Homestead's Millard finds some nice help from his friends

It's always nice to have friends who are ready to help out.

This was the case last weekend for Homestead wrestling coach Ernie Millard, as he called upon his vast resources of parental and in-house volunteers to host both the Highlander Varsity Scramble Tourney on Friday night and then the team's annual junior varsity extravaganza on Saturday.

"I got a little sleep sometime this weekend," he laughed on Sunday, after his Highlanders took seventh in the Scramble and had visiting Whitefish Bay finish sixth. "We ran a little later than usual on Friday because teams had a bit of a hard time getting in because of the weather (the afternoon and rush hour snowstorm that snarled traffic) but we got everything done and back in place (by Saturday night)."

And to just make sure that Millard doesn't feel lonely after everyone left last weekend, his team has an intense last week of the regular season. They took on Whitefish Bay on Wednesday and then will be at Germantown on Thursday in their final two North Shore dual meets of the season.

Millard's team will then make a family adventure of it when the Highlanders go up to the Wisconsin Dells Invite on Saturday.

"We'll stay at the Kalahari (with the indoor waterpark), make it an overnight trip and we'll have some fun," Millard said.

But Millard and his crew made a lot of other people happy at the Scramble last weekend. He employed old hands, football and girls softball coach Dave Keel, football defensive guru Fritz Rauch and others to help out and got great parental support from the likes of Tom Price, who managed the meet.

"We always get a bunch of alumni and parental support," Millard said. "They work the hospitality rooms, handle security and work the (scoring) tables. All those people do is care about the kids."

Rauch added: "It's just always fun to see the kids succeed."

As far as the wrestling was concerned, the Highlanders were a little short-handed, as top 195-pounder Antoine Easterling was out with a case of strep throat.

On an encouraging note, 220-pounder Mensah Amuzu had been out a few weeks with an illness of his own and fought back to take third after losing his first match of the tourney. He went 4-1 on the day with three pins to improve to 15-7 overall.

Taking fourths for the Highlanders were Will Bomchill at 152 (3-2, 16-12) and sophomore Nick Pierret at 170 (3-2, 13-5), while Shaquille Cole was fifth at 182 (2-2, 11-6).

"Pierret did some great things out there," Millard said.

A great individual effort came from Zach Lennon, another wrestler at 152 pounds, who was 3-2 on the day (7-4 overall). He was trailing a Racine Horlick opponent in his final match of the day by a 10-6 score with less than 20 seconds to go. But he got the takedown and then a two-point near fall with just three seconds left to force overtime.

He then took his man straight to his back in the overtime and pinned him.

"A great, great effort," Millard said.

Homestead scored 93 points for its spot as Burlington won the 12-school event with 276.5.

For Bay, coach Dale Loebel was pleased with his team's intensity in a high-level meet like this and was happy no one got hurt during the long tournament.

His team scored 105 points for its spot, as Max Carlin at 106 (4-1, 26-6) took third, as did Joey Davey at 120 (4-1, 17-7).

Fourths were claimed by Jack Ludke at 126 (1-3, 14-13); Ben Lehrmann at 132 (2-3, 22-10); Rashadeem Gray at 160 (3-2, 24-10); and Nick Levings at 182 (3-2, 15-10).

Loebel was a happy guest.

"Ernie always does a great job at this meet," he said. "We were happy to be here."

And Millard knows it couldn't have been done without help.

"In this tough (economic and educational) climate, it's sometimes hard for people to donate their time," he said. "I just want them to know that it's greatly appreciated."