2015-2016

Started by CLC FAN, October 22, 2015, 10:56:22 AM

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CLC FAN

First year of the Big East! 

So, here is the scouting for the upcoming season.

Cedar Grove
Starters Returning:  12 Sectional Qualifiers Returning: 6  State Qualifiers Returning: 3
Key Losses: The Rockets lost nobody from last year's team!!
Incoming/Overlooked: Don't know much about the incoming freshmen class, but CG/B seems to have more numbers and more depth than they have had in the past.  Danny Gjertson being healthy this year would add a whole new dimension to their team.  I'd also say watch out for Abel Brockman and Bryce Morgan.  They are poised for big years.
Odds/Ends: As always, football is going to interfere with CGB's start of the year more so than some of the other teams in the conference.  Price you pay for having successful fall sports. 

Elkhart Lake/Howards Grove
Starters Returning: 5  Sectional Qualifiers: 2  State Qualifiers: 1
Key Losses:  Brock Bonebrake, Trevor Rebedew, and Nick Miller.
Incoming/Overlooked:  Ward made it to state, so I doubt he will be overlooked, but Franky Perko was banged up for a lot of the year last year.  Really solid lightweight, he should bounce back well.
Odds/Ends:  This is Elkhart's second year co-oping with Howards Grove and their second year in D2.  Overall they seemed to handle the transition nicely, ending last year with 3 state qualifiers!

Manitowoc Lutheran/Roncalli
Starters Returning: 5  Sectional Qualifiers: 0  State Qualifiers: 0
Key Losses:  Stubbe was a regional champion for ML/R last year.
Incoming/Overlooked:   Ben Kiel ended the year 30-5, but had to default out of his 2nd place wrestleback at Regionals.  Not sure what the injury was, but if he's healthy, he is going to be a force in the 152-170 range.
Odds/Ends: Manitiwoc Lutheran is the actual Big East school, so if at any point this stops being a co-op, Roncalli would no longer be in the conference.  I'm not sure if there's any signs of that happening, but I'm just saying.

Mishicot
Starters Returning: 3  Sectional Qualifiers: 1  State Qualifiers: 0
Key Losses: Whew!  Cracraft, Young, Matthias, Paplham, Hutterer.  All of these guys qualified for state once or more in their careers, with Cracraft taking 3rd at state last year.  Most of them were three or four year anchors of this lineup, and replacing them will be tough.
Incoming/Overlooked:   The 3 who return are all solid wrestlers, and you gotta believe Mishicot had some tough kids who couldn't crack the lineup last year.  They brought 9 to regionals, but their team was just nails from 138 to 182.  If some of those kids grew and they can cover the upperweights, Mishicot might not drop as significantly as it otherwise looks.
Odds/Ends: I hear a new head coach has taken the reigns in Mishicot.  All things considered, it might be best to take over with a young team rather than a veteran team - that way you all start fresh together.

Oostburg
Starters Returning: 7  Sectional Qualifiers: 1  State Qualifiers: 0
Key Losses:  Loomans, and Ebeling were their state qualifiers from last year, and Hackl and Rogers were anchors in the upperweights for 3 years.
Incoming/Overlooked:   Joe Meyer won a regional championship last year.  Jonah Frier is one to look out for in the middleweights.
Odds/Ends: I don't know how Oostburg keeps doing what they do!  I wouldn't have predicted last year to be an up year for them, but they came within 1 point of beating Sheboygan Falls for the D2 Regional Championship!!  They bump back down to D3 this year, and longtime coach Steve Rogers has retired along with his assitant Ron DenBoer.  Those two guys were the bedrock of that program for many many years.  I expect Oostburg to have numbers as always, and it will be interesting to see how they gel together with new leadership.

Ozaukee
Starters Returning: 5  Sectional Qualifiers: 1  State Qualifiers: 0
Key Losses:  Daniel Watry was a sectional champion, and Sam Schuette was a horse in the upperweights.
Incoming/Overlooked: Most of the overlooked here were not healthy last year.  Hopefully Colin Hughes can come back for his senior season, along with Chase Kraus.  Burmesch did not have a great sectional tournament, but he beat the 113 pound sectional champ the weekend before - so he has big upside.   
Odds/Ends: The polite way to say it was that last year was difficult for the Warriors.  They now bring in a new head coach in Marcus Lubner.  He represents the most experienced head coach in the conference as far as college wrestling - having had a very successful career at Concordia.  It will be interesting to see how that translates to the team he is going to have this year, but I wouldn't be surprised to see big strides out of a lot of his returners.

Random Lake
Starters Returning: 11  Sectional qualifiers: 7  State qualifiers: 6
Key Losses:  Only two seniors graduated, but Jon Mudlaff was a 4-time state placewinner.
Incoming/Overlooked:  It's hard to overlook any of their state qualifiers, but I'd say watch out for Levi Kohn.  He qualified for state as a freshmen at 113, then jumped all the way up to 145 and had a very good year there before getting dinged up at the end of the season.  Also, Ben Drenski is a stud football player who is back for his second year.  He has got potential and could improve a lot this year.   
Odds/Ends: Seems like the Rams are set up for a nice two year run.  They started 9 sophomores at regionals last year, and 5 of those 9 qualified for state.  They have now moved to the Horicon regional, opening up the door for another Big East team to make it to Team Sectionals (looking at you - Reedsville and Oostburg).

Reedsville
Starters Returning: 10  Sectional Qualifiers: 3  State Qualifiers: 0
Key Losses: Elliot Ebert and Jordan Brandt were both state placewinners last year.  Grant Wedepohl did not wrestle much last year but was a state champion for the Panthers in 2014.
Incoming/Overlooked:  Boy, looking at their regional and sectional results from last year, I feel like everybody is more dangerous than they sound on paper.  Like Random Lake, they started a lot of sophomores last year, and with their coaching staff, I would expect all of those kids to take a big step forward this year.
Odds/Ends:  While they lack a returning state qualifier, 7 of their 10 returners came in to regionals with 20+ wins.  They can be expected to field a full or nearly full team with solid or better wrestlers.


Overall Thoughts:  Random Lake looks to have the most upper-end talent, but last year a lack of depth combined with some great wrestling by Oostburg cost them an outright conference championship.  If they struggle with depth again, there are teams nipping at their heels.  3 in fact - as I see Reedsville, Oostburg, and Cedar Grove as all being very good and very evenly matched.  If any of those four teams struggle to fill out the weights, they will likely drop to fourth in conference, as you can't afford to give forfeits to any of the top contenders this year.  If they are all full, it should be an amazing year.  Team Sectionals is being hosted by Random Lake this year, and it would be a shock to see any less than 2 Big East Teams competing for a trip to Team State.

ElectricGuy

Nice write-up - I'm going to plagiarizer your format for the badger conf  :)
We live in the era of smart phones and stupid people.

CLC FAN


bkraus

Di you put that together?  Impressive!
Strive for Perfection

Gutwrench

Who is the new coach at Oostburg?

hasbeen

Quote from: Gutwrench on October 28, 2015, 12:28:44 PM
Who is the new coach at Oostburg?
Ted Schanen of the Ozaukee Schanens

Gutwrench

Quote from: hasbeen on October 29, 2015, 09:40:38 AM
Quote from: Gutwrench on October 28, 2015, 12:28:44 PM
Who is the new coach at Oostburg?
Ted Schanen of the Ozaukee Schanens

Really?!?  Nice!  Is Ted a teacher in the District, or just the wrestling coach? 

I shouldn't say "just" the wrestling coach  ;D

CLC FAN

He is teaching there as well.