Bonduel High School will enter day two of the WIAA Individual Wrestling Championship Tournament in Madison with four of its five wrestlers still in the running for state titles.
The Bears qualified five wrestlers for the Division 3 state finals, with four opening their tourney run Thursday at the Kohl Center.
Dan Tauchen drew a first-round bye in the 160-pound division, guaranteeing at least one team member would wrestle on Friday. However, three Bonduel wrestlers will join him after winning their first-round matches Thursday.
Jordan Boldt (106, 39-5) earned a 8-5 victory over Lucas Schevikhoven, of Shoreland Lutheran. Boldt will wrestle Austin Wolfe, of Boyceville, Friday morning.
Garrett Siolka (126, 42-7) also advanced, winning his match against Cesar Luis, of Random Lake, in a 9-3 decision. He will wrestle Kal Gerber, of Cameron, in the second round.
Mitch Sokolski (170, 39-10) was the third Bonduel wrestler to advance. Sokolski needed just 1:48 to pin Aaron Huber, of Martin Luther, and will face Luke Nowak, of Iowa-Grant/Highland, in the second round.
Bonduel was tripped up only in the 138-pound division, where Travis Wollenberg (32-13) lost a 3-2 decision to Jacob Erbe, of Arcadia, in the opening round.
Bonduel coach Chris Rank said having four of the team’s five wrestlers still around meant a successful opening day.
“We’re very pleased with the outcome, with three guys advancing,” he said. “Our first objective is trying to get all our athletes on the podium, and that first round is very crucial. You win that, you’re wrestling Friday and we’d like to get a few guys through to Saturday.”
Two Bonduel rivals from the Central Wisconsin Conference-8 also advanced Thursday.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Zach Urquhart (126, 35-11) posted a 7-3 decision over Isaac Brock, of Cedar Grove-Belgium, in the first round. He will be joined by teammate August Peplinski (195, 49-1), who defeated Corwin Deetz, of Rice Lake, in a 1-0 decision.
Urquhart faces Hunter Marko, of Amery, Friday, while Peplinski faces Duncan Calnin, of Chilton-Hilbert.
Witt-Birn’s Alex Peplinski had a first-round bye in the 170-pound class and wrestles Friday against Tristen Mueller, of Ellsworth.
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