Feb. 22
Division 2, Sectional B
A pair of Oconto Falls wrestlers won their weight classes as sectionals and will join five other area wrestlers at the state meet this weekend.
At the Division 2 Sectional B meet at Seymour, Isaiah Holtz captured first at 113 pounds. A sophomore, he pinned sophomore Easton Felchlin of Wrightstown in 35 seconds to win the title.
At 138, senior Cole Bozile pinned Seymour senior Connor Steffens in 1:29 for the title.
At 144, Ben Miller of Wittenberg-Birnamwood placed second.
In the second-place match, the junior won 11-1 over Freedom senior Trent Nabbefeld. In the match for first place, he lost 5-4 to Wrightstown senior Louis Hock.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood sophomore Dalton Fletcher placed second at 120, and Shawano junior Dane Hodkiewicz won third.
In the battle for first, Fletcher lost to Keil’s Logan Schad.
Hodkiewicz received a bye in his first-round match when the Denmark wrestler was unable to participate. That placed him into the semifinals where he wrestled Fletcher. He lost that match 5-2 and moved to the wrestleback side of the bracket.
His next match was against Jayden Cornell of Freedom. In that match, Hodkiewicz found a quick shot and was finishing up the middle when he sat through. His opponent held on as Hodkiewicz rocked onto his butt putting the Freedom wrestler flat on his back. It was a scramble situation but just enough control for Hodkiewicz to earn the fall in 1:18.
This win placed him into the third-place match, and a win would send him to state. His match was against Logan Boehnlein of Seymour. Hodkiewicz was 1-1 again Boehnlein this season, winning a tight match in a dual and loosing a close match at regionals.
The first period was back and forth when Hodkiewicz secured a takedown late in the first period. He was in on a double leg and finished up the middle and secured the takedown. He rode out the rest of the first period for a 3-0 lead.
In the second period, Hodkiewicz chose neutral and they wrestled through many positions but no points were scored.
In the third period, Boehnlein chose down. Hodkiewicz controlled much of the period, but there was a scramble late and Hodkiewicz gave up a 2-point reversal. In the last 30 seconds, Hodkiewicz was working to his feet and was near an escape as the time expired, but it didn’t matter as he won 3-2.
“It was a hard fought win that earned him a trip to the state tournament,” coach Mike Homan said.
Junior Devin Wudtke of Wittenberg-Birnamwood earned third place at 138. He defeated Drayk Nolan of Chilton/Hilbert but then was pinned by Steffens, who would go on to lose to Bozile.
Also placing third and advancing to state was Oconto Falls senior Nick Trepaneir. He defeated Denmark’s Quinn Kaminski but lost to Freedom’s Vincent Cook.
Shawano started the day with three sectional qualifiers. Drew Chelberg was called up when another was unable to wrestle.
Kian Morstad and Chelberg each had No. 1 seeds in their first matches. After both taking losses in the first round, they entered the wrestleback side of the bracket.
Morstad lost to Cole Berth of Coleman by fall in 3:42.
“Kian has had a great freshman season,” coach Mike Homan said. “He will do great things in the next three years. It was great for him to experience sectionals and the feel of the matches here.”
Chelberg won his next match over Wyatt Bieber 12-5, which placed him in the third-place match against Austin Kufner of Fox Valley Lutheran.
“It was great to go from a fifth-place regional finish to the match to qualify for the state tournament,” Homan said. “In that match, Drew wrestled well but just came up a few moves short and lost the match 14-8. Drew did a great job for us this season. He grew as a wrestler and was always improving. Today was a great experience for him, and we look forward to his senior season.”
Also placing fourth were Brandon Romo of Oconto Falls at 126, Easton Davis of Wittenberg-Birnamwood at 132 and George Seegmiller of Wittenberg-Birnamwood at 285.
Division 2, Sectional B
At the Valders sectional meet, one Lena wrestler finished in second and a Bonduel wrestler was third to advance to state.
At 150, Lena junior Max Peterson was pinned by Weyauwega-Fremont freshman Collin Hamm in 3:48 in the battle for first place.
Bonduel senior Colin Fischer placed third at 165. He defeated Southern Door’s Lance Veeser, then lost to Brillion’s Weston Schmidt in the second-place match.
Placing fourth and missing out on the state tournament were Isaac Peterson of Lena at 106, Jaxon Bogacz of Bonduel at 132 and Evan Wilcox of Bonduel at 215.
The state tournament will be held Feb. 27-March 1.
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