Wrestlers wrap up season at state meet

All in all, it turned out to be a successful three days for area wrestlers at the WIAA State Individual Tournament, held Feb. 26-28 at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Two of them — Lena’s Taylor Whiting and Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Brooke Huffman — returned home with their fourth and third state championship, respectively, while several others from Bonduel, Wittenberg-Birnamwood, Pulaski and Lena made it to the podium after placing in the top six of their respective weight classes.

Here’s how local wrestlers fared at the tournament:

Girls

Whiting became the first girl to win four straight championships, as she won the 114-pound weight class with a 10-5 win over Manitowoc Lincoln’s Emjay Neumann.

Huffman capped a 54-0 junior season by pinning North Crawford/Seneca’s Adrianna Logue in 4:54 to win the 185-pound championship.

Bonduel’s Alisha Berg nearly made it to the 165-pound championship match but dropped a 2-0 decision to Adams-Friendship’s Kimura Hutter, last year’s champion at 165, in the semifinal round. That loss placed Berg in the third-place match, and she took third by pinning Hamilton’s Hannah Behrndt in 1:33.

Berg’s teammate, Kaitlyn Kroening, competed at 100. She opened the tournament by pinning Richland Center’s Kailee Spilde in 54 seconds but lost her second-round match and did not get an opportunity in the wrestleback round.

Boys

Division 1

Pulaski sent a pair of wrestlers in Jack Falk (113) and Wes Olson (215).

Falk had a bye in the preliminary round after getting a No. 2 seed. He opened the tournament in the quarterfinal round with a 4-1 win over Waunakee’s Mason Spear but was pinned in 3:35 in the semifinals by Holmen’s Brendan Henderson. That loss placed Falk in the third-place match, but he ended up fourth after dropping a 4-3 decision to West Bend West/East’s August Lubinski.

Olson also placed fourth, but headed to state seeded 11th in his weight class. He won his first two matches, came up short in the semifinal round and lost 4-3 to Janesville Parker’s Cody Slater in the third-place match.

Division 2

Oconto Falls’ Isaiah Holtz, who placed third last year at 113, competed at 120 and did not place. He entered the tournament as a No. 6 seed but dropped his opening match 10-2 to Chilton/Hilbert’s Ayden Daul. His season ended in the wrestleback round after getting pinned by Pewaukee’s Keegan Siira in 2:14.

Shawano had three wrestlers in Dane Hodkiewicz (126), Marcus Brezgel (165) and Drew Chelberg (190).

Whitnall’s Damien Thomas pinned Hodkiewicz in the preliminary round, but Hodwiewicz stayed alive in the wrestleback round. He received a bye for his first match before handing West Salem/Bangor’s Teghan Moore, the No. 2 seed, a 9-2 loss. His season ended after Abbotsford/Colby’s Tristen Smazal pinned him in 3:46.

Brezgel opened the tournament with a 3-0 loss to Shoreland Lutheran’s Adam Haas and ended his season with a 15-5 loss to Arcadia’s David Aguilar in the wrestleback round.

Chelberg, a No. 5 seed, used a late takedown to top Merrill’s Noah Klug 4-1 in the opening round before dropping a 4-3 decision to Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro’s Aaron Dunnigan. His season then ended with a 10-3 loss to Waterford’s Camden Shaw in the wrestleback round.

Division 3

Wittenberg-Birnamwood and Lena sent a combined eight wrestlers, and three of them made it to the podium.

Benjamin Miller led Wittenberg-Birnamwood by placing third at 150, while teammate Dalton Fletcher placed sixth at 132 and Lena’s Max Peterson placed fifth at 175.

Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Devin Wudtke (138), Bo Davis (144) and George Seegmiller (215) did not place. Neither did Lena’s Lucas Heimke (144) and Collin Vanark (165).

Miller, a No. 4 seed, pinned Parkview/Albany’s Tavin Bomkamp in 2:12 in the third-place match. He opened the tournament with a 13-0 win over Shiocton’s Jackson Young and followed that up with a 5-4 decision over Phillips’ JJ Adomaitis. Eventual state champion Colton Klug of Brillion handed Miller an 11-1 loss in the semifinals, which placed him in the third-place match.

Peterson, seeded fourth at 175, beat Oostburg’s Axel Dock 13-5 in the preliminary round before Brillion’s Weston Schmidt pinned him in 3:39. Peterson came back through the wrestleback with a 9-5 win over Marathon’s Grant Salber and pinned Darlington’s Maximo Xolo in 5:00 in the fifth-place match.

Fletcher beat Glenwood City’s Preston Arvey 4-0 in the first round, but dropped a 13-1 decision to eventual state champion McAlister Ramage of Lake Country Lutheran. Fletcher came back through the wrestleback round with an 11-5 win over Omro’s Mason Malnory but fell to Shiocton’s Mason Demerath 11-3 in the fifth-place match.

Cedar Grove-Belgium’s Carson Voskuil pinned Fletcher in 1:05 in the preliminary round, but Fletcher stayed alive in the tournament by pinning Barron’s Brady Valentine in 2:17 and an 11-7 win over Waterloo’s Brady Ebert before getting pinned by Marathon’s Cale Quaintance in 1:56.

Davis opened the tournament with a 17-2 loss to Stratford’s Aaron Knetter, but came back through the wrestleback with a medical forfeit over Lake Country Lutheran’s Samuel Buchholz, but his season ended with a 9-3 loss to Westfield’s Mason Groskreutz.

Vanark lost his opening match 19-3 to Spring Valley/Elmwood’s Asher Turner before pinning Lomira’s Kolton Wagoner in 2:53. Reedsville’s Tristen Verbeten then pinned Vanark in 4:17.

Seegmiller and Heimke were late additions to the tournament lineup and replaced Crandon’s Trent Palubicki and Brexden Cane, respectively.

Seegmiller opened the tournament with a 9-2 loss to Spring Valley/Elmwood’s Jack Steinmeyer and was eliminated after getting pinned by Cadott’s Mitchell Reineke in 4:47.

Heimke also lost his first two matches, 17-2 to Weyauwega-Fremont’s Carter Birdyshaw and 17-0 to Glenwood City’s Landon Obermueller.