Dentino, Sobczak cruise to conference tournament championships

Andrew Sobczak and Casey Dentino won conference championships and the LeClaire brothers each finished second to highlight the day for the host Brookfield East Spartans, who took fourth as a team at the Greater Metro Conference Championships on Friday.

Sobczak at 285 and Dentino at 132 pounds were both 9-0 in conference matches this year.

Sobczak scored 26 team points as he received a bye and then quickly pinned his next two foes - Brad Biswell of Sussex Hamilton (1-4) in 1 minute, 36 seconds and Logan Gott of Marquette (5-3) in 1:28 in the title match.

"Sobczak was on a mission," East coach John Veal said. "He knew what he was going to do and imposed his will on his opponent."

Dentino scored 24 points as he also received a first-round bye; pinned Gino Senymanola of Sussex Hamilton (2-5) in 43 seconds and then won the championship match with a 5-0 decision over Donald Dargan of West Allis Central (4-2).

The win for Dentino was special for the four-time varsity grappler.

"It's great to get the monkey off my back," said Dentino, who is hoping to get back to state for the first time since his sophomore year. "It was a relief. It was added pressure to finally win one."

Dentino had a takedown in the first 30 seconds of the title match and he stayed on top the rest of the match to lead 2-0 after the first period. In the second period Dentino took a 4-0 lead with another takedown and he earned a penalty point in the third period when the official said his opponent was hitting Dentino in the head too much.

"After that second takedown for a 4-0 lead I felt I was going to probably win," he said. "It was good, but I need to forget it quickly and get ready for regionals so I can do the same thing. I have some things I can improve on."

Veal was pleased with Dentino's effort.

"Dentino controlled a talented opponent to win the title," he said. "He has come up short in the past two finals and I am happy to see him win one."

John LeClaire (8-1) took second with 19.50 team points at 195. He received a bye; won by a technical fall (15-0) over Jeremy Shimetz of West Allis Hale (7-3) and then lost an 11-4 decision in the first-place match to Mike Konvalinka of Sussex Hamilton (9-0).

P.J. LeClaire (5-4) scored 18 team points and finished second at 220. He won by pinning Matt Lussow of Sussex Hamilton (0-4) in 30 seconds; won a 7-6 decision over Matt Wilcox of Brookfield Central (8-2) and then lost by pin (2:48) to Dallas Wanta of West Allis Hale (8-1) in the title match.

"We did not give our best performance because of a number of reasons, but I am proud of how our seniors did in the finals," Veal said. "The LeClaire brothers also had great performances, especially P.J. He beat a senior who pinned him quickly in the regular season."

Sam Brunker at 170 (5-5) was the only fourth-place finisher, earning 12 points.

Brunker pinned Joe O'Brien of Brookfield Central (0-4) in 5:32; lost a 10-4 decision to Bill Steinke of Menomonee Falls (7-1); won an 8-6 decision over Hunter Schuettke of West Allis Central (3-3) and then lost the third-place match to Aaron Zagorski of Sussex Hamilton (4-4), getting the pin in 2 minutes.

East had six wrestlers finish fifth.

Josh Dempsey (5-5) at 126: scored eight team points. Won a major decision (16-5); lost a major decision (11-3); was pinned and won a 6-4 decision in the fifth-place match.

Cameron Clark (1-4) at 120: scored seven team points and lost by a pin; received a bye; lost a technical fall (15-0) and received a bye.

Micah Childs (4-5) at 152: scored seven team points and lost an 18-11 decision; received a bye; lost a major decision (13-4) and received a bye.

Drew Epperla (2-7) at 160: scored seven team points and lost a major decision (12-2); received a bye; lost by a pin and won by a pin in 21 seconds in the fifth-place match.

Alex McGuire (1-2) at 182: scored six team points and lost a major decision (9-1); received a bye; lost by pin and won a major decision (8-0) in the fifth-place match.

Zech Copeland (2-7) at 145: scored five team points and lost a decision (13-8); received a bye; lost a decision (8-2) and won a 7-4 decision in the fifth-place match.

OTHER FINISHERS

Sam Behling placed sixth at 138 (5-5) and scored five team points. He won an 8-4 decision; lost a major decision (17-4); was pinned and lost a 5-1 decision in the fifth-place match.

Carsten Balke placed sixth at 113 (1-8) and scored three points.

UP NEXT

The Spartans will take part in the Brookfield Central Regional at 10 a.m. Saturday. Joining them will be the Lancers, Kettle Moraine, the three Waukesha schools, West Allis Central and West Allis Hale.

GREATER METRO RESULTS

Friday at Brookfield East

1. West Allis Hale (233)

2. West Allis Central (225.5)

3. Sussex Hamilton (201)

4. Brookfield East (147.5)

5. Menomonee Falls (133)

6. Brookfield Central (106.5)

7. Marquette (78)