No high school sport in Wisconsin has undergone as many changes in recent years as wrestling, so it’s understandable if some fans are not aware of major changes to the WIAA state wrestling tournament series that will take effect this season.
In the past, wrestlers opened the postseason with regional and sectional meets leading up to the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Championships, which this year are scheduled for Feb. 26-28 at the Kohl Center in Madison.
While girls will still have a regional round of competition scheduled for Feb. 13, that round has been eliminated for boys, who will now open the postseason with sectional competitions Feb. 14.
WIAA associate director Mel Dow oversees the association’s wrestling tournament program and said the change to eliminate regionals for boys started with the Wisconsin Wrestling Association, which dates back to 1957, was formerly called the Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Association and serves wrestling officials, past and present coaches and administrators.
The WIAA board of control approved the regional change and other changes to the sport in June 2025.
“It goes back to the trust that the (WIAA) membership – especially the board – has in the leadership of the sport of wrestling,” Dow said. “They’re showing that there’s growth. They’re showing evidence that these changes are providing better opportunities for kids.
“They did their homework prior to proposing the rule. They surveyed coaches, they provided examples, they pulled in the data. It really was a data-driven decision.”
On the boys side, teams can enter one wrestler for each of a sectional’s 14 weight classes.
“It’s condensing two weekends of tournaments into one weekend,” Dow said. “The top two qualifiers out of each (sectional) qualify for the state meet. I would expect them to be in the 7 1/2- to nine-hour range.”
Another change affects the WIAA State Team Wrestling Tournament, which this year will move from the University of Wisconsin Field House in Madison to the La Crosse Center in La Crosse and is scheduled for March 6-7.
In the past, four regional-winning teams would compete in a team sectional and the champion would advance to state. Starting this year, the top six teams from each individual boys sectional will advance to a team sectional Feb. 21.
Oconto Falls High School will host a Division 2 team sectional, while a Division 3 sectional will be held at Lena High School. Both sectionals will start at 10 a.m.
“They wanted to eliminate the Tuesday duals to qualify for team state,” Dow said. “They wanted to have a team state qualifier on a Saturday as opposed to the middle of the week. They wanted to equal the number of divisions and the number of teams in each respective division rather than having one division be larger than the other two divisions.
“It’s a lot of different things that coaches have been asking about for quite some time. We were able to put together a plan that includes a little bit of all of it. With this plan, you’re going to see equal numbers across all three divisions.”
Individual sectionals that include area boys teams and scheduled for 10 a.m. Feb. 14 are:
Division 1: Pulaski will head to Preble High School in Green Bay. Neenah High School will host the team sectional.
Division 2: Shawano, Oconto Falls and Menominee Nation will travel to Antigo High School.
Division 3: Bonduel, Gillett/Suring, Lena and Wittenberg-Birnamwood will head to Peshtigo High School.
Individual girls will compete in one division of regionals Feb. 13. Lena will host one regional at 5 p.m. that will also include Oconto Falls; while Bonduel, Gillett/Suring, Menominee Nation, Pulaski, Shawano and Wittenberg-Birnamwood will head to Wausau West High School for a regional that gets underway at 5:15 p.m.
Girls who qualify out of the Lena and Wausau West regionals will advance to a sectional meet at 5 p.m. Feb. 20 at D.C. Everest High School in Weston.
Dow said he’s convinced the changes will be good for the sport in the long run.
“I’m going to say yes because we’re getting more kids to participate,” he said. “We’re giving more teams the opportunity to participate. The new plan addresses what coaches in the sport of wrestling were concerned about for years.
“Participation numbers continue to grow and the coaches advisory (committee) continues to make recommendations that help facilitate that growth. There are more people participating on the mat, more officials, more spectators. That’s what this whole process is about.”
