Wrestling: Four Panthers qualify for state

Updated: 10:15 a.m., 2/24

OCONTO FALLS — Oconto Falls High School wrestlers Graeson Pankratz, Brendan Konitzer, Aidan Stary and Clayton Whiting all qualified for the state tournament after placing in the top three of their respective weight classes Saturday at the Division 2 Oconto Falls sectional.

Pankratz and Whiting, both sophomores, placed second in the 106- and 170-pound weight classes, respectively. Stary, a junior, and Konitzer, a senior, qualified after third-place finishes at 160 and 113 pounds, respectively.

Pankratz had a busy day on the mat, wrestling five matches. He started the day with a 9-8 decision win before dropping an 8-5 decision.

With his season on the line, Pankratz claimed a 4-1 decision before solidifying his spot at state with a second-period pin. He ended the day with a 3-0 decision win to jump from third place to second.

“It’s going to be very rewarding,” said Pankratz, of making it to state with three teammates. “It’s rewarding for the others guys also. Two of them (Konitzer and Stary) never made it to the state tournament, (and) I never really got to experience anything like this. It’s going to be fun experiencing the state tournament with three other guys. It’s going to be a fun weekend.”

Whiting suffered his first loss of the season — a 6-5 decision — to start the day, but he rebounded nicely.

He kept his season alive with a 17-4 major decision win before locking up a state spot with a 24-9 technical fall win in the third-place match. Whiting then earned a 23-8 technical fall win to jump up to second place.

Konitzer earned a pair of 4-3 decision wins to advance to the first-place match. He was pinned in the first period of the title match and then dropped a 5-0 decision in the second-place match.

“Qualifying for state as a senior means a lot to me,” said Konitzer, whose goal is to place at state. “Knowing that my last high school matches will be wrestled at state is a great accomplishment for me.”

Like Pankratz, Stary also wrestled five matches. The junior started out by winning a 9-1 major decision, but then he was pinned in the third-period of his next match.

Stary fought off elimination with a 12-2 major decision win and then locked up a state spot with a 5-2 decision win. He was pinned in the first period of the third-place match.

“Qualifying to me means the world,” said Stary, who also thanked Whiting for being his practice partner this season. “It has been a goal of mine since my brother, Noah, was in high school. I almost think he was more excited than me that I made it.”

Eight other Panther wrestlers also competed in the sectional.

Oconto Falls’ Tyler Budz (132) finished the day with a 1-2 record, starting with a second-period pin before back-to-back losses. Alec Halvorsen (220) went 0-2 on the day, being pinned in both matches.

Elijah Zielinski (285), Matt Loberger (195), Jacob Kaminski (182), Weston Borkovec (152), Luke Trepanier (126) and Jaden Ganter (120) all lost their only matches on the day.

Pankratz, Konitzer, Stary and Whiting will prepare for the 77th annual WIAA Individual Wrestling Championship Tournament, which runs Thursday through Saturday at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Division 2 competitors will first wrestle in preliminaries Thursday at 7 p.m.

Pankratz, who has a 26-12 record going into state, will wrestle Lodi sophomore Parker Heintz (34-12) on Thursday. The winner will advance to take on Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal freshman Luke Dux (34-4) on Friday.

Konitzer (32-13) will take on Spencer/Columbus Catholic senior Ashton Ackman (38-4) in his first state match. The winner will advance to Friday, where Viroqua senior Josh Frye (44-4) awaits.

Stary (28-18) will wrestle Berlin senior Preston Morgan (41-3) on Thursday, with the winner advancing to face St. Croix Central sophomore Devin Wasley (42-1) on Friday.

Whiting (44-1) will start his second state tournament battling Cuba City/Benton/Southwest senior Brad Goffinet (21-6) on Thursday. The winner will advance to wrestle Rice Lake senior Carter Paulson (38-1) on Friday.

“I just want to go out there and have fun. Do what I do best — wrestle my match and control the match at all times and non-stop offense. Another (goal) is having high-scoring matches and showing everybody what I’m capable of doing,” said Whiting, who won a state title in the 152-pound weight class as a freshman last year.

On Feb. 18, Oconto Falls competed in team sectionals at Wautoma High School after winning the Oconto Falls Regional on Feb. 15.

Oconto Falls dropped a 42-29 dual to Denmark. Wrightstown topped Tomahawk in the other team sectional semifinal before beating Denmark to advance to team state.

Konitzer (113) and Whiting (182) each earned wins by pin for Oconto Falls.

Ganter (120) won by technical fall, while Pankratz (106) won a 6-4 decision in overtime. Diego Estavilla (170) won by forfeit for the Panthers.

State qualifiers

Oconto Falls: Graeson Pankratz (106), Brendan Konitzer (113), Aidan Stary (160), Clayton Whiting (170).

ONLINE

Full results from the sectional can be found at trackwrestling.com

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