Roth takes the mat one final time

March 15, 2018

By David Nordby The Brillion News

BRILLION – The lone senior on this year’s Brillion wrestling team took to the mat one final time last week.

Peter Roth was one of the area wrestlers invited to compete in the Gene Gehl All-Star Classic at Kimberly High School last Thursday night, and he went out a winner. Roth defeated Kimberly’s Aaron Stannard 4-3 in the annual event.

“It meant a lot going back out on the mat again,” Roth said. “It felt good.”

It was the final win of many for Roth. During his sophomore season he qualified for the 2016 WIAA state championships. Wrestling at 152 pounds he took first at regionals and third at sectionals. This year he finished second at regionals and did not place at sectionals. The trip to state, Roth says, is what stands out most from his four years.

“State was my biggest accomplishment,” he says. “I will remember most my trip to Madison.”

Roth earned the respect from the coach who knew him best along the way.

“Peter always had a great attitude and really loved to wrestle,” Nick Miller said. Miller was Roth’s head coach from middle school through high school. Miller also adds that he grew as a person too, not just a wrestler.

Roth’s best attribute on the mat was his strength and improved with his technique. “His family doesn’t call him ‘Moose’ for nothing,” Miller said.

“Peter could always be competitive in every match he had,” Miller said. “I didn’t worry when he was going on the mat for a big match. He didn’t always win every match, but he always gave them a fight.”

Roth, who was also a key player on Brillion’s football team and an honorable mention all-conference selection, says that wrestling “was the best.”

He became experienced on the mat competing against his brother, Jordan, who was a 2016 Brillion High School graduate. Peter says competing with him are his favorite memories from wrestling and that Jordan kept encouraging him through his senior season.

“It was kind of hard because I didn’t have any of my senior friends on the team, but I did have my brother pushing me through the season,” he said.

Roth will be attending Fox Valley Technical College to study to be an electrician after graduation this spring.

“Peter is a great kid,” Miller said. “He will definitely be missed.”

This story appeared in the March 15, 2018 edition of The Brillion News.