EVANSVILLE - The Monroe wrestling team came an eyelash away from winning the WIAA Division 2 Evansville regional on Saturday.
The Cheesemakers qualified nine wrestlers for the Division 2 Richland Center sectional, which is one more than Evansville-Albany. But Evansville-Albany edged Monroe in a 245-243 thriller for the regional team title and a berth in the team sectional.
"It was a great day for Monroe wrestling," Monroe coach Tom Witt said. "I told the kids afterwards, I can't be more proud of the effort they put forth. It's probably the most sectional qualifiers we have had since Monroe went to team state in 2001-02. It was exciting and fun to be a part of because the crowd was in it and knew the situation."
The Cheesemakers had three regional champions, sophomore Dempzy Foley at 160 pounds, senior Traiten Gorr (220) and junior Kyle Walter (heavyweight). The other sectional qualifiers, who took second in the regional, for the Cheesemakers are junior David Andrews (120), junior Cole Murray (132), sophomore Sam Kind (138), sophomore Travis Wolf (145), senior McKenzy Foley (170) and junior Hayden Arneson (195).
The six regional champions that led Evansville-Albany are Chase Katzenmeyer (33-0) at 126, Nolan Kicmol (35-3) at 132, Jordan Meyer (36-1) at 145, Tyler Schmidt (28-11) at 152, Dakota Ringhand (31-8) at 182 and Lucius Rinehart (35-2) at 195.
Monroe's Dempzy Foley pinned Beloit Turner's T.J. Kuhnle in 5 minutes, 1 second in the semifinals. In the championship match, Foley then defeated Brodhead-Juda's Tyler Hoesly 11-8.
"That was a big match for Dempzy," Witt said.
Gorr pinned Sugar River's Daniel Enloe in 1:35 in a quarterfinal match. He then knocked off Beloit Turner's Tyler Burnt in a major decision 11-1 in the championship match.
Walter, like Gorr, breezed into the title match. After a first-round bye, Walter pinned Sugar River's Jonah Thompson in 4:21. In the championship match, Walter defeated Brodhead-Juda's Dakota Taber 5-1.
Andrews earned a sectional berth by defeating Beloit Turner's Stefan Golden 3-2.
Murray defeated Beloit Turner's Cole Walker 6-3. After losing to Kicmol 8-2, Murray sealed second place due to an earlier win against Walker.
Kind pinned Edgerton's Matthew Nelson in 1:02. He then edged Sugar River's Jack Dietrich 5-3 in a quarterfinal match. After an injury led to a default in the championship match, Kind took second due to an earlier win against Dietrich.
Wolf opened the regional with a 5-2 win over Brodhead-Juda's Tommy Grabowski. Meyer then pinned him in 1:14. Wolf bounced back to pin Clinton's Maverick Wellnitz in 3:27 and then defeated Sugar River's Hayden Latsch 8-3 to lock up second.
"In his bracket, Jordan Meyer was the class of the 145 bracket going in," Witt said of Wolf. "Travis took advantage of it (Latsch losing in title match) and won convincingly."
After a first-round bye, Arneson pinned Sugar River's Trent Siegenthaler in 3:57. Rinehart then defeated Arneson 11-2. He sealed second due to an earlier win over Siegenthaler.
Brodhead-Juda finished fourth (127) and Sugar River was fifth (126) in the seven-team regional. Brodhead-Juda had three wrestlers qualify for the sectional.
Blake Burns (32-13) was a regional champion for the Cardinals at 120. Burns posted two pins in the regional. He defeated Golden 5-3 in overtime to reach the title match. The other sectional qualifiers for the Cardinals were Hoesly (160) and Taber (heavyweight). Hoesly (34-10) and Taber (22-7) both enter sectionals with some momentum. Dempzy Foley avenged an earlier loss in the season to Hoesly.
Sugar River's lone sectional qualifier is John Chenoweth (126). Chenoweth (28-11) finished second at the regional going 3-1.
The Cheesemakers qualified nine wrestlers for the Division 2 Richland Center sectional, which is one more than Evansville-Albany. But Evansville-Albany edged Monroe in a 245-243 thriller for the regional team title and a berth in the team sectional.
"It was a great day for Monroe wrestling," Monroe coach Tom Witt said. "I told the kids afterwards, I can't be more proud of the effort they put forth. It's probably the most sectional qualifiers we have had since Monroe went to team state in 2001-02. It was exciting and fun to be a part of because the crowd was in it and knew the situation."
The Cheesemakers had three regional champions, sophomore Dempzy Foley at 160 pounds, senior Traiten Gorr (220) and junior Kyle Walter (heavyweight). The other sectional qualifiers, who took second in the regional, for the Cheesemakers are junior David Andrews (120), junior Cole Murray (132), sophomore Sam Kind (138), sophomore Travis Wolf (145), senior McKenzy Foley (170) and junior Hayden Arneson (195).
The six regional champions that led Evansville-Albany are Chase Katzenmeyer (33-0) at 126, Nolan Kicmol (35-3) at 132, Jordan Meyer (36-1) at 145, Tyler Schmidt (28-11) at 152, Dakota Ringhand (31-8) at 182 and Lucius Rinehart (35-2) at 195.
Monroe's Dempzy Foley pinned Beloit Turner's T.J. Kuhnle in 5 minutes, 1 second in the semifinals. In the championship match, Foley then defeated Brodhead-Juda's Tyler Hoesly 11-8.
"That was a big match for Dempzy," Witt said.
Gorr pinned Sugar River's Daniel Enloe in 1:35 in a quarterfinal match. He then knocked off Beloit Turner's Tyler Burnt in a major decision 11-1 in the championship match.
Walter, like Gorr, breezed into the title match. After a first-round bye, Walter pinned Sugar River's Jonah Thompson in 4:21. In the championship match, Walter defeated Brodhead-Juda's Dakota Taber 5-1.
Andrews earned a sectional berth by defeating Beloit Turner's Stefan Golden 3-2.
Murray defeated Beloit Turner's Cole Walker 6-3. After losing to Kicmol 8-2, Murray sealed second place due to an earlier win against Walker.
Kind pinned Edgerton's Matthew Nelson in 1:02. He then edged Sugar River's Jack Dietrich 5-3 in a quarterfinal match. After an injury led to a default in the championship match, Kind took second due to an earlier win against Dietrich.
Wolf opened the regional with a 5-2 win over Brodhead-Juda's Tommy Grabowski. Meyer then pinned him in 1:14. Wolf bounced back to pin Clinton's Maverick Wellnitz in 3:27 and then defeated Sugar River's Hayden Latsch 8-3 to lock up second.
"In his bracket, Jordan Meyer was the class of the 145 bracket going in," Witt said of Wolf. "Travis took advantage of it (Latsch losing in title match) and won convincingly."
After a first-round bye, Arneson pinned Sugar River's Trent Siegenthaler in 3:57. Rinehart then defeated Arneson 11-2. He sealed second due to an earlier win over Siegenthaler.
Brodhead-Juda finished fourth (127) and Sugar River was fifth (126) in the seven-team regional. Brodhead-Juda had three wrestlers qualify for the sectional.
Blake Burns (32-13) was a regional champion for the Cardinals at 120. Burns posted two pins in the regional. He defeated Golden 5-3 in overtime to reach the title match. The other sectional qualifiers for the Cardinals were Hoesly (160) and Taber (heavyweight). Hoesly (34-10) and Taber (22-7) both enter sectionals with some momentum. Dempzy Foley avenged an earlier loss in the season to Hoesly.
Sugar River's lone sectional qualifier is John Chenoweth (126). Chenoweth (28-11) finished second at the regional going 3-1.
