. On Friday night I'm in Medford for a football game, commentating some playoff action. Saturday in McGowan. Ago for the big cheese.
Speaker 2:Sunday in Boston for just hanging out with my family, got to see my nephews and a few pals that came over. My mom made some great chili and, steve, we get to end up the streak of M's with maybe not only one of our favorites but one of Wisconsin Earth's wrestling's favorite M names. Tonight I'm talking about none other than a guy who got to coach a state champion last year, a state champion that he knows decently well. I would say he does have recurring guest status on the podcast. I know he's proud about his family, but I think the podcast recurring status ranks right up there. I'm talking about none other than homestead coach Ernie Millard. Ernie, as always, it's an honor to have you on.
Speaker 3:It's great to be here, you guys. This is my third podcast with you guys, after sectionals a few years ago and then talking about the Highlander last year, which was really fun getting to talk about that tournament. Is it number four?
Speaker 1:No I was thinking that it's only three, because the one year he just sent us all the info and we just did a podcast on it. Then we said forget that noise, we're getting him on and he's going to talk about it. So last year I remember you were working a basketball game.
Speaker 3:You were a hockey game, which I was late for because, shockingly, my amount of talking went over what we probably projected it as being, that it was such an exciting tournament to talk about that I just wanted to give due diligence to all the weight classes, with the number of kids we had there and quality matches. So yeah, I was on my way to university school for a homestead university school hockey game Were you security at that one, or were you kind of like the supervisor?
Speaker 3:I was the supervisor my last year at homestead and in a full-time capacity. I was assistant athletic director the second half of the day, so I was in charge of a lot of stuff. So I made a couple quick texts while I was talking to you guys to make sure that there were bodies there to keep an eye on things. This may come as a shock to people, but sometimes teenagers, when they're getting amped up at sporting events, can get a little bit over the top, and the university school homestead hockey game is a big rivalry, so it was important that we had some people there Nice.
Speaker 2:Teenagers can be a volatile species sometimes. Yes.
Speaker 3:Well, they do tend to pattern themselves after their parents sometimes, and we know from all the sporting events we've been to over the decades that adults can behave that way too. But that's also what makes it great the passion that's involved and the love of the stuff.
Speaker 2:So two things before we talk about this sectional. And man, it's one that I'm very excited to talk about because there's a lot of. There's teams from six different regionals and three different sectionals in it. Yeah, two, it's going to be a fun race by the end.
Speaker 2:But, steve, we got to not address but the episode last week. I just got to bring this up because we joke about the head like the longest podcast that we do, or how our longest sectional preview streak, our longest sectional preview time, has been broken three times or four times after last week. Folks, we are not trying to do that. This isn't some bit we're trying to play into. It literally just happens where we've, we've gotten guys that love to talk about this sport and we get into it. And, man, when you get the mouth of the south from mineral point on Curtis Fiedler, who loves to talk brackets as much as I do, steve loves to talk wrestling.
Speaker 2:There was moments where Curtis and I were both glazed on our screen looking, talking old results and Steve said hey guys, how about we talk about this next team here? We'll get rolling. We went so long that it got to 930 and Steve's school Wi-Fi shut off right as he was talking about pics and it. It was one of the funniest moments of all time he he came back on and had just enough time to talk about his predictions. But, folks, if the podcast happened to be getting too long, remember you can always listen or watch them in segments. I swear to you there's no dead time in there. Steve can attest for that. That last one might be two and a half hours, but it's two and a half great hours with Mr Fiedler.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and who knew they shut off a school's wife or school's Wi-Fi? I never. I know you can do that.
Speaker 3:One of the years at our Highlander they had all the lights scheduled to go off at 11 PM, and so we were in total darkness for about five minutes. It was one of those early years when we didn't have things quite as organized as we do now, so I've dealt with that too.
Speaker 2:Did you have the lights, too, that take a few minutes to turn back on when they go off?
Speaker 3:Well, the ones on our football field do. We don't have those vapor locks in the high school anymore. We did in the old days, but not anymore. That tells you I'm old, I know they're vapor lock, that's what they're called.
Speaker 2:Steve, do you know they're called vapor lock?
Speaker 1:No, I think he said vapor, like with a V right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I said vapor lock. Oh, I thought he said paper lock.
Speaker 1:I'm like yeah, I don't know what vapor lock is, so that's a second thing guys.
Speaker 2:Big cheese real quick. So big cheese was fun. This weekend. We did a recap Me, rq and Jake were on WI wrestle or I was on their show earlier and we talked about a lot of. We talked more in depth about the matches and whatnot, so we don't need to go in depth here, guys. But just what were your thoughts on the weekend? My general thoughts were A. The vibes were just immaculate. It was, I think. I just felt like I was in a great mood the whole day and, like Steve said, talking to so many good people was awesome. The crowd really got into it. Randy Farrell was killing it. Folks, I highly recommend checking out Steve's interviews on Rockfinn because he not only great at conversing and asking questions, but the personal touches he adds to some of the questions at the end were really awesome. So, steve, you killed it in that avenue. We'll start with you, steve. What are your thoughts on the big cheese?
Speaker 1:Well, I kind of said it earlier. I mean, obviously the wrestling to me was just amazing. I mean I'm still watching those guys do things and the level of wrestling from even 10 years ago, but especially when I was a little kid or high school or whatever. It's Wisconsin's in a good spot. But I think I said it earlier and I can't say it enough it's like I was just nonstop smiling and I didn't want to leave the place, like when I get done sometimes I'm tired and I just want to go home. I just kept staying and talking to different people. Hey, who's that guy? I'm going to talk to that guy because it's just. I met so many awesome, awesome people on Saturday and the community aspect to me was fantastic.
Speaker 2:And Ernie. Mr Ernie, I got to tell you. I told you I was going to bring it up on the show. Like I said you, whenever I talk to you, you're the most cool, calm, collected guy ever and I almost had to text you during Charlie's match just to say hey, it's okay to breathe. I look over. I think you might be clenching your chair. You're just as tightly wound as I've ever seen. I was like it's all right, let's just we can, we can have a little fun here. Well, but it was, you know it. It was just funny to see that, because that's that's an Ernie that I don't get to see a lot. It was nothing bad by any means. It's just a parent anxiously watching their kid wrestle, right. But Charlie's match aside, I mean that was a fun match. I think it was a match that both sides can take a lot from for sure. What were your thoughts on the event in general, ernie?
Speaker 3:Well, I I love the event. What what Steve talked about with the quality of wrestling in the state of Wisconsin? I think it's, from a depth perspective, at an all time high. We've had some amazing individuals come out of the state at different times, whether it was Ben or Max Ascrun or Keegan O'Toole right or Parker Kekeis and people making big time splashes Stephen Buchanan and some of the stuff he's done at Wyoming and then Oklahoma some great individual wrestlers.
Speaker 3:This three year class is, you know, when you look at 23, 24, 25, the deepest I've ever seen. And Ben commented Ben Ascrun, I think four years ago. He said you watch, the class of 2024s going to be the most decorated class in the history of Wisconsin wrestling. And then people you know, social media people were were getting after them and they said what do you mean? And he eventually came out and said I think you're going to have more people, more medals on the podium, more trophies on the podium at the NCAA tournament than at any point in Wisconsin history. And you can see that when you see the quality of matches taking place out there and how good these kids are. And you know, wrestling's like everything else, it's evolved, but the sport of wrestling's evolved, I think, more than a lot of other sports, just in terms of how different it is, and it was really, really fun for me.
Speaker 3:I'm not you don't know me that well, teague, if I can maybe maybe give the impression that I have my act together. But anybody who's ever watched me when my kid's wrestling knows that I am a fidgeter and a pacer and I get really tightly wound. I never take anything for granted with Charlie and I do try and enjoy this stuff. But when he was a sophomore and had such a great sophomore year leading up to his match with Mitchell, when he was getting ready Russell Brett back at the finals of the Highlander, two of my buddies told me I needed to stop walking in the same place on the mat because I was going to wear a hole in it. I needed a new hole. So I'm a fidgeter and a pacer and the one thing I try and do is not let that ever carry over to Charlie. I try and keep it to myself and never put any pressure on him.
Speaker 3:But when you're wrestling a kid that's as good as Caleb Katie and he comes out and gets a great first takedown yeah, the temperature in the room goes up a little bit as a dad, but it was super high quality match, as they all were. I mean I was so impressed with Stromberg, koji Campbell, you know, I mean Hock and Peterson moving up to wrestle him, and then Koji Weathering fits Patrick and his barrage early on and coming back to wrestle the way he did, the way that Maddie Peach I mean she's really good. I mean Kellan Wolber it's good to see him healthy again. Jacob Herm I mean there's just a bunch of great kids out there that we get to watch.
Speaker 3:And I'm like you guys, I'm a wrestling addict. When I'm watching wrestling whenever I can, whether it's at the collegiate level or the high school level or good grief last year I was I was sitting down and watching my friends kids at youth state tournament online when I could. I'm not very productive at any other part of my life while that's going on, but but I do really really enjoy it a lot. And and this, this state and you know I'm biased about Ben and Max, but the other clubs are making kids so much better too. I've gotten to know Jordy Kras really well in the western half of the state and the stuff that that he's doing, and Nizar, and then you know, you go up north and some of our kids from Amry and stuff they're working at Pinnacle, which is such a high hope, high profile club too, and I know I'm leaving some out, but they're, they're all that. Our kids are all just getting so much better, oh yeah 100%.
Speaker 2:Ernie, hit the nail on the head there and talking about wrestling, already we haven't even gotten to the sectional talk yet. But, ernie, if we're talking about the state like this, I'm really pumped to hear what you have to say about the guys, and you're not really woods down where you're from, but in your metaphorical neck of the woods. So we'll talk some on D1, sectional G here. Regional one is up first and just a quick change, talking about the assignment changes or whatnot. Folks, we'll keep a long story short because there is a lot of big changes. Like I said, teams from six regionals, three sectionals it's, but it sounds like the band got back together because you see Brown to your homestead, nicolay, whitefish Bay, and then a few NPS schools make up regional one. That's actually pretty familiar to what we've seen in years prior to last year. And we'll talk more about regional two when we get there.
Speaker 2:First school up here, a school that made a lot of noise last year, brown deer, mesmer, shorewood, who was six meal, connoble walk regional was 68 points. They returned eight of their nine starters and 54 points. So not so fun news, fellows of Mackay Rogers, who was a place six, that 195 as a freshman, he is out this year with an injury but they are returning a Maximus Hay who was fifth at 113. And guys talk about that. They're only freshmen, so we're going to see more of Rogers, but they have that young core with those two. I got to see them for the first time at state and that's really. That really just catches your attention when you perform that well as a freshman and you know they can keep building numbers around that core. I know a former Luther coach, jamal Vaughn, is there. Jamal is a great guy, by the way. He's a part of their coaching staff. So they have the right pieces in place to where we could see brown deer potentially compete as a team sometime in the next couple of years here.
Speaker 3:For sure. I talked to coach Gladney and they were one of the great stories last year in wrestling and our sport. You know we want to be good and we want to be successful and we want to beat everybody. But it's also a fraternity where you want growth everywhere in the state and brown deer is a great example of that. I know TU andI talked about it a little during the week. I look at what he and his staff did with the numbers growing. One of the things you're going to see at brown deer is their girls program exploding too.
Speaker 3:I was talking to Cedric Hay two weeks ago and he said their numbers are going up in that side of the program Really exciting. I think back to Ben Tomes in the old days with Milwaukee Custer. I think about what Craig Bevilakwa did at Milwaukee Tech and sometimes it's through a force of will that you're getting kids to come out and he's put a great staff together, like you said, and I'm excited about brown deer they have all nine of their wrestlers would have been back if not for Mackay. I talked to Cedric and coach Gladney in the last week because I really want to. You know he's really good and when you're placing at state at that weight class as a freshman. That's exciting stuff and they had two kids on the podium last year for the first time in forever, right. So I'm really excited about what they've done.
Speaker 3:You know the other Hay, cedric Hay, as a senior this year was 26 and 15. Last year. Anthony Straughn, that was at 160, at 106, was 22 and 17. Maximum was 43 and 3. Right, and Mackay was 38 and 13. They've really upped what they're trying to do with competition, which we're going to talk about homestead in a second, what we've had to do to. They're coming to the Highlander this year as well, and so I think I think they're a top three team, maybe top four in our sectional for sure this year, even with the loss of Mackay.
Speaker 1:Nice, nice. So, hey, t, I think you sent me a message earlier about it, but yeah, I think. Well, let's do that. Coach, we're going to pull a fast one on you. We're going to break up your conversation a little bit. We're going to for fans out there watching or listening to this, we're going to go a little bit out of the alphabetic order. We're going to move homestead to the last team in this region, so we'll talk about them right before we make our pick. So we'll go on to team three, which is T, milwaukee Bayview.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Milwaukee Bayview, a conservatory of lifelong learning, a Milwaukee South Co-op. They were seventh in the Milwaukee regional with a 12 points. They are returning both of their starters from last year, alex Malaya Metz, who was at 160 in Glen Cannon. They both placed fifth at regional. So only two wrestlers on the starting regional lineup but right outside of qualifying for sectionals. So it'd be cool to see one or both of those guys make it to sectional Saturday this year.
Speaker 3:For sure. You know we had Bayview at the Highlander for several years and Jeff Giel was there and you know one of the we talk about the force of will holding holding programs together that maybe wrestling's most, not the most popular at the school and I know they're trying to get things turned around. Both those guys are are underclass. You know we're underclassmen last year. They're both underclassmen this year, so they'll both be back. Alex is a sophomore and Glenn is a junior. So I'm hoping they get to continue to get that experience and and hopefully they add some kids back to that program too.
Speaker 2:Next up is Milwaukee Bradley Tech Carmen South Arts, juno Co-op, who was eighth in the West Hallis, and Nathan Hale, original, with 26 points. They're returning all four of their starters. They'll be led by Rayquan Carson, who qualified for sectionals. Little bit about Bradley Tech here, steve. We got to meet a couple of state champs from Tech this weekend. I got to see Mr Travis Smith, who I think won that 145. And then how about this? The heavyweight who could pull off the splits himself, mr John Jude, who wanted. I believe it was 2012 or 2013. John's actually coaching at Bradley Tech. I forgot if he was the head coach or not, but had a great conversation with them. You guys. I also got to talk to a Milwaukee Hamilton coach, kobe. I forgot his last name.
Speaker 2:All the MPS guys. They're really excited. They're they're working together to talk about what they can do to improve the wrestling in their area. And you get to hear stories. Kobe was a guy that he was cut from the basketball team and that's how they get a lot of their wrestlers. You find guys that get cut from basketball. They say, hey, you want to keep competing this winter. This is the spot for it. But John was talking about how they're trying to get all the clubs and schools in the area to work together to really. You know, we always say a rising tide lifts all shifts. And after my talk with Mr Jude, not only was I just really in awe that I got to talk to another state champion, but the things that he had to say and the positivity he had, I know we say, oh, good things can come for the MPS wrestling Steve. It seems like that's looking like more and more of a reality and Bradley Tech's going to be a big part of that. I think so.
Speaker 1:Yeah, go ahead, ernie. I'll say this before I let you go away with Bradley Tech. The funny story is is that this is all I met these guys. Now they're both standing together, but so if anybody knows my history with technology, it never goes well. So you know, take an RQ, put me in charge of the camera, and I'm already having the cold sweats of okay, all right, just push this button. Okay, all I got to do is this All right, fantastic.
Speaker 1:Well, about my third interview in third, fourth interview in, and the camera dies right after it's done and I, I go running out in the hall with the first reaction I have is a peer and panic. Panic or fear and panic. You know, I put my mouth, my thumb in my mouth and I laid down and I start. I started sucking my thumb, but then I were. When I realized that what in your pants is not a strategy.
Speaker 1:I ran on the hallway and I'm like hey, does anybody know technology? I have no idea how to do this, because I got to change the battery and a camera and John Jude looks at me and goes Well, I'm pretty good at it. I'm like Great, I hand him the battery. I'm like replace this battery. You know I don't order people around very often when I'm panicking I'm like dude's a lot bigger than I am but you just go ahead and do this and he takes it for me. And also the same thing. We started having a conversation and realized that it's John Jude. I end up interviewing him too, and I don't know if they put it on or not, but he's a good dude man. I'm excited for him.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 3:The boss tells me I have to get her her sweatshirt here.
Speaker 2:Oh, all right. Oh, you're sitting on it, or what that's? Uh, I think the boss AKA Lisa Mallard, who might try to get on the show someday as just talking about the life of a wrestling spouse.
Speaker 3:But she's not very. She wasn't very excited when you proposed that she's. She doesn't like getting getting in front of the camera.
Speaker 2:Well, we're going to try to pair her with someone like Holly Farrell.
Speaker 1:So it'll be a good reason.
Speaker 2:Well, holly talks. Yeah, yeah, your thoughts. I know I talked about a lot of things there, but you can talk about Bradley Tech and even, uh, respond to what we talked about as well, if you want to help me with their state champion at 160, who was also a stud quarterback for them.
Speaker 1:It was.
Speaker 3:And he went, uh, he went to an Ivy League school. If I remember correctly, maybe it was Brown.
Speaker 2:Oh, I just know. So I know Travis Smith. I only saw Travis and John there. I don't know Bradley Tech's state, their 60 state champ off the top. I'm going to think of it.
Speaker 3:He was an absolute stud, Great kid. My point being they have they have a history of great wrestling at Bradley Tech.
Speaker 2:Jeff Lummer.
Speaker 3:Jeff Lummer. There you go. I mean that guy, that kid was amazing multi sport athlete, great kid. I think he went to Brown, I think Um, and they do. They have a history of wrestling. We just named state champs from that program, um from multiple times, and so I see them coming back and being really solid.
Speaker 2:Next up here is Milwaukee King, who was six in the Milwaukee Riverside Regional with 97 and a half points. They'll be led by returning sectional qualifier of Michael Galway. Uh, here's the only returning three guys. A lot more people listed on their roster than the nine at starting at regionals, I think, steve, I didn't look out the top, count out the top of my head. I think it's in the thirties, to be honest. So expect a lineup close to full like what they had last year. They also, on the girls side, had three girls wrestle at state and, uh, miss Teran McBride made of the blood round.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they had they. They had one of those like perfect storm of everything going wrong at the end of the season Kids getting sick, kids getting hurt, a couple of kids with some great issues. Um, milwaukee King, they do a great job of of keeping their numbers up and are always one of the solid teams in the Milwaukee City Conference, so I really think that was an anomaly last year, them them having their their numbers that low at the end of the season, cause they've been a calendar a lot of times too.
Speaker 1:You, you hit on a coach on Milwaukee City champs last year and uh, uh, we're in the street. They've had a good a number of kids that have been doing uh, asker and ringers, things like that. So look for their level of wrestlers to uh, uh, skill set of their wrestlers to be to be expanded, like you were talking about earlier coach, as far as the state level of Wisconsin rising. So a lot of a lot of kids from Milwaukee King doing some extra wrestling, yeah.
Speaker 2:Uh, real quick. Can't. Can't take credit for the Jeff Lemmer answer. That was Mr John Veal, who's at tuning in next. Next up is uh. So thank you for that, john. I was. I was fine. We can get some trivia from the folks tuning in.
Speaker 3:Last time people I always remember faces, but not names.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:Um. One of the matches I remember was at um, our place, and I'm trying to remember um who he wrestled. I think Stephen's point was down, um, or maybe it was. Maybe it was a kid from Minnesota and it was just one of these great matches in the finals of the Highlander Two. Yeah, it was from Minnesota, minnesota, apple Valley had come down, oh, some crazy school a number of years ago and Lemmer beat this kid Um, it was just an amazing match. And then I think I think in a maybe it was the quarters of the summaries at state where he beat um from Stephen's point, the great Greco wrestler, um, who's been on world teams, and Cheryl Coontz, um, older, um and bigger. Gosh, darn it, this is me getting old.
Speaker 2:Uh-oh, I'll think of it at some point in time. What year, what year span Ernie?
Speaker 3:Um so he, he's still wrestling international Greco right now. Ben Proviser, Ben Proviser.
Speaker 2:John Veal is coming through tonight.
Speaker 3:Thank you, Ben Veal, for helping an old man with his memory lapses, but, um, yeah, I mean, that was just one of those matches I think it was even the quarters, maybe you know before they seeded, when you're like what? What are we doing with these two kids wrestling in the second round, when and it was just a great match too- we get a Milwaukee Riverside, a Golden mare up and next.
Speaker 2:Who was fourth in the Milwaukee Riverside region with 157 points. They're returning to four of their 10 starters and 61 points. They'll be led by a Acer Clark, who qualified for state at 182, along with sectional qualifiers at Jeffrey Joule and Marion Williams.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, acer Clark is really good at 37 and seven last year, right and getting to the state, getting to the state tournament, and he was in one of those. Really, he was in one of those crazy tough spots in the bracket Do I looked where you know, if you lose your first match, you're probably done because the guy that you're wrestling you know is wrestling normal Vainey or some. You know it was just one of those. What can you do? And Riverside's, another school they've been back and forth in art with in the same sectional as us and they put out some, some really good wrestlers every year. So I think they're going to be, they're going to bring more than than four kids, you know, to regionals and they do a great job down there too.
Speaker 2:Mike Rackawickie, the the beast coach and number one dipping dots plug. Yeah, green Clark is big and strong and that yeah was it, was that 182 at your sectional Ernie.
Speaker 3:That's I can tell you what sectional there we're in. I wrote it down they were in the Pioche sectional, pioche okay.
Speaker 2:So sectional F, then I might peep that bracket at some point. Next up, Steve oh, we got the rig. Nicklele, who was a third in their regional with 170 points. They returned seven of their 11 starters in a hundred and a half points. They do lose it. Dylan Lewandowski, who qualified for state at 138 pounds. They are returning a. Ryland Smith, who qualified at 113. Mr Ben Ott, who will place fourth at state at 170. Also one heck of a running back into baseball player as well. And Evan held, who made to the Cole Center at 285, along with two sectional qualifiers. Coach, Of course you guys beat Nicklele to make it to sectionals last year. They had a really strong senior class when they made to team state, but I think doing what they did after losing that senior class is pretty impressive in itself too. I know coach Gus. I don't think he's coaching there anymore, so if you have more on that, feel free to fill us in.
Speaker 3:But, yeah, your thoughts on Nicklele. So Gus is in a similar place to a lot of us, with a young family and kids who are starting to come up through wrestling, and so he's not he's still super involved and he's helping out with the club and he wants to be able to spend that time with his kids. And wrestling is a hard sport when you have kids, and he's got more than one young one right. You're Saturdays, you're leaving at 5.30 in the morning and getting home at 10 at night sometimes from these tournaments. So Gus has kind of stepped back to being more of a support role with the program. Their new coach is not going to, you're going to know this name is coach Quinlan from Whittnell, who's taking over there, and he's going to do a great job. I don't want to get into too much negative stuff, but yeah, love to see him in that spot though.
Speaker 3:He didn't get the opportunity to come back to Whittnell, which I was really sad for Whittnell and Nicolay was smart enough to reach out and find a guy with great experience who's going to you know, who's just stepped right in and is going to help make all those kids better. Talking about Nicolay, you want to talk about a program that's heavyweight rich. They've had two different kids who were both underclassmen going to the state tournament in the last two years right in Max Stulmacher the year before he gets hurt last year, and Evan held steps in and qualifies for the state championships and wins the sectional title. And then Ben Othlasher was in the semifinals, you know, came a point away from wrestling for the championship, which the interesting thing about that is he would have wrestled the same kid in the state finals as his brother did the year before in Ethan Riddle and Ryland Smith. I think Ryland Smith qualified as a freshman too for the state tournament, so he's got a lot of experience.
Speaker 3:I look at their other guys Kaden Luloff, you know he was a sectional qualifier last year, 27 and 20 at 182. And then they have Sam Schultz, who also qualified, and James Hightower in a mirror web back. You know they still have three. I mean that's the most kids I've had get to a state tournament in all my years at Homestead in a year and they have all three of them back Right. Well, they're absolutely one of the teams to look at on paper as potentially winning our regional and V&T team sectionals.
Speaker 2:And we got Whitefish Bay up next, who was fifth in the Ocon regional with 79 points. They're returning five of their nine starters and 34 points. They're returning a sectional qualifiers, gus Shaw, but David Kleiner and Harrison Bortelotti, I tell you guys, the Ocon regional kind of a grinder, I would say. And fifth, there is definitely nothing to scoff at and I think Dale's still coaching there, but I know he's excited for what their team can do this year.
Speaker 3:Yeah, dale, he does a lot of behind the scenes stuff. He helps make you know with their JV tournament that they host at the end of the year. He and I talk relatively often. My son hadn't returned his contract to Whitefish Bay to referee and he was checking on that. So keeping an eye on our teenagers, I thought in our conference. And the North Shore Conference is, I think over the last three years, one of the most improved conferences in the state in terms of numbers with all of our programs and also with the number of place winners we're ending up with at the state tournament. You know that's ultimately what you look at.
Speaker 3:Whitefish Bay was a great story. Last year. They had, I think, six or seven kids a year before. They had 30 kids out last year getting involved. They've made their work and their tails off over there running to get things done and they're going to get nothing but better as they continue to go along. And wrestling is like football, it's like cross country, it's like swimming, it's a numbers game. The more kids you have out, the better you're going to be. And I'm super excited about our conference. I'm going to throw some love out to Grafton and Cedarburg as well, schools that had been struggling. That increased their numbers dramatically last year too, and we talked about this before. It's exciting when you want the sport to grow, you want a win, but you want everyone to have that success and get kids out, and certainly the North Shore Conference is, I think, really continuing to head in a super positive direction.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, that's good. I mean just to say, coach, you want success for all programs. It speaks a lot about you. I have a T3 individual notes for Whitefish Bay. On the girl side, rosemary Triggs she's looking to make her third trip to state, but I found this kind of interesting. Harry I hope we're seeing his name right Bortalotti. He ran for over 1,000 yards this year on the football field, so nice job for him. And you know, t, we always like to praise our two sport than three sport athletes. Right, how about this for David Kleiner? He plays both football and soccer, so in the fall he is a two sport athlete alone. So that's pretty impressive.
Speaker 3:I wonder if I see a lot of footballs? Yeah, I see a lot of footballs. Really good running back.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow.
Speaker 3:Dang.
Speaker 2:I wonder if Kleiner is the kicker that goes out and just was the kicker on Friday, but still, nonetheless, that's a busy schedule. Sure is when you're working. Yeah, when you're a dual sporting guy. Just in one season the guy's last school we have here is Homestead, who was the second in the Nicolet Regional with 207.5 points. They lost to Aerohead 59 to 18 at team sectionals. It was the first ever team sectionals appearance in the track wrestling era that I saw. They are returning 11 of their 14 starters and 170.5 points. They are returning this guy by the name of Charlie Millard, who won a state title at 160 pounds last year, along with sectional place winners George Jones, shemi Segal, guy Fraley and Jonah Stammer. But we do have the Homestead Subject Matter Expert on Ernie. Real quick, before we dive into some more fun questions here what's your outlook on the team this year? Is there any names that we didn't mention that we should know about? That might pop onto our radar? What are the team goals for this year? Let's hear about it, man.
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, I'll start back when Charlie was a freshman. When Charlie was a freshman, we knew our numbers were going up. We had a big freshman class. I sat down with my staff and even our parents and I said we're on a four-year plan when my son's a senior. And you've got Jonah Stammer and you've got Shemi. You've got Cole Hart's a name that you haven't heard who was kind of in those middleweight classes. You've got Brady Stammer, who was hurt last year.
Speaker 3:Our goal was by this year to be competing for a conference championship and the opportunity to get to Team State and Ryder Sigler, my assistant We've talked about it a lot. Tom Price has been with me forever, ryder's dad, joe Sigler, joe Fisher, my assistant and then we're adding a member to our staff this year who I'm really excited about, kid, by the name of Dejan Johnson you may have heard him who won a couple of state titles and is an outstanding you know, just an outstanding teacher of the sport. Yeah, we're super excited. We lost John Moyer and Tommy O'Leary from last year's team and we come back with the deepest team we've had in 30 years for sure, with a team that we want to compete and try and be one of those teams trying to win an Osher Conference title and then getting to Team State, and it's really changed a lot of things for us.
Speaker 3:For a long time I was trying to get numbers out. I was trying to build that team and our numbers are good and now we have to approach things a little bit differently this year, understanding that every conference dual is important. You know, we're not just trying to go out and be competitive now, and so it's going to change things for us this year a little bit. So I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit. But yeah, I think this is going to be one of the best teams Homesteads ever had. Charlie and I have had a lot of talks and the conversation that he and I have had is Charlie, you're one of three state champions in the history of the high school. You're going to go down as one of Homesteads greatest wrestlers. I want you to go down as one of Homesteads greatest wrestlers on Homesteads greatest team.
Speaker 1:And I'm just excited Like.
Speaker 3:Brady Youngstrom was a kid you know, who was weighed 100 pounds last year and was wrestling 113 for us at the end of the year. Who's going to be a true 113 pounder this year? Aiden Cremers, a kid who we you know, not all my kids wrestle year round. He's one of them. He's a junior. This year he's been our 106 pounder. We talked about George, who won 32 matches last year as a freshman 32 and 19. And, frankly, had a really disappointing sectional that lost in the sectionals, got put on his back and pinned against someone that he'd beaten twice and otherwise he's probably at at the state tournament and he's worked really hard. Shemi Stegel is one of our two team captains this year, has really developed into a leader and put a ton of time in and he'll be at 32 or 26. Roddy and Logan Cook were both kids who scored big points for us at the conference tournament and regionals last year. Soren Osachi, who won 30, he's won 30 plus matches both as freshmen and sophomore year and was just in a brutal weight class last year. And then Jonah Stammer you talked about, who qualified for state as a sophomore and didn't quite make it last year. And Charlie, who's in you know his fourth year and has. You know what his aspirations are to you know, taking each week one match at a time. But in the end, you know he wants to be in Madison again wrestling for a state title and we talked about he really wants to be in Madison twice wrestling for state titles. He wants to be there at the last week in February and the first weekend in March.
Speaker 3:And then I think Guy Fraley is going to be a really exciting kid to watch this year. Think he's one of the most improved kids on our team. He's put a lot of time in. Brady Stammer is a kid that was recovering from ACL terror last year and at Freestyle and Greco State he placed second in both this year in U16. And then you know Carson Otto is a sophomore who's going to be, you know, in that 132, 144 area this year. Who you know. He just couldn't get into the lineup last year.
Speaker 3:And then Cole Hart I mentioned. He didn't get into the lineup until the Waukesha South tournament because he was behind Jonah and Charlie and made it to the semifinals in his first matches unseated and then went to an O in conference for us when Charlie was sick last year and and he's grown a lot and he's a little bit undersized for 190, but he's. He's going to be up there battling for us. So we have a lot of depth. We have to get better at the lower and top ends of our weight classes if we want to be competitive in the North Shore Conference and win duels and get to team state.
Speaker 3:But yeah, I'm crazy excited about this team. Two years ago you guys were, you know, accusing me of potentially of sandbagging and I said no, I thought we had a chance to be competing. At the end. I tell you and I'm telling you that I think we have a chance to be competing at the end of the year at team sectionals and and we get to host team sectionals too. So we're crazy excited about that and I can't imagine a better way to finish my career coaching at homestead than with my son as a senior and this, this amazing group of kids and coaches.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know it's funny about that podcast coach. Well, first of all, you incurred as Fiedler now the only two to be on multiple sectional preview podcast pretty, pretty rarefied high company. I would say we got a. I just, steve, if you have questions, I'll let you go first, otherwise I'll probably ask questions for like an hour straight. So I'll let you get yours out of the way.
Speaker 1:Well, don't go that long. I really I'm sure he turns off again, but I, you know I was talking about this before and then you asked me about my interview with Charlie on Saturday and I started telling you I didn't like saving for the podcast. I will tell you this, and while I'll tell you the story, probably for the last time, I think I've told it numerous times. I don't know if, coach, you've ever heard it, but I still. Charlie Millard, there's certain wrestlers I'm afraid of, and your son is one of them and I go back to I as a fan. I just showed up at the mid-states tournament. I think he was a freshman, I think he wrestled like 135-ish somewhere.
Speaker 3:He was a sophomore. He was a sophomore A sophomore and he was.
Speaker 1:I'm just standing there like I, I'm standing there with my jacket, I'm by the doors on the it'd be the north end of the gym and kind of cold air right behind me, and I'm just like, okay, and I in. I come walking and there's Charlie Millard warming up in front of me and I'm like who is this kid? He had the triangle back going down and the intensity of his warmup made me fear him. I'm like man, if I had to go out on the mat with him I think I would turn around and run the other way. So that was my first Charlie Millard experience.
Speaker 1:And then I had an interview. I didn't, I didn't dare ask him about the takedown or anything like that, or I thought he would have chased me across the turf and throw me out of the gym. But here was the cool thing I was. You know you ask the typical questions of hey, how to feel, all this kind of stuff. But as soon as I asked, I asked one question about winning the state championship with with you as his dad, and that really you can see the softness in him kind of start to. He kind of got a little emotional.
Speaker 1:And then I asked him about the potential of ending this year at the barn wrestling at team states and his whole demeanor just changed and it was. You could see he's definitely a team guy and he and he's obviously cares a lot about you and cares a lot about his team. It's not just Charlie Millard state medals, it's it's, you know, homestead. How do we get down to team state? It was really really cool. I hope you get a chance to watch the interview and kind of just see his face change. I thought it was pretty. I could feel it being five feet away from. Hopefully you can feel through the camera.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we're, you know. I mean I've said this too many times I guess, but I've gotten a little bit dream that every dad or mom who coaches wants to live right Sitting on the side of the mat while their child's wrestling you know, in front of 15,000 people. At the Colesner I got to do it twice. Chance was, you know, on a on a valiant, losing, losing end. Looking back the experiences that I had with him after that loss, maybe they're as memorable as when he won.
Speaker 3:Getting getting to share with your kids, you know, enduring hardship and sorrow too and experiencing hunger, I can tell you as as a coach, it's way more enjoyable when you get to enjoy it not just with your child but with a bunch of kids working hard for a common goal.
Speaker 3:And the kids are thinking about it.
Speaker 3:They know I always try to put it kind of out of the back of our minds and don't push it, but towards the end of last year we started setting actual goals of what we want to accomplish and I remember at conference I said, well, we want to be in the top half and writer who can be really gruff was like that's be us, we don't want to be in the top half we're going to finish top three with this group of kids.
Speaker 3:And we did. And then, and then it was like, guys, we want to get to that team sectional, we want to get there. And, granted, we were running into a juggernaut, that was there all had at the time. And so we're we're going to actually have tangible goals set for ourselves this year, things that we're going to try and accomplish. Sometimes you don't do that and maybe we'll take a step back somewhere and then we'll rally and if that doesn't happen, but but in the end we're hoping we're one of those four teams at homestead for that team sectional and and competing to to try and get to state.
Speaker 2:Coach talking more on the team here. Of course, charlie, last year the state title that was just that was awesome to see. Team wise, you talk about making it to team sectionals. You lose the arrowhead 59 to 18, four sectional place winners which, as you always know, when you're a sectional place winner you're this close to state. So I think, not just as a team but individually, I think you have a lot of guys who are hungry and that's just going to make everyone better. But the result aside, with arrowhead, how valuable do you think getting that one year of experience that team sectionals was for this team that's looking to make it to the next level this year? You see a few teams here and there they get to team sectionals and they can make it to team state their first go around. But sometimes teams need a couple of years to kind of get used to that feeling and just feel comfortable in that setting. So how valuable do you think into team sectional? Tuesday was last year for your program.
Speaker 3:Oh, it was super important for us just to just to experience, you know, just to experience that day right In the middle of the week where you're getting ready for sectionals, you're leaving, you know, leaving school relatively early in the afternoon, you're traveling as a team to a duel. That's significant and that'll carry over to our conference duels this year, to understanding that team concept and how things are trying to get done, you know. And then we stayed. I said, regardless of what happens, we're going to stay because this is where you want to be next year. And so our team sat and watched that, and so I think it's invaluable, just because it can be nerve wracking for young kids, right, this is their first experience under a spotlight, with something on the line like that. So it was super, it was super valuable for us and and and it was a crazy gym at Port Washington, with the Germantown Arrowhead dual meat coming down, you know, to one point and and so I don't think any of that was lost on my kids.
Speaker 2:That's good stuff, ernie. Let's see. I had one more question. Oh, I know that I have one locked in here, but, oh man, this is like the worst time to lose my train of thought. It is literally locked in there, right, yeah yeah, that was a big dip on my tongue, but If I have the question.
Speaker 2:I'll think of it later, but I do have a question for you, Ernie, because you are one of the guys that we always use an example of where we talk about. We don't like to highlight just good wrestlers and good coaches. We like to highlight good people, and we always use you as example number A, as exhibit A on the show, and I'm going to switch this question up because I was going to ask you about how it was being on the sidelines when Charlie won his state title. But here's the thing A you're becoming a celebrity. This is your second podcast in a week.
Speaker 2:You were on Vision Quest last week. I already touched about that a little bit. B you're going to have a lot of free time after this year when you're doubly retired. We could maybe bring you on to the third host, who knows? So we'll have plenty of time to talk about that state experience with Charlie. It's clear that you and Charlie have a really great bond. I mean you guys even got the same haircut a couple of weeks ago. You guys spend a lot of time with each other. You know a lot about each other in general. I guess I want to ask you non-wrestling-wise what's your favorite thing about Charlie as a person off the mat, and it doesn't have to be, and it can be. You can talk about an experience or an example with it. But, generally speaking, what's your favorite thing about Charlie as a person?
Speaker 3:I think it may sound cheesy and cliche, my favorite thing about Charlie is that he treats other people well. And this is his dad talking and he's a teenager and he can irritate me at different times, but he treats other people well. I remember, and I'll just go back he was in the fifth grade and Lisa called me and she was in tears. I'm like, oh my gosh, what's wrong? And Charlie had gotten out of the car His last year at elementary school and a young lady, her backpack, flew up and papers were flying everywhere and of course everybody's kind of traipsing by to go into school and Charlie put his stuff down and took time to pick everything up and help her. And my wife was like, ok, and it was the tears of we're doing something right If our child, as a fifth grader, was observant enough to stop and help somebody else.
Speaker 3:I really enjoy my time with him and we hit those teenagers 15, 16, where we didn't get a lot of conversation. And now we're at the tail end and he's not going to be here a year from now and we enjoy getting to spend time with him. So I think just that he's a good person and fortunately you talk about me seeming relaxed. But everybody who knows me well knows I'm pretty tightly wound. Passionate's good Tightly wound is not always great and he's really good at kind of going with the flow and he has his moments where he gets frustrated. But so those two things. I think he's a truly good person and he just kind of enjoys life as it comes at him. He's a really good wrestler, but he's not defined by that. He's defined by the kind of person he is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think his state title is a product of being a great worker and a great person. But even if Charlie was a zero-win wrestler, you guys did all the right things and the state championship is just a byproduct of all that. So I thought of that question, knowing that you would knock it out of the park and, like I said, it's always fun hearing about good people doing good things. So thank you for that, ernie, and I did think of my question now and I have to ask it so I can get less emotional before we make our predictions. But it is your last go-around as the coach and I know you talked about having a four-year plan in place, but I also feel like you're a guy You're not going to just stop caring about homestead wrestling right when your time as a coach ends, having all these new guys on your staff, these younger guys, having a presence. Was this also a part of making sure that homestead wrestling still has a strong presence after the Mollard era?
Speaker 3:For sure. My plan started two years ago with Ryder Sigler, who is a outstanding wrestler at Cedarburg and qualified for the national championships at Whitewater when COVID hit and I'm not that guy who thinks I need to pick my predecessor. I don't need to pick that person. But I went to my AD and coaches are hard to find and I said to him do you want me to be looking for you? And his response was yes and Ryder was working for Max over at the Ascrin Academy. Ryder's mom, gail Sigler, was a crazy successful gymnastics coach at Homestead one state championships there. His dad was a state champ at Port Wrestling's and their family I had watched him in high school and then watched him after high school and Angela LaRosa actually suggested him to me from Port Washington and Max said I don't think you'll do it, ernie, he's too busy. And so I called him and said will you meet me for a beer? I want to make a sales pitch to you and if there's one thing I can do sometimes that sell people on something I truly believe in. And 15 minutes later he said OK, I'll come coach with you. And I gave him the speech of I've got this many years left. I have three years left. If you like this and you're a good fit and we do well together, I will recommend you as the next head coach. And he's done nothing but fly past every expectation I could have had for him as Homestead's next coach. We brought his dad on last year. I know how tight Ryder is with his dad and so I talked to Joe and said I want you to come here and he's great in a relational capacity with kids. And then Joey Fisher, who's been with me, wrestled for me. He doesn't have as much time to put in this year, but he's volunteering one day a week to work with our lighter weights. And then the opportunity to work with Dejan Johnson, who I've known for a long time and gotten to watch working with kids.
Speaker 3:You always want to leave something. They say when you're camping leave the campsite cleaner than when you got there. I'm hoping four years from now I'm a ghost in terms of my actual presence at Homestead High School, and now it'll be three years as a teacher. And I don't mean that you didn't have an impact on what you did. What you do, if you did things right, is the impact that you had on the people that you worked with, the teachers that you worked with, the coaches that you worked with, the kids that you spent time with. That's what leaving a lasting legacy is, and the people that I worked with when I was a young teacher, who the Dick Millers of the world and the Jim Cootses and the Dave Kiehls who Dave was the first person to hire me at Homestead High School, like I talked about in the other podcast. They've all impacted me, so their legacy lives on. Hopefully that impact will be there.
Speaker 3:Lastly, like Tom Price, my really good friend, and I've already said, we're going to come back and we're going to run the Highlander for you rider every year so that you can focus on coaching and making kids better, because it's an administrative handful right when this year we're going to have 33 teams at that Highlander and it's a great fundraiser for them and super, super high quality.
Speaker 3:So we're going to continue to do that. I ran for the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation Board of Directors. I want to be able to give back to the youth programs that gave so much to Charlie and I've already promised the University of Minnesota that I would help run their Mat Boss tournament selfishly, because Charlie is going to be working that tournament as a member of the team and I'll get to see him for that weekend for five years in a row and hopefully have dinner while we're doing it. So yeah, I mean I'm an emotional guy too, and when we get to senior night this year it'll be a difficult night for me, but there was definitely a plan in place. I started thinking about it after Charlie's freshman year and wanted Homestead to be in a good place.
Speaker 2:I think it's safe to say there will be and it's a lot of it because of you, coach. So thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you. They always say great leaders plant the seed so that future leaders can sit in the shade. I think you and a lot of people around you are doing exactly that. I thought I was going to get a pallet cleanser answer for that, but I'm still like, wow, this is powerful stuff, man. It's just always great having you, but we got to do some team predictions here, steve-o, so I got the coin out and that's me. You're up first.
Speaker 1:I'll be really quick with this one. I have a feeling I'm going to have a lot of explanations to make a little bit later on. I have three teams in this one. I have my first team as an outside team looking in. I probably maybe would have considered them more as the runner up team. Obviously, with the bad news of losing a state place winner hurts them. But I have the first team on the outside. Looking in is Brown Deer, Mesmer, Shorewood. I have my number two team, I think only having oh, I'll take what they have Nine wrestlers at Regionals last year for Nicolet. I think that was a one-year fluke. I expect them to have close to a full squad this year. So I'm going to have Nicolet as my second place team and Homestead as my regional champion out of the first regional here.
Speaker 2:All right, I'll start off easy here. Ernie said he's pretty good at selling things he genuinely believes in and he sold pretty well how good Homestead's team's going to be this year this far. It makes it pretty easy for me to choose them, and that's even just based off of numbers too. I have them as my first place team. I think there could be a sneaky three teams in this race. I think of Whitefish Bay with three sectional qualifiers. It's going to be a big battle of numbers, steve. If we could see one of these teams get too close to a full roster, that could be the difference maker. If Whitefish Bay not only gets nine, but if they get into that double digits along with three sectional qualifiers, they could maybe make a case with a good day. I have them as a fourth third place team right now in that same mix with Whitefish Bay as Brown to your Mesmer Shorewood Haven Rogers out. That's a potential. It's also crazy Rogers finished third at regionals and then he beat the guy that beat them at sectionals to make it to state Haven Rogers out. That is a lot of points. But, like coach said, if they can build those numbers, they have hay as a guy who's going to get them a solid, probably 25, 30 points. That could be big for them. But I think Brown Deer just like we talked about Homestead a couple of years ago, I think Brown Deer's window is like two years away two to three years away and we're really going to see the fruits of what they're building there. So I have them as another team.
Speaker 2:Steve, we learned our lesson in the past here. How do you go against the Rake man and what was maybe quantified as a quote unquote down year? Having 11 starters on the lineup and then still having four state qualifiers returning three of those guys and still two sectional qualifiers? The numbers are there for Nicolay and I think, especially knowing who their head coach is. I think that's a pretty big thing, and knowing Gus is still in the mix is awesome. Nicolay, I have them as my second place team and I think they're going to be a team that's in pole season contention for years to come. So the same thing as you, steve-o, but I do think this has the potential to be a really fun regional race by the end of the year, with a lot of teams looking to prove themselves. Ernie your thoughts on this regional as a whole before we move on.
Speaker 3:The team that you brought up. I like being competitive as Whitefish Bay too, because I think by the end of this year they're going to have a full lineup. They were careful with kids last year not to put them in positions where they were going to get discouraged. And I look at it, I see those four teams as being competitive, and Nicolay they find, yes, on paper for sure, with the number of kids coming back, we're the favorite from a point standpoint, but I think Nicolay will push really, really hard and I think it'll be a battle to get that done. Losing Mackay costs you 30 points potentially in a regional tournament, and that makes it really hard.
Speaker 2:Real quick here before we move on to the next sectional. That's a couple people while we're talking with you Ernie Kobe Lynch, the Hamilton coach. He is on, he is a very big advocate. Coach Millard for host number three, and then Mike Rakowicki, again to say you and Charlie are the same person, both incredible human beings. So just more love from the listeners. Tuning in. Next to regional we got here, guys. I think this is a regional that the teams are usually with each other for the most part. Cudahay, franklin, reagan, oak Creek, south Milwaukee were all in the same regional last year. They're joined by Greenfield, hamilton and Pulaski. Starting off first here is Cudahay, st Francis, thomas More. They were eighth in the Franklin regional with 31 points, returning to four of their five starters and 24 points, and they'll be led by returning sectional qualifier Brandon Hernandez.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they Cudahay, struggled with numbers for the last five or six years. They were actually at the Highlander for a while too and had two or three really really top level kids, so they were trying to get to that tournament to help them. I know they're in a rebuilding phase right now but, yeah, the only person coming back that's a senior is Sebastian Rubelkava, and so they're young and I see them growing as well. If they're going to be competitive in that sexual, they're going to have to add numbers. But Hernandez, like you said, he was 500 rusher last year and that was a brutal sectional last year that they were in, or brutal regional, I mean coming back so next up here is a Franklin who.
Speaker 2:Steve got to be at a Franklin duel last year. We had the Franklin boys on for a sectional G and man, let me tell you what they are a great time. They were first in the Franklin regional with 283 points. They did beat New Berlin 38 to 24 at team sectionals and then lost to Mosquigo 51 to 15 in the finals. They returned 11 of their 14 starters and 217 points. They do lose Huniel Mohn, who qualified for state at 106. And Davis Anderson, who made it to state at 132. They're returning. Matthew Barley, who qualified for state at 120. Mandy Joseph, who made it at 170. Teagan Fox I love the name he made it in the Coles Center at 182. And Mr Talon Summers, who qualified at 285, along with five sectional place winners.
Speaker 2:I tell you what guys this has a team to potentially be scary this year I mean team state. Two years ago, last year I mean it still had an impressive amount of guys making it to the state tournament. Quite a few lost outright away. But we know they're going to improve. Their program has been improving throughout the season, year in and year out for the past few years now. And sectional place winners if Franklin has a really good day at sectionals. We could potentially see eight, nine, 10 state qualifiers for them. That's my thoughts on Franklin. Ernie, I know Franklin is a team that you have a whole year to get through, but they might be a team that you guys have to cross paths with at some point. So what are your thoughts on them?
Speaker 3:My thoughts were when I was researching this how can a team that good only lose two kids from their starting lineup? That was my first thought. Like holy crap on paper. You look at this squad and they, on paper they have to be the favorite in our sectional to beat at team state with that kind of experience that they had wrestling to get to team state last year. Looking at the numbers I went through it I'm like there's a lot of kids that were at the state tournament and I went and looked at their brackets and, granted, they were coming in. I think two of them were 16 seed.
Speaker 3:So you're wrestling the number one seed right away, but you're still on the floor of the Cole Center and a kid like Matt Bauer, who's a senior this year, who was 34 and 16, who didn't get to state last year, he's going to be the favorite at 38 this year, I would think, to win our sectional. So they are a very, very good team. They're a very well-coached team. They've been there before. This is not new to them, so I'm not going to lie. I'm going to be paying really close attention to them throughout the year. I'm not one of those coaches who's going to tell you. Oh yeah, we'll worry about that. When we get to team sectionals, if we get there right, I'm going to be watching coaches line up and I think we are actually at a tournament with them this year I can't remember. I think they go to battle on the Bay and we're going to battle on the Bay this year as well. So we'll get to see each other there.
Speaker 3:And tournaments and duel meets are not the same, as you know, but individual tournaments. But there are things to measure up here and they're a senior laden team. They have one, two, three, four, five. Six of their kids coming back are seniors. So they've been around and experienced it and they're heavyweight. I watched how in summers I went because that's what I do, I get on track wrestling. I think he's really good. I think he's going to be on the podium this year for sure. Antigone Fox is really tough. Mason Clark took third at sectionals after I think he was injured for a good portion of the year because he only ended up wrestling about 20 matches but came back and they wrestle a tough schedule too. They're at the Ed Stack, seeing Rapids and McGowanigal and all those schools, and that's how you get better. So I think Franklin's really, really good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just a few notes. I mean, I got to talk about my Franklin boys, right. Nick Valley and DeVos Sino, those two guys, man, you get those two together and put a quarter in them and listen to them. It's a show in itself, right, it's a podcast in itself, but they do, they put on a good show. I went down and called the action last year with them in Oak Creek Great conference battle, right, they I mean Coach Sino, he's an older guy, right, but he wants to do, he wants to make things fresh, he wants to make things exciting, he wants to bring friends in the door. Like I said, they put on what is an awesome show there and obviously going to be a tough team this year. But I do have to give a shout out to you. We always talk about our shirts. I am sporting my Franklin shirt. I got it in my duel last year, so there, it is.
Speaker 1:I want to give a shout out, trying to wear a different shirt for each sectional.
Speaker 3:There's my Franklin one, so Coach, you know, makes me look like I'm calm on the side of the mat.
Speaker 2:He sure does. That guy's not lacking energy by any means, and I'm guessing we have some Franklin people who toured in. They shared the stuff there. They're excited for the season, for sure. And guys I wonder if the success at Heavyweight you wonder what the crossover between their really good football team and the wrestling team is right now.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I don't wonder about the crossover at all. You know, I go back to when Barry Alvarez was coaching at Wisconsin and he was one of the first college coaches. I remember saying I want all my linemen to be wrestlers, right? I don't think it's not coincidence at all. Yeah, steve, and they got it going. I got to give a shout out to Franklin's athletic director, their new athletic director, koi Smith, who's a Homestead high school graduate who just took over it at Franklin and was a three sport athlete at Homestead outstanding football, basketball and baseball player for us and I'm excited to get to see him this year, hopefully if Franklin and Homestead end up in team sectionals together and certainly they're hosting the sectional. So I'm looking forward to getting to see him. So I got to give Koi a shout out.
Speaker 2:Hey, a little bit of highlander pride right there. We love to see it. Steve, absolutely Trivia question for you maybe. I know it's a hard name to forget, so I think you can nail it Talon Summers, continuing the strong Franklin heavyweight tradition of the big man from two years ago.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, stephen De La. Oh man, we're just going to go with Stephen, yeah.
Speaker 2:No, you did just call him Stephen through the show. I can remember his last name, stephen Martinez Delacotero, a man who was six, eight, it seemed like, and yeah, it was just a monster, but a great kid.
Speaker 1:And we did. We did coin the phrase uh Sabrina for a Sabri Sino.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir.
Speaker 1:We just combined it together and called him Sabrina so.
Speaker 2:Next school up here is a Greenfield who was at fifth in the Mosquigo regional with 90 points. They returned a sixth of their seven starters and 77 points. They'll be led by returning sectional qualifier Kenny Jersey and the four more sectional place winners.
Speaker 3:Yeah, he was the name that stuck out for me too Last year. He was actually that a sectional place winner for them and I that first match at sectionals, because it's do or die. I just think that's a huge tester and a huge predicator of what's going to happen next year. So I think he's going to be really, really solid. They're still young. They only have one senior out of that group coming back and De Jesus Um and and in that. So I think they're, I think they might be upper half and in that regional going in.
Speaker 2:Moving on to Milwaukee, hamilton Autobahn technology, who was at sixth in the Mosquigo regional with 39 points, they're returning a four of their six starters and 23 points. They'll be led by returning sectional qualifier on Jean Alamo. That's going to be a real hard name to forget. Uh guys, just talking to a Kobe Lynch on Saturday you know numbers wise just bringing back four. But uh, when you talk to a coach that says excited about his program and his team, as Kobe was, you can't help but feel optimistic for the team. So I think they're going to be a team, steve, that we need to keep an eye on. We watched their numbers grow and then in a couple of years you see the results start to improve. I mean a returning sectional qualifier. That's a solid nucleus to have for a team looking to build Kobe. Thank you for tuning in and supporting the show and yeah, it'll be fun to watch these guys, not only this year but over the course of the years to come.
Speaker 3:And Hamilton's a school that has a history of wrestling too, right, um, that's had big teams and um and Ben city conference champion in the past. Um, and so I do see the points you made before about the city conference growing it's. It's such a great sport because you don't have to have a ton of money to get involved. Um and I I hear you know the city kids club is trying to make things affordable and they're talking to coaches from other clubs, um, to get them involved and I see a lot of collaboration and growth in um in Milwaukee wrestling and I I see I see Hamilton as they're. They're not going to show up um at regionals with four or five kids. I guarantee they'll have twice. That at least a sure.
Speaker 2:Moving on to a Milwaukee, a Pulaski, a Carmen, a Southeast who they didn't bring a team into regionals last year but uh, just looking at their roster from last year they did have six guys on the roster. So, fellas, we've seen this sometimes where a team uh might have a year where they dedicate just to JV, just look to build that program. So hopefully we can see a Pulaski back in that mix in the post season this year.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and just being redundant, I know, repeating what we said like whitefish Bay was careful with their team last year, I think Pulaski was doing the same kind of thing. Right we're going. If we take kids to regionals that are brand new to the sport and and they end up wrestling kids who've been around for a long time. They don't want that to be a just something to prevent them from wanting to continue to compete.
Speaker 2:Next school up up Milwaukee Ronald Reagan uh, and Salem, a co-op, who was a six in the Franklin regional with a 57 points. They returned four of their five starters and 40 points. They'll be led by returning sectional qualifiers Alejandro uh, Guyona Joseph Ramos and Miguel a Ponce de Leon. Uh, girls wise, uh, they're, you know, you think of girls wrestling in Wisconsin. They're probably one of the first team that, first teams that come to mind. They're returning all four of their state qualifiers and, uh, both place winners and Ali on a writer and Natalie Masu.
Speaker 2:We'll talk more about uh, that, of course, uh, in our girls preview. But just some quick words here from Steve. We say Stratford coach Adam Davidson is the most fashionable coach. The best dress coach might be Malcolm Briggs out of Reagan man Tell you what he dressed pretty spiffy on a Saturday for the big cheese, but he had this to say about his team this year They've added a Gary Conkel to their staff who's a pro MMA fighter, which I think not only going to help with technique stuff but also just probably mentality stuff in a general way.
Speaker 2:And then, uh, adding the school is going to help with numbers and just helping another school. You know, bring wrestling up is awesome. Uh, he talks about his returners here and, uh, he's just impressed with the girls numbers and how they've managed to stay solid throughout all these years. I think so to honesty. Who made it to the blood round last year? Uh, she, she looked great at freestyle state, so she's going to be one to see potentially get on the podium this year. And uh, it's for the boys he knows numbers wise. You know right away the numbers don't pop, but he's looking to hopefully get a team that can win a city conference title this year, and what the coaches they have on their staff, uh, I think it's very possible for them to build a team that can do that.
Speaker 3:I absolutely love their level of enthusiasm to we. Um, we're at the Nina tournament with them for the last two years and they are a program on the rise and the girls side of it they're a program that's. I can't say they're on the rise anymore because they're there in terms of being that competitive, but they're. They're bringing the guys along too. Uh, I think they're doing it. Just, I think coach Briggs is doing a fantastic job there, and I'm that old guy that I'm not just watching matches taking place. You know what's going on in the mat. I'm watching what they're doing off the mat to try and build that program and I I think he's doing an unbelievable job.
Speaker 2:Steve, I know we got to chat with Malcolm a little bit on Saturday. It's one of those guys you always love to get an opportunity to talk with. Uh, he was just a diplomat. I could talk, wrestling with them all day.
Speaker 1:I was impressed with him. Uh, I didn't know you're going to pause a question or not.
Speaker 2:Uh, oh, sorry, yeah, no, I was just. Yeah, I just talked to you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I, I, I just needs to got to talk to you. I liked him when we had him on our show, right, him and Bear, uh, that talk about another podcast that just flowed right by, just because, uh, they are such great guys, easy to talk to you, and no wonder why their, their, their, their program is is, numbers are coming out and, uh, growing for them and their program, as as Ernie talked about, is on the rise.
Speaker 2:Next up here is Oak Creek, who was a runner-ups in the Franklin regional with 200 at 12 points. They lost to Muskego 57 to 15 at team sectionals. They returned eight of their 12 starters and 128 points. They are losing Hunter Gibbon who placed fifth at 195 at state last year, but they're returning to Ben Weezer who qualified at 113 and Jackson Villarreal who joined them, making that 152, along with four more sectional qualifiers. Oak Creek, one of the teams across the state where you see just returning eight and most teams you'd be worried about that. But with Oak Creek you know they're gonna. They're gonna reload a team. The guys who made to sectionals last year a few of them are going to make that jump to state and they're probably going to be fielding another contending team by the end of the year, next year.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I I. Hunter Gibbon was a fun kid to watch because they come to the Highlander and I'll say what he caught after it. But um, weezer and Villarreal are both the real deal and they're only sophomores and we're wrestling at the state tournament last year. They're really good. I'm Logan Carlson at 220. You know, I think I think he grew and benefited from getting to practice with Hunter all the time.
Speaker 3:And one of my really good buddies who used to coach with me decades ago, steve Hine, has been teaching at Oak Creek forever and he's one of their middle school coaches and they just they. They have an entrenched program. They do things the right way from the youth all the way up, and so they're always going to have good numbers and they're always going to be a threat and you know I mean eight's not bad coming back right. That means you know you've got to. You've got to come up with six kids who haven't been varsity kids before, but I guarantee they've got that kind of doubt that we're going to. We're going to see kids who look like they know what they're doing when they get there, because they do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's it too. They're going to be young but they're going to have great numbers. You talked about that middle school program and they're doing what a middle school program should be doing and that's that's feeding numbers to that high school. A kid that I don't think we mentioned talking about that. Everybody should keep their radar on is is T. Look it up quick. I think he was a hundred and six pounder, was Joel Rivers. He's 11 and three going into sectionals last year and really has been putting in the work in the off season. To you know, make that next jump.
Speaker 2:Did he? Did he wrestle at sectionals?
Speaker 3:He didn't wrestle at sectionals, I think he got hurt or or sick right before sexuals, but he was regional runner up last year. Um, and when you're, you know, and he, when you're a junior and you're at 106 or 113, like I think he's going to be this year, you know, and having had that experience, yeah, I agree with you. Um, I think he's going to be real tough. Steve.
Speaker 2:Well, steve, that was my research. Ernie nailed it. I didn't even need to go down the track, I was in the track rabbit hole. We got a South Milwaukee, who is our last team here in this sectional preview. They were a third in the Franklin regional with 167 points. They're returning 11 of their 12 stars and 155 points. They are led by Mr Connor O'Donnell, who qualified for state at 138 pounds, along with sectional place winners George Hamilton, aiden Elmore and Miguel Durand-Hemenez.
Speaker 2:First of all, team wise, you got to be feeling pretty good if you're South Milwaukee coming into this year. I think the three sectional place winners we could see a few guys for South Milwaukee wrestling at the Cole center individually. I just want to say Connor O'Donnell, that's a great kid who puts in a lot of time in the sport and I know I forgot if he plays as a freshman. I think he did during that, uh, during the year they wrestled in Kekwana. But just a guy that fell short of the podium, just short the last couple of years, and talk about a guy that deserves the success. It's him. You got to have the results, but I think I think it's coming this year where he's going to be on the podium at the Cole center, and I'm really looking forward to that moment for him.
Speaker 3:Well, I once again, I'm really really biased, but Connor is one of Charlie's really really good buddies and they've grown up together at the Ascorin Academy and Connor's dad, keith, is one of my dear friends. Um, connor had a great summer. You know he lost early at Fargo and then I think he won six or seven in a row coming up the backside which, if you, if you ever get a chance to go to Fargo and see the national championships do. But but coming up the backside at a tournament like that is insane. Um, because you're not wrestling. Imagine then taking two hours off, right, they're just coming one right after another. You know they got 30 mats going and it's crazy, connor's going Ivy League. Um, he's, he's a huge, huge um pickup and and um, yeah, I'm going to part of the part of the thing I'm going to miss most about all this when Charlie's gone, and I already miss it because our kids all drive and so we don't get to spend as much time together as we used to. Um, you had a, you had a cast, a character sitting around, when you had John Mirasola, the Mirasola's kids and Shane's goals, braden's goals, dad and and Connor's dad and Zach Alashevsky's dad and myself and um, we got to sit around and just enjoy our sons and enjoy company together. I'm going to really miss that a lot and Connor's dad, keith, is one of the people I'm going to miss most. Um, he and I have grown really close. I really like this team and I. I think that they're going to push Oak Creek really. Really I'm getting ahead of myself, but I think they're going to push Oak Creek really hard, um, to try and get to that team sectional this year.
Speaker 2:Coach, are you telling me that you're thinking about how the other regional and your sectional might be shaken out? That's something that's been on your mind.
Speaker 3:June 2nd when the WIA published it. Yes, oh.
Speaker 2:Man well, sevo, unless we take an hour talking about predictions, I think we're gonna be fine tonight.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm gonna have Ernie make all my picks up until the the final, so you bet pretty much spot on with my thinking, go ahead.
Speaker 2:All right, yeah, ernie, you'd kind of nail it.
Speaker 1:Well, well, as this is going, I'll say this, and this is go, those who are right into my my picks here, yeah you're what. I'm impressed with about South Milwaukee is we used to go to the South Milwaukee duals. I can't remember what they call them. I think they were just whatever they they have named after somebody, but I think it was two, three years ago South Milwaukee duals and they only had like three or four guys in their lineup and you guys in their lineup yeah, yeah and you.
Speaker 3:And it's, it's me, and they've got two. They got one, two, three, four, five. They got eight coming back from last year's team, right, and yeah, I got on Connors train because I just love them so much, but they are a much better team, you know, when you look at Andrew Ross watch and Aiden Elmore on opposite sides of of him and Wesley Rapid and and hated diamond there they are a solid team now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what? What I mean as I look to make my picks is how many state qualifiers right, how many sexual qualifiers, how many guys place that sectional specifically third button, in this case for South Milwaukee. They had, you know, they had three other than O'Donnell. They had three State place winners right. Fourth good place guy. So you got to win around at sectionals. Impressive, so you said it, I'm. I love picking the underdog. I love, you know, getting new teams on the sheets as far as who, you know who's gonna go to team sectional. Get that valuable experience.
Speaker 1:I still wanted to pick South Milwaukee, but here was the reason why I went, with Oak Creek being my number two team and that is this South Milwaukee's making that jump. They're getting the numbers and Oak Creek. You can look for Oak Creek and they might have been down or maybe, maybe this is kind of a down year for them, but here was the. The big thing that stood out for me is Oak Creek. Last year, not including the big numbers that they have coming in For the freshman, they had 38 returning kids on their skin fold and you compare that to South Milwaukee who's trying to build numbers, they only have 60. I shouldn't say only right, but they have 16 returning on their skin full.
Speaker 1:I think Oak Creek is just gonna have two to full of a lineup, to solid of a lineup, and they're gonna end up, you know, be a tight race. I do believe that. But I think Oak Creek is gonna end up being the second place team out of there, with, with South Milwaukee on the outside looking in, which leaves we already talked a lot about them the team I think we're we talking about Real quick, real shortly. Here is Franklin being the regional champ. All right, I got.
Speaker 3:Go ahead, Ernie. What do you got oh?
Speaker 3:I got exactly what you got. Franklin's just too deep and too experienced. I think I think they're gonna Handling win that sectional. And I, you know, I get to see Oak Creek a lot every year. They come to the Highlander and they they always find a way, because of what I talked about, with the strength of that program, to keep building and you think they're gonna be down. And there they are. I think those are the two teams that are gonna come out to that side. But if somebody's gonna sneak in, it's gonna be what South Milwaukee is doing.
Speaker 2:I Mean I'm gonna start my picks with a great analysis by both of you. I just gotta say I'm gonna start my picks by Ernie. You made a great point. I you're talking about a team on the outside looking in, that maybe is looking at being in this top two at some time in the future. Greenfield, returning Five sectional qualifiers I mean that's most of their lineup right there. So you're just talking, if you can build numbers, you got a pretty solid group of people and then, once you get the numbers in there, you got iron, sharpening iron between those guys and they could. They could be something special for sure. But this isn't the year because I have Franklin at number one with what they have coming back. And Steve, you made a great point with with all the numbers and whatnot. So I guess, just explaining out my pick here Oak Creek, returning 8 of 1212 88 points. South Milwaukee returning 11 of 12 155 points Oak Creek that basically means Maybe one or two guys away from having the same amount of returning points and then still having more spots to fill those starters Potentially, and also with the numbers in general, more than likely gonna have very serviceable starters in those spots.
Speaker 2:But, steve, when we make team sectional predictions. We really like to go off of our numbers and our analysis and whatnot, and a lot of the times when we get them wrong, I think part of it is just out of fear of picking against a strong, traditional team, because when you pick against those traditional teams usually it ends up biting you in the butt. But also you can't really have a lot of fun if you don't pick the quote-unquote underdogs. And here's the thing I love about underdogs they don't think they're the underdogs. So Milwaukee could hear your part of the pot, could hear your part of the picks and think what the heck is this guy talking about? He doesn't know what we have going on here.
Speaker 2:And that's that's what I love about this sport man teams. They know it's a sport that you got to have a lot of pride in. It's a sport that you got to believe in yourselves, and Oak Creek might have the tradition. But I'm gonna take South Milwaukee. You know, at some point you got to pick a team to beat one of those traditional Powerhouses and I think this is the year I'm gonna go South Milwaukee, steve. Oh, we're gonna have a little fun with this one.
Speaker 1:You bet.
Speaker 2:Also, I'm not saying you don't know what you're talking about, of course that.
Speaker 1:I think you implied it. I, I read I tasted your medicine and it was bitter.
Speaker 2:All right, so you got Oak Creek, I got South Milwaukee, which Brings us to a team sectional. A prediction, steve oh, you've gone first twice in a row.
Speaker 1:I think please, let me go first, please, have me go first, please, please, oh.
Speaker 2:I mean, you get to pick finals first.
Speaker 2:So I know, I know oh man, all right, I I hate to not go into a lot of detail on this. Talking about the two teams I don't think are gonna win it, just I'll give them, give them the flowers. Here South Milwaukee they get a huge win against Oak Creek. I know they. They have a good senior class, but that's potentially a program builder if you have kids that are motivated to keep making it to that level. If that ends up being the team sectional, then it that's great for them. But they are going against a team that we just heard a lot of good things about, steve, and the numbers speak for themselves.
Speaker 2:To. I got homestead a winning in that duel, then Franklin versus the rig, whichever team makes it a second out of that region. Also, for my case, or both of our cases, we have Nicolay Franklin, again another one of those teams, and I'm gonna talk in more detail about this duel because I do really think it's kind of what the numbers are implying. That's what the final showdown is gonna be. I have Franklin being, whichever team made it, but Nicolay two years removed from making it to team state. They get back to this point, get back to a taste of team sectionals. That's awesome for them. But I got Franklin versus homestead in my final, steve, but let's hear about your picks before I talk about my finals.
Speaker 1:I I'm really upset that I didn't get that coin flip there, but I'm gonna adapt. Hey, by the way, james Anthony said the South Milwaukee duels are the van dozer duels. I think it's dozer Duel, that's what they're named after. Yeah, there's not a lot of fanfare here. I'm just gonna go right to my final. I think homestead just gonna be too much for Oak Creek, about a 15, 20 point duel. And then Franklin. I have beating Nicolay. We've talked a lot about Franklin, which brings us to Homestead versus Franklin. Go ahead, tigue, why don't you make your pick?
Speaker 2:Oh, that's usually not how we run it on this.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that one in on you. It's like when you, when you offer a cut in cribbage, you know, and somebody takes it.
Speaker 2:I thought so I you're gonna hit me with the old Scooby-Doo heads. I win tails, you lose.
Speaker 1:What do you got, though? Tell us what's your final.
Speaker 2:I'm waiting.
Speaker 1:You're gonna wait for me?
Speaker 2:All right, so.
Speaker 1:I did a criteria and I like I have no stinking idea. Man, let's be real here. I'm gonna pick a team and, who knows, seriously, I'm doing it, it's gonna go. But here's what I took a look at. I wrote down six different criteria. I wrote down how many returners back I have. I wrote it as a push 11 starter. Both teams have 11 starters coming back in nine sectional qualifiers. Boom, that's a push. Both teams have six 20 plus win guys coming back. Give that a push From the dealer. I went as deep as looking. Tigue 33. I'm sorry, both teams have. Homestead has 33 guys on their skin full from last year. Franklin has 38. Relatively, I mean five more once you start getting up 30s. What's? Five extra wrestlers amongst friends? Right, here was the big one. I started looking at Franklin 15 seniors coming back. Guess what? Homestead has Tigue 15 seniors coming back.
Speaker 2:Oh you really did get to your last criteria.
Speaker 1:I'm sitting here looking for whatever I can find. That's gonna give me an advantage on how the heck to make this pick. Here's what I even have as a push I have. I put Homestead had a has a hundred and seventy point five points. Coming back, franklin has two hundred and seventeen. I even put that as a push because please don't yell at me, everybody here but Homestead wasn't in a slightly tougher Regional last year, right? So I gave that one. Apples to apples to oranges. Here were my two that favored one side, right, franklin.
Speaker 1:Four state qualifiers one state qualifier for Homestead, obviously a really good state qualifier, but kind of a push. I mean only a slight lean to Franklin, because Homestead does have those four sectional place winners, right? I mean, you know, win here, win there, and guess what, now it's. Now it's a push Franklin, steve or what. I Tell you why. Because I'm sidestepping what. What's up here. Well, here's, here's the last one is that Homestead has four, four, 500 or below wrestlers on their starter lineup. From last year, franklin had one 500 wrestler on their below 500 wrestler on their other Roster, right. So based on all those points, teague, you're gonna think I'm picking who.
Speaker 2:Well, they thought just the last one, which was the only, I guess, big one. But records are whatever.
Speaker 1:I Thought you're gonna pick Franklin maybe that's what everything would lean towards, right, obviously, nick's a real good friend of mine, wrestled with him in college and he's a lot bigger than I am. He's a great dude, right, and I'm afraid of him. But you know what's gonna help me make my pick, and I'm just realized it right now Teague. What's the biggest motivator, one of the biggest motivator vaders in people's life fear, fear. And who do I fear the most? Ever since I seen him Warm up his sophomore year at the mid-states tournament? I fear Charlie Millard More than any person on this earth right then, right now. And so, with all that being said, I'm picking. First time ever, sending coach out with a bang. I'm going with homestead.
Speaker 2:Oh man.
Speaker 1:I'm probably gonna get a text here in about five four three from dick got me my pick.
Speaker 2:All right, well, see, well, I don't really operate off a fear a whole lot, but I do love a good story. And man, ernie, when you were talking about your team tonight and just you talk about the four-year plan and you talk about the type of kid Charlie is, the senior class. All the work they put in, all the work your whole community has put in to Get to this point and work to be that first Highlander team to make it to the team state tournament, it makes it would make for an amazing wrestling story. And, ernie, I'm so glad that I get to be the villain in that story because I'm picking Franklin, because you know what? Franklin has their own narrative man. They have seniors on their team who made it to team state two years ago, are leaving team sectionals last year with the sour taste in their mouth. They are well coached, they're high-powered. It's gonna be a 14 solid guys.
Speaker 2:Steve talked about the record, the kind of record disparity, and I'm gonna roll with Franklin in this one. But Huh, all right now that I got that in. All seriousness, guys, it's just gonna be one hell of a duel. Like it's just it's. It's gonna be a fun one and I can only put on the mean face for so long. There, ernie, I think you kind of knew we all knew going in looking at this with the numbers, that it's gonna be a clash of two teams that are so hungry to get to the state tournament for two different reasons, but they're led by great guys. It's great, oh wow, great kids on the team.
Speaker 1:It's uh.
Speaker 2:Yeah it's, it's just gonna be a fun one. Ernie, I guess what are your thoughts on the team sectional? Because I got to collect my thoughts because I was when I knew I was going second.
Speaker 3:I'm like, yeah, I know what I have to do here, but so Duel meets are always about matchups, right, and, and that that duel meet let's say, we get by Oak Creek or South Milwaukee and run into Franklin that is gonna be about matchups and it could very well be impacted by the coin toss before we start.
Speaker 3:Right, who's got to put who out first? Because both, both teams have kids that when you look, we got two or three kids that are gonna be tough to beat in that duel. Right, maybe you can get a matchup where you, where you got a pit, I, I can force one of their best kids up against Shemi, or Charlie, right, or, or George, or you know, I Think that's what it could come down to. I think it's gonna be really close one way or the other and, and you know, on paper you have you have to pick Franklin with the experience they have and being there and and with the number of seniors that they have in that starting lineup, I'm excited Just thinking about the opportunity of being at team sectionals and if we get to team sectionals, we aren't gonna be thinking about Franklin until we get through Whatever it is, but I think I think it could be a really evenly match, an awesome duel meet and great for the sport of wrestling one hundred percent agreed on that last part, ernie, and that's that's what we got for this show.
Speaker 2:I think you know we're gonna have you on for the Highlander, so we can't get I can't get two sentimental right now, but regardless what, what a coaching ride it's been for you man and for you it to be in this spot going into your last year.
Speaker 2:Like you said, you've already, you've already won at life and whatever happens this year, it's just a byproduct of all the work and good things that you've done prior. So we're wishing you the best of luck this year and once again again, I know like it's. It's just like we're coming on and talking as friends, right, but still, ultimately you're coming on, you're taking your time to come on this show and help the people, not only in your area but in the state, learn about teams in your sectional and you do such a good job of it and we appreciate you taking time out of your. Well, it's a little less busy day now that you're done teaching, but you're still taking time and Steve and I really appreciate it. You're just a, you're just a top-notch guy. So thank you, steve. Oh, do you got anything?
Speaker 1:No, I just appreciate you. I you know as as a you know, when you're younger you don't appreciate things as more, and as I, as I get older and I'm not by any means old but you just start appreciating things in life and you recognize I.
Speaker 1:Don't know you just you just start to for lack of better words, you just start to appreciate things a lot more, the little moments, right, and Just talking with you and having you on the podcast Saturday, enjoying moments like that. And I, I think Sunday night my daughter had her had her Cross-country bank, when the coach at something that really I was thinking about on the way home and he said he goes, man, in ten years from now, tony, years from now, you're not gonna remember how times you ran and I can remember this. All you're gonna remember is is how people made you feel and how you made them feel, and it's like that. That's what it's all about. And, ernie, I said this to your son Hopefully you get a chance to Watch the interview and I said it's great, you know, rest with your dad.
Speaker 1:And I said I said I said your dad is one of the really one of the good guys in this sport and in in life too, it. So we just appreciate you, man, and I I can't wait, obviously, the Highlander and hopefully we have you for the Highlander for five, six, ten years From now and getting on there for the preview as well.
Speaker 3:All I can say is thanks. You know, after 35 years of coaching at homestead and the relationships I have, I have a lot of great friends and I put you two right up there Without the sport of wrestling, I would never have met you and built the relationships I have and and I say this every time and I mean it this this state of the sport of wrestling in Wisconsin has been positively impacted by you guys and will continue to be. That's all I have is thanks.
Speaker 2:All right, yeah, closing out here they. Thank you, ernie. I just got to try and speak through the tears now a little bit, because we're gonna have you on again. We got to do the Highlander preview for sure.
Speaker 2:Folks and in terms of the podcast, we are gonna have a mr Sean Fortman of a mosquito on. I'm excited to hear about his team and program and just that sectional in general of this year. Next week finishing off with D2 and D3. Sectional C, we're gonna have Campbell's poor coach, alex Costello, and Kenosha Christian life coach at Jim Dolphin on for that. But thank you everyone for tuning in and for the support and until the next time, oh, we will catch you on the flip side. Oh.