Chase Luensman's 150th, Stahlberg's 100th wins highlight three-win meet

     Jan. 17 was an historic night for the Monticello High School wrestling team as two veteran Panthers reached milestones during a quadrangular meet at Cascade.

     Senior Chase Luensman recorded his 150^th career victory, on the same night when senior Lake Stahlberg picked up his 100^th.

     Those results were part of a sweep for the Panthers (13-4), who defeated Northeast of Goose Lake 48-29, West Branch 54-15, and Cascade 42-36.

     Chase Luensman became the third wrestler in Monticello history to break 150 career wins, along with Logan Felton and Landon Felton.

     “Chase has been consistent throughout his career, and this is a huge testament to that,” Monticello coach Ryan Luensman said. “Lake broke 100 wins for his career, which is pretty impressive as Lake has missed more than a full season due to injuries throughout his wrestling career. This shows the consistent winning Lake has done for our team the past few seasons when healthy.”

     The Panthers benefitted from several forfeited weight classes throughout the night, but also recorded seven pins as a team. Kain Luensman and Stahlberg had two pins apiece. Getting one pin each were Wade Picray, Owen Ray and Chase Luensman.

     “The last week or so we have been talking a lot about ‘embracing the grind,’ accepting the daily challenge of staying goal-oriented and giving 100 percent all the time,” the coach said. “Thursday showed what this team can do when everyone works together and does their job.”

     The Cascade dual was the closest of the three for Monticello Thursday.

     “Anytime you wrestle a rival school you always know you are in for a tough battle,” coach Luensman said. “Kain, Lake and Chase had big wins during that dual. Wade Picray is looking better each time he steps on the mat.

     “Rylan Cooper and Skylar Sharp had nice JV wins as well. Mason Reuter had two nice JV wins against Northeast. It is good to have Mason back on the mat; he is getting stronger every week.”

     After a pair of early-week meets, at Central Elkader Jan. 21 and at home against Central City Tuesday, Monticello begins its postseason with the River Valley Conference Meet Jan. 26 at North Cedar in Clarence. The meet starts at 10 a.m.

     “I love the improvement I am seeing out of our young guys, and the consistency I’m seeing out of our more experienced wrestlers,” coach Luensman said. “Every single person makes a difference, and that is why we have been much more consistent at winning duals the past few seasons.

     “The postseason is coming fast, and we are getting ready.”

Junior varsity

     The Panthers also competed in a junior varsity tournament at Solon Jan. 21. Winning championships for the Panthers were Ty Jesenovec, Bo Kramer, Spencer Avery and Rylan Cooper; and Mason Reuter placed second.

     “Solon was a very tough JV tournament with many large schools attending,” the coach said. “This was our best JV tournament throughout the year, by far. I was really proud of the overall effort throughout the tournament.”

Jan. 17

(at Cascade)

Monticello 48,

Northeast 29

(Monticello wrestlers listed first)

     160 – Jericho Strouf was pinned by Ty Schmidt, 1:03. 170 – Monticello lost by forfeit. 182 – Monticello lost by forfeit. 195 – open. 220 – Lake Stahlberg won by forfeit. 285 – Wade Picray pinned Peyton McLane, 1:28. 106 – Mark Sunlin won by forfeit. 113 – Owen Ray won by forfeit. 120 – Ethan Tallman won by forfeit. 126 – Kain Luensman won by forfeit. 132 – Bo Kramer won by forfeit. 138 – Ty Jesenovec lost by tech. fall to Remington Overstake, 15-0, 2:29. 145 – Chase Luensman won by forfeit. 152 – Tristan Clark was pinned by Dane Johnson, 2:24.

Exhibition matches

     152 – Skyler Sharp pinned Collin Kuehl, 0:49. 220 – Mason Reuter pinned Kyle Beck, 2:42. 285 – Mason Reuter pinned Mitchell Perez, 5:04.

Monticello 54,

West Branch 15

     170 – Monticello lost by forfeit. 182 – open. 195 – open. 220 – Lake Stahlberg pinned Drake Bloem, 2:38. 285 – Wade Picray won by forfeit. 106 – Mark Sunlin won by forfeit. 113 – Owen Ray pinned Quinn Hayden, 0:51. 120 – Ethan Tallman lost to Tyler Siemen, 9-8. 126 – Kain Luensman pinned Logan Keeler, 1:47. 132 – Bo Kramer won by forfeit. 138 – Ty Jesenovec won by forfeit. 145 – Chase Luensman won by forfeit. 152 – Tristan Clark won by forfeit. 160 – Jericho Strouf was pinned by Wyatt Hamby, 5:37.

Monticello 42,

Cascade 36

     182 – Monticello lost by forfeit. 195 – open. 220 – Lake Stahlberg pinned Kodey Miles, 0:30. 285 – Wade Picray won by forfeit. 106 – Mark Sunlin won by forfeit. 113 – Owen Ray was pinned by Aidan Noonan, 2:29. 120 – Ethan Tallman won by forfeit. 126 – Kain Luensman pinned Carson Staner, 0:59. 132 – Ty Jesenovec won by forfeit. 138  – Bo Kramer was pinned by Connor Conlin, 2:18. 145 – Chase Luensman pinned Casey Koppes, 1:43. 152 – Monticello lost by forfeit. 160 – Jericho Strouf was pinned by Zach Ries, 0:16. 170 – Monticello lost by forfeit.

Exhibition matches

     132 – Rylan Cooper pinned Rogelio Nunez, 0:22. 138 – Miles Hatchel was pinned by Hunter Vogel, 1:24. 152 – Tristan Clark was pinned by Ted Weber, 1:58. 160 – Skyler Sharp was pinned by Ty Kelchen, 2:14.