Sport: wrestling
Head Coach: : (Brian Suchocki 25th year with the Merrill wrestling program – 9th year as head coach)
Assistant Coaches:, Scott Arneson 35 years, Ben Natzke 15, Wally Skic 1st year Merrill HS and Isaac
Buntrock 3rd year
Middle School: Steve Schenck, Eric Ball, and Ed Fuchs
2022-23 Record: 12-8 overall record and 5th place in the conference, 2–4 Conference Record
20223 Post Season sectional qualifiers: Jon Hart, Brett Suchocki Brady Norton, Callum Wheeler,
Austin Depies, Brian Ball, Noah Klug and Ryder Depies
Returning All-Conference: Names of players, position, and current year: Noah Klug 220
Key Returners: Weights from 2022-23 Senior– Allison Hunter, Mikal Plautz,, Adeline Calos and
Brody Roche Juniors– Austin Depies, Callum Wheeler, Carson Brooks, Brady Norton Sophomores-
Dusty Schmirler, Carson Hartenstein, Brett Suchocki, Greg Hart, Jace Olson, Hunter Opper, Josh
Gustum, Noah Klug, Ryan Coates, Caden Parham-Stevenson, Preston Schuelke, Noah Clifford, and
Cole Schoerner.
Key Losses: Ryder Depies, Ian Dreikosen, Gage Lassa and Brian Ball
Key Newcomers: Remington Remington Skic, Will Miemietz, Abram Norton, Ty Schuett, Aidan
Hardy, Jayden Graap, Ben Gruett Landon Neuman, Aaron Watson-Dye, Gemma Malone, Peyton
Patterson and Yandel Carillo-Vidal.
2022-23Recap: Your thoughts/insight on last season, what were some high points? During the 2021-22
season we qualified eight Merrill wrestlers for the sectional tournament. Jon Hart, Brett Suchocki,
Brady Norton, Callum Wheeler, Austin Depies Brian Ball, Noah Klug and Ryder Depies all qualified for sectionals. Ryder Depies moved onto the state tournament. Games of note? Player performances.
Ryder Depies advancing to the state tournament was a great accomplishment and he was able to make the state finals. That was an awesome experience for Ryder but also was a great motivator for our younger wrestlers. Along with the state success we had some extremely exciting duals in onference.
Although we had a young team we were able to push DCE in a tight dual and get a win over SPASH
and Wausau East. The duals against state powers Wisconsin Rapids and Marshfield were good
experiences for us . What were some low points? Strengths and weaknesses of your team? The fact that
our team was overall very young and we had some growing pains. We had some illness and injury in
the middle of the season that really hampered our progress. However, the wrestles regrouped and made
a good push towards the end of the season.
2023-24 Outlook: Your thoughts/insight on the season ahead, what are some strong points you are seeing? We have some experienced upperclassmen that are ready to make their mark. Many of them will be looking to accomplish their own personal goals. We have a solid group this season. What are
some areas for improvement? We have some wrestlers that need to make the next step and we have a
lot of new wrestlers. We have a huge group of sophomores What will be the keys to success this
season? We need to continue building sound basics and concentrate on improvement. We need to
control things that matter like conditioning, technique and preparing each and every day for
competition. What/Where will the strength of team be? We have some juniors and a couple seniors that
have been around for a while. They lead by their work ethic and now it’s their opportunity to show
what they can do. Any thoughts or comments about particular opponents or the conference? As usual
the Wisconsin Valley conference and our particular sectional will be very challenging. We will need
everyone competing at a high level to perform well. We have 3 home duals this year. The home duals
are against Wausau East, Stevens Point, and Wisconsin Rapids. Each dual will be tough and should be
some good individual matches.
A Final Word From The Coach: Consider this your moment at the podium; speaking directly to the
readers about your team and the season ahead. Anything you feel the community or fans should know
about the season ahead, consider this your opportunity to let them know. For instance, what are the fans
in store for when they come to your games? Why should fans and the community come watch your
team play this season? All the coaches and wrestlers are looking forward to a new challenge. We want
to put our stamp on the season. We have a few seniors with experience and some nice underclassmen
that will compete hard and we have some exciting wrestlers looking to accomplish some goals they
have set for themselves. Even though we have some adversity to overcome we will do our best. We will
represent Merrill wrestling with class.
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2023-24 Area Conference Schedules: Conference and Team Links
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
