Panther wrestlers made good progress during season

PLYMOUTH – The Plymouth Panther wrestling program continued to move in the right direction this past season, keyed by marked improvement from the young competitors.

“I was very happy with the progress our program has taken this season. All of the first-year varsity guys and our youth wrestlers really stepped up for us this year,” said Panther head coach Bob Weix.

“Even though we gave up two to three forfeits per dual, the kids took it on as a challenge.”

The young Panther squad, which had only two seniors in the varsity lineup most of the season, showed good improvement over the previous season. PHS finished 3-4 in Eastern Wisconsin Conference dual action and sixth in the EWC tournament after going 0-7 in duals and placing last in the tourney the previous year.

“We had a good solid showing at every tournament and the young guys gained tournament experience. We look forward to improving at every tournament for next season,” Weix said.

The coach thought senior 160-pounder Eric Benti was a great role model for the program.

“He was a very nice kid and great for the younger ones to look up to,” Weix noted.

“Eric liked to work on things after practice and put everything he could into the program, even though he only wrestled for three years.”

Weix expressed thanks to C.J. Wiese and his family for their efforts with the Plymouth youth wrestling program; to Barb Ohman and Tonia Miske for helping with the concessions and fund-raising for youth wrestling, and to all of the volunteer coaches at the local elementary schools for helping promote wrestling in the school district.

Weix is enthusiastic about next season.

“We only had one senior [in varsity lineup at end of season] and everyone will be coming back for another season. We have some younger talented kids that will fill in our weight classes,” he said.

“A large portion of our team is already committed to a camp to help themselves improve by next season.

“All of the kids will be coming back and really want to improve for next season. Filling in the weight classes will be our goal for next year and that will make us a lot better,” Weix said.

Weix said the Panthers hope to finish in the top three in the EWC next season but emphasized hard work in the off-season in order to try to reach that goal.

“The kids need to pay their dues in the off-season and we need to get stronger and pick up a couple of more wrestlers,” he said.

“Right now we would like a big guy on our team to fill in at heavy weight. We will also need our younger guys to really step in for us next season which will give us a boost.”

AWARD-WINNERS

Junior Collin Rortvedt was named the Panthers’ “Most Valuable Wrestler.” Rortvedt finished the season with a team-high 32 wins and 24 pins. His pin total ranks fifth all-time at PHS for a single season.

Rortvedt was a Division 1 regional runner-up at 125 pounds and qualified for the sectional.

Junior Luke Ohman received the “Grinder Award” for his determination and toughness. Junior Zach Pfankuch was named “Most Improved” and Benti earned the “Senior Award.”

Freshman Andrew Meyer was selected “Most Improved” on the junior varsity team. Next season’s team captains are Ohman, Pfankuch, Rortvedt and Geno Kiela.

The following students earned academic awards, based on their grade-point averages during the past season:

Gold awards (3.5 and higher GPA): Benti, Kiela, Meyer, Tanner Neils, Jake Ohman, Luke Ohman, Pfankuch and managers Donna Lohse and Kim Baus.

Silver awards (3.0-4.49 GPA): Bryce Lueck, Jon Pruitt, J.J. Seifert and manager Nicole Dessloch.

The Panthers’ varsity letter winners include: seniors – Benti; juniors – Rortvedt, Pfankuch, Luke Ohman, Justin Lesko, Brandon Wiggins, Dan Uribe andKiela; sophomores – John Pruitt; and freshmen – Tim Edwards, Jake Ohman and Raven Welsch.