EVANSVILLE - It was a long road, but Monroe senior Dylan Schwitz reached his dream of getting back to state at the WIAA Division 2 Evansville sectional.

"It felt great to know I will be making another trip back to Madison," Schwitz said after knocking off West Salem-Bangor sophomore Alex Peters 8-0 Saturday to lock up his second trip to state. "Any time you wrestle back and win out it's special. I'm just glad they gave us the chance to do it here."

Schwitz (41-6) then defeated Brodhead-Juda sophomore Hunter Colden 3-2 in a wrestleback for second place. With the win over Colden, Schwitz set the single season record for the most wins in school history (41), which eclipsed Kevin Klopfenstein's mark from last year (40). It's the second straight week that Schwitz has beat Colden.

"It's just Brownie points," Schwitz said of his match against Colden after both wrestlers at 152 had locked up trips to state. "It speaks good for the area that we have two guys (at 152) going to the Kohl Center."

In addition to Schwitz, Monroe senior Nick Walker at heavyweight will make a trip to state after finishing third. The other area wrestlers that qualified for state include Colden and Sugar River senior Mike Nolden (189). The four wrestlers will now gear up for the WIAA Division 2 state tournament Feb. 24-26 at the Kohl Center in Madison.

"I tell kids all the time nothing is guaranteed," Monroe coach Jeriamy Jackson said. "You are never guaranteed to be in a position to go to state again. Everyone is gunning for you."

Walker (36-10) won his first two matches to assure himself a trip to the Kohl Center. He defeated Marshall's Zach James 9-6 in the first round. In the semifinals, Walker fueled by a first period near fall cruised to a 15-6 win over West Salem-Bangor's Alex Arentz.

"It hasn't sunk in yet," Walker said. "I don't just want to go to state. I want to do fairly well and end on a high note. Last year I thought I would make it. I lost a third place match by a couple of points. It was pretty hard to deal with."

Walker in the championship match faced the defending Division 2 state champion in Viroqua senior Taylor Henry. Henry pinned Walker in 5:54. Lakeside Lutheran junior Ben Ewings defeated Walker 8-4 in a second place match.

"For seniors you can't ask for a better way for them to end it," Jackson said. "As a senior you can't script a better way to end their senior season."

It will be Colden's second straight trip to the Kohl Center. Colden became the first Brodhead-Juda wrestler to qualify for state in the program's history last year.

"I have worked hard for this all year," Colden said. "Since we made it to state in football it's especially good to make it back to Madison a second time in a year."

Colden (40-4) had a rematch against Marshall junior Thurston Schuster in the championship match. Schuster beat Colden in the sectional title match last year and he edged him this year 11-9.

"It's one of my goals to beat him," Colden said. "I have a list of guys I want to beat and he is on it. I have been working for this all summer."

Monroe sophomore Trevor Gorr (215) just missed qualifying for state taking fourth. Edgerton junior Adam Carlson defeated Gorr 5-4 in a third place match to secure a trip to state.

"It just wasn't his day," Jackson said. "I think he would be the first one to tell you he didn't wrestle his best. He was deserving of going. Hopefully, it motivates it him a lot. You have to remember this was his first year of varsity wrestling. He was highly ranked and had a lot of pressure."

Gorr (35-8) caught a break when Belmont-Platteville's David Stoney didn't make weight. Gorr wrestled his first match in the semifinals and lost to Viroqua junior Trent Versbach 5-4. Gorr scored on a takedown early on to take a 2-0 lead. Versbach scored on a takedown at the end of the second period to take a 3-2 lead. He came back and defeated Lakeside Lutheran's Ryan Funk 5-2.

Fellow sophomore Klopfenstein (125) had a tough end to the season. Klopfenstein (36-10) defeated River Valley freshman Ryan Cook 5-1 in the first round. He then lost a heartbreaker to Sparta junior Derek VonRuden 3-2 in the semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, Lodi senior Getaswe Shimshak defeated him 15-11 to end his season. Klopfenstein trailed 7-1 early on and trailed 11-3 heading into the third period. Klopfenstein stormed back in the third period scoring on a couple of near falls and almost pulled off an improbable pin.

"He (Shimshak) definitely beat us on our feet," Jackson said. "Kevin controlled the match on the mat. This wasn't his day. You can't take away his great season. He went from one point away from the finals to out. Hopefully, this motivates him for next year."

Nolden (35-4) also had to wrestleback to take third. He opened the sectional by pinning Adams-Freindship junior Jim Golden in 1:45. He had an uncharacteristic finish in the semifinals and lost to Lakeside Lutheran senior Tyler Fussner 6-4. Nolden took a 5-4 lead with a takedown with about 54 seconds to go. Fussner scored on an escape and reversal in the final 50 seconds to seal a comeback win.

"I was definitely tired," Nolden said. "I trying to hold it. I was kind of out of energy."

He pinned Prairie du Chein's Kyle Hedeman in 3:48 in the consolation semifinals and defeated Lodi's Michael Watters 15-4 in a third place match. In a wrestleback for second, Nolden lost to Wisconsin Dells senior Kyle Holzem 11-5.

Nolden said he still reached his goal of qualifying for state.