Area high schools are sending a big contingent of boys and girls to the WIAA Individual State Wrestling Tournament in Madison, as 16 wrestlers from six programs are making the trip to the Kohl Center to compete for a state title.
The tournament will get underway Feb. 26 and wrap up with championship matches Feb. 28.
Those 16 area wrestlers include Lena’s Taylor Whiting, who is looking for her fourth state championship after winning the 107-pound championship in 2023 while wrestling as a freshman for Oconto Falls. She followed that up with titles at 107 as a sophomore and 114 last year as a junior while wrestling for Lena.
If she wins the 114-pound championship at this year’s meet, she will be the first girl to win four straight state championships.
Another girl – Wittenberg-Birnamwood junior Brooke Huffman – is searching for her third straight 185-pound state championship after winning that weight class as a freshman and sophomore.
Whiting and Huffman won their respective weight classes Feb. 20 at a girls sectional meet at D.C. Everest High School in Weston. Two Bonduel wrestlers – Alisha Berg and Kaitlyn Kroening – also qualified for state after placing first at 165 and second at 100, respectively.
Twelve boys from Shawano, Wittenberg-Birnamwood, Oconto Falls, Pulaski and Lena also qualified for state Feb. 14 after placing first or second at their respective sectional.
Area state qualifiers and their first-round opponents on Feb. 26 are:
Boys
Division 1
Pulaski: Jack Falk (36-4) is a No. 2 seed at 113 pounds and has a bye in the preliminary round. Wes Olson (33-12) is seeded 11th at 215 and will face No. 6 Bryce Shepard (30-5), Menomonie.
Division 2
Shawano: Ninth-seeded Dane Hodkiewicz (35-12) will meet No. 8 Damien Thomas (39-6), Whitnall, at 126. Marcus Brezgel (32-15) is seeded 14th and will face third-seeded Adam Haas (19-2), Shoreland Lutheran, at 165. No. 5 Drew Chelberg (37-5) will wrestle No. 12 Noah Klug (36-8), Merrill, at 190.
Oconto Falls: Sixth-seeded Isaiah Holtz (36-13) will face 11th-seeded Ayden Daul (33-9), Hilbert, at 120.
Division 3
Wittenberg-Birnamwood: No. 10 Dalton Fletcher (43-10) will face No. 7 Preston Arvey (41-9), Glenwood City, at 132. Devin Wudtke (34-9), seeded 11th at 138, will face No. 6 Carsen Voskuil (47-2), Cedar Grove-Belgium. No. 14 Bo Davis (33-17) will wrestle third-seeded Aaron Knetter (40-5), Stratford, at 144. No. 4 Benjamin Miller (45-6) will wrestle another Central Wisconsin Conference wrestler, No. 13 Jackson Young (32-15), Shiocton, at 150.
Lena: Eleventh-seeded Collin Vanark (34-2) will wrestle No. 4 Asher Turner (39-5), Spring Valley/Elmwood, at 165. No. 4 Max Peterson (48-3) will face No. 13 Axel Dock (35-10), Oostburg, at 175.
Girls
Lena: No. 1 Taylor Whiting (12-0) will face No. 16 Tatum James (29-18), Mineral Point, at 114.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood: No. 1 Brooke Huffman (50-0) will wrestle No. 16 Lily Hatfield (25-19), Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, at 185.
Bonduel: No. 8 Kaitlyn Kroening (49-7) will wrestle No. 16 Kailee Spilde (30-5), Richland Center, at 100; No. 3 Alisha Berg (50-4) will face No. 13 Bella Ortiz (31-12), New Berlin West/Eisenhower, at 165.
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Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Izabell Schulist catches her breath between the second and third periods of her match with Stanley-Boyd’s Ava Kempf. Schulist won the 114-pound match 17-10. (Greg Seubert)
Shawano’s Jenna Moede wrestles Stratford’s Allison Knetter in a 120-pound match at a sectional meet at D.C. Everest High School. Moede competed at the meet with teammate Lauren Seehafer. (Greg Seubert)
Bonduel’s Kaitlyn Kroening works on Oconto Falls London Le Sage on Feb. 20 during the first period of a 100-pound match at a sectional at D.C. Everest. Kroening pinned Le Sage and is one of 16 wrestlers headed to the WIAA Individual State Wrestling Tournament. (Greg Seubert)
