Wauwatosa East and West wrestlers have talent, numbers

The Wauwatosa East/West wrestling team has several talented returnees and some promising newcomers, so the local grapplers should see some positives this season.

Veteran coach Kent Morin returns all his coaches from last year in Corey Bauer, Don Rohr, Ryan Gottsacker and Aaron Gudeyon.

"We also have a great addition in Matt Ostovich, who competed at Greenfield and then at MSOE," he said.

On the mat, Morin has nine returning wrestlers.

The four seniors are Sean McDuffie (West) at 120, Ben Reagan (East) at 145, Marcus Morrow (West) at 160 and Ryan Sattler (East) at 170.

The four junior returnees are Jordan Boettcher (East) at 152, Norberto Pliego (West) at 195, Sam Kratochvil (East) at 220 and Lorry Venturi (East) at 285.

There is one sophomore returnee and that is Adrian Coppage (West) at 113.

Morin is especially happy about one newcomer who transferred in — Justin Folley of Riverside.

"He took fifth in state last year at 126 and will be a great addition to the team," Morin said. "He will start the year at 132 and has the potential to be a state champion."

Another junior who could help out is Zach Miller, who took sixth in state in 2013. He has been cleared (arm injury) to start practicing but will be brought along slowly.

"He is a kid that could do major damage at the state tournament if we can get him back up to speed."

Other wrestlers who look to land varsity positions are freshman Cole Acker at 113, juniors Colin Bertz (East) at 126 and Marvin Britt (East) at 182 and sophomore Jacob Collison (West) at 106.

Morin is especially happy with his team's off-season workout.

"We had a really good off-season with many guys putting in great work," he said. "We had many wrestlers training at the Askren Wrestling Academy and had over 30 guys participate in our summer lifting program.

"The ones that weren't in a fall sport continued that into the fall. We think these things will pay nice dividends this season."

Morin sees big things for some of his wrestlers this season.

"Our captains this year are Sean McDuffie, Ben Reagan, Marcus Morrow, Zach Miller and Jordan Boettcher," he said. "The five of them along with Justin Folley should all compete for the right to go to the state tournament and several have the potential to be place winners. That is what it looks like on paper, so now we have to go out and make it happen."

Tosa opened on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at Greenfield and will take part in the Campbellsport Invitational at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 6.

Tosa then hosts Cudahy/St. Francis at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10, at Tosa West.