Happy wrestling season everybody! At the time of writing this, we are in the middle of our first night of an action-packed set of Thursday duals and are two days out from the first weekend of tournaments. With the return of wrestling comes the return of road trips to catch as much wrestling action as possible and I could not be more excited for mine and Steve’s first event of the year. After six seasons of doing wrestling commentary, I get to cross another signature event off of my bucket list: A Badger conference dual on a Friday night!
The conference dual season kicks off with a battle between two teams in the state looking to start their journey to potential Team Sectional appearances as Beaver Dam visits Oregon. To set the stage for the season, let’s take a look back at the past couple of years. The visiting Beavers made their first Team Sectional appearance in 2022 and the following two years placed 3rd at Regionals, finishing behind Oshkosh West in 2023 and 2024 by a combined 25.5 points. Not to be outdone in terms of heartbreak, Oregon just missed out on their first Team Sectional appearance last year by ONE POINT at Regionals. Finishing 3rd place at Regionals is certainly nothing to scoff at, but these are two programs that have built themselves into postseason contenders and want to prove that on a Tuesday night in February. Given how the last season ended teamwise, we are looking at a matchup between two of the hungrier programs in the state and it seems to have shown in the offseason.
I had a chance to talk to Beaver Dam coach Tim Winker about his team’s offseason and he had a great mix of guys that either spent their entire spring and summer wrestling, or spent time keeping active in other sports while still working to better themselves as all-around athletes. After a 39-33 dual to close out the conference dual season over the Panthers last year, he knows his squad will face a tough test right off the bat and I know both teams are up for the challenge. With a combined 27/28 starters returning, and the chance to see up to five grapplers who qualified for State last year, everything in this dual is adding to be an exciting Friday night in the Oregon High School gym!
Watch the action here at: Beaver Dam @ Oregon Dual Stream
Potential Lineups
Beaver Dam
106/113 Liam Cirfus (9)/Matthew DeMaster (9)
120 Landon Johnson (11)
126 Hudson Henschel (9)
132 Avery Femrite (12, 6th @ State)
138 Keith Njeru (12)
144 Rylan Burwitz (11)
150 Liam Gruenewald (12)
157 Dylan Hahn (11)
165 Easton Warden (12)
175 Kodiak Kocinski (11)
190 Gavin Vitense (12)
215 Mason Grow (12)
285 Thomas Jacobs (11)
Oregon
106 Forfeit
113 Pierce Patel (9)
120 Sam Fahey (9, 5th @ youth state)
126 Caden Schwartz (9, (4th @ Youth State
132 Evan Fahey (11, State Qualifier)
138 Logan Steffen (10, State Qualifier)
144 Cade Aaberg (10, 3rd @ State)
150 Braeden Bakken (12)
157 Thomas Ruth (10)
165 Kaleb Klitzman (10)
175 Camden Wood (10)
190 Paxton Krengel (12)
215 Travis Funderburg (12)
285 Sabastian Soumphonphakby (11)
Dual Analysis and Prediction
There seems to be a pattern at the start of every wrestling season where pins are more commonplace, and this dual looks to follow that pattern closely when we look at the matchups. The first look at potential lineups shows a lot of matchups where we see a bigger disparity either in varsity experience or success at the varsity level and those matches will be an early proving ground for guys to show how hard they’re willing to fight to either earn extra team points or stave off their opponent from getting extra points. The marquee match of the night goes to the tilt at 132 where 6th place finisher at 132 last year Avery Femrite takes on fellow State Qualifier Evan Fahey in a rematch of the blood round last year where Femrite won 8-1. We also get to see the season premiere of Cade Aaberg, who capped off his freshman year with a 3rd place finish at 126!
There may be a sense of irony where in a matchup with so many returning wrestlers from last year (17 of whom at least qualified for Sectionals), this dual could come down to the swing matches between underclassmen who always have an element of the unknown and guys who aren’t necessarily household names, but these are the duals where that status can change fast. I have the 150 match circled as one of these swing matches, where seniors Liam Gruenewald (Beaver Dam) and Braeden Bakken (Oregon) both were exactly one match below .500 last year but have the chance to provide huge momentum for their teams in the middleweights. The lower weights could ultimately decide this one as 113-126 all consist of matches that could go either way. We will see a battle of freshmen at 113 between either Liam Cirfus or Matthew DeMaster will toe the line for the Beavers against Oregon’s Pierce Patel. At 120 you might notice a familiar last name in the Panther’s lineup as Youth State Placewinner Sam Fahey makes his high school debut against Beaver Dam’s Landon Johnson who was a sectional qualifier last year and will not be an easy out by any means. 126 could steal the show though, where we will see Caden Schwartz (4th @ Youth State) square off against Hudson Henschel, who ended his youth career with a runner-up finish at State. I know the wrestling traditionalists won’t like me for this statement, but I would love to see this dual start off at 132 between Femrite and Fahey and close out the night on a must-win swing match between two freshmen who look to see their youth success translate to the high school level in a big way.
There will be a bevy of swing matches that determine this dual, but ultimately I think Beaver Dam has the benefit of picking up more bonus points along the way which sets up for more must-win scenarios for Oregon. The Panthers will also be behind by six points right away with a forfeit at 106, and the last thing they can afford to a lineup like Beaver Dam’s is free points. This is certainly a winnable dual for Oregon, but I think Beaver Dam holds strong in the bonus point department and does just enough in the swing matches to win what will be an awesome showdown to start off the season for both squads. Regardless of who comes out on top, I’m excited to have a front row seat to this and experience a conference dual between two teams whose fans I expect to make their presence known in the Oregon gym!
Predictions
Teague: Beaver Dam 36, Oregon 31
Steve: Beaver Dam 30, Oregon 27
If you can’t make it to Oregon, watch the action here: Beaver Dam @ Oregon Dual Stream
P.S. Beaver Dam’s 175 Kodiak Kocinski is an early candidate for the All-Name team. Alliteration AND his name is Kodiak? Winning combo right there.
;
