MONROE - Black Hawk High School may have to clear out some more space in the trophy case for senior Dakota Meier.
Meier, at 152 pounds, has eclipsed 100 career wins and was one of three champions for Darlington-Black Hawk at the Monroe Invitational Saturday, Jan. 25. He's in the top three all-time on the Black Hawk career wins list.
"I didn't think it would happen," Meier said. "I definitely want to make it to state."
The other champions for Darlington-Black Hawk include junior Colin Novak (126) and junior Zach Wolf (heavyweight). Darlington-Black Hawk dominated the meet with five other wrestlers finishing second place en route to winning the Monroe Invitational title 193-158 over Prairie du Chien (158) and third-place Whitewater (140). The quintet of Darlington-Black Hawk wrestlers that took second include Jared Pickett (120), Beau Holland (132), Conrad Blosch (170), Tyler Brunkow (195) and Taylor Evenstad (220). Darlington-Black Hawk entered the tournament on the heels of their first conference dual meet loss to Riverdale.
"We told the guys the only way to make up for Friday was to win the tournament Saturday," Darlington-Black Hawk co-coach Tom Mathias said. "Team depth is what won the championship."
It didn't hurt that Darlington-Black Hawk racked up 19 pins as a team, which gave them 38 more points.
"You can accumulate a lot more points with pins," Mathias said. "We have preached all year we have to pin and avoid being pinned."
Meier (26-3), ranked eighth at 152 in the Division 2 Wisconsin Wrestling Online poll, dominated his weight class. He racked up three pins and pinned Monroe's Isaac Allen in 1 minute, 32 seconds. He credits his success to more battles and on the mat in practice.
"There is more competition," Meier said of the practices. "I think it really helps us all."
The Cheesemakers took fifth as a team (110.5) and had two champions including sophomore Traiten Gorr (182) and senior Austin Minder (195). Gorr (23-10) defeated Prairie du Chien's Peyton Hall 3-0 in the semifinals. In the championship, he defeated Cuba City-Southwestern's Brett Wilson in a double overtime thriller 2-1.
"I thought we had a great day since we had just 10 guys," Monroe coach Tom Witt said of the fifth-place finish as a team. "We don't have the numbers to win the title. It was about doing the best as individuals."
Minder (26-6) defeated Prairie du Chien's Tye Schafer 12-0 in the semifinals and in the championship match he defeated Brunkow 15-3. Minder entered the invite with three losses in his last four matches.
"The last three matches made me more humble," Minder said. "I knew I had to win at least this one. I wanted to win it no matter what seed I had. You always want to beat the kid next to you."
Minder set two goals this season - not to get pinned and to be a state qualifier.
"I failed with my first goal," he said. "I figure if I make it to state I will set another goal."
Monroe freshman David Andrews (106) went 3-1 to finish second place and improved his record to 20-12. Andrews pinned No. 2 seed Jameson Hutschins of Whitewater in 1:45 and finished with two pins and a technical fall. Monroe freshman Cole Murray (126) and sophomore McKenzy Foley (145) both took third place. Foley had three pins and his only loss was in overtime to Poynette's Jordan Decorah 6-4.
Colin Novak (9-1), a state qualifier last year, had a tough match against Murray. Murray jumped out to a 4-0 lead on Novak. However, Novak came through with a reversal and a near fall at the end of the second period to take a 5-4 lead. Novak capped the comeback by pin at 5:17.
"I had to get a score and work my hardest for some points," Novak said. "I thought that was big."
Witt wanted Murray to be ready for Novak's step over.
"The kid (Novak) is long and lanky and he (Murray) has to be ready for that step over," Witt said. "He (Murray) can't ride him on just one hip. With Cole being up, he should have won that match. He dominated the match for 3 minutes."
Murray (16-12) had his only loss was to Novak. He pinned Big Foot-Williams Bay's Logan Chase in 38 seconds and pinned Whitewater's Jimmy Cushman in 43 seconds. Murray also pinned Poynette's Jared Renz in 3:38.
It's been a long road back for Novak, who missed a big chunk of the season due to two broken fingers. Novak said he's still working his way into wrestling shape.
"It was frustrating," Novak said. "I couldn't wait to get back to practice and start wrestling. I have to get better at my feet and riding."
Novak has big goals even though he didn't start wrestling until January.
"I set a goal to be all-conference in Division 2 and to make it to state," he said.
Andrews defeated Poynette's Ryan McCumber 16-0. The only loss for Andrews came to Travis Berryman by a pin.
Monroe sophomore Kyle Walter finished fifth in his first tournament at heavyweight. He was wrestling in place of Brett Zimmerman who will miss the rest of the season with a back injury (herniated disc). Allen took fifth (152) and sophomore Jarod Amacher finished sixth (138) for the Cheesemakers.
There were several wrestlers who turned in dominant performances for the Warriors. At heavyweight, Wolf (26-4), pinned Big Foot-Williams Bay's Evan Graham in 3:04 and won the championship on a tiebreaker. Pickett (120) (25-6) pinned Parkview's Michael Brenum in 1:34 and pinned Big Foot-Williams Bay's Nick Magala in 1:36. He pinned Whitewater's Jake Walton in 1:11 and lost to Prairie du Chien's Clayton Beers 10-2. Evenstad (220) each went 3-1 and posted two pins.
Holland (132), Blosch (170), Brunkow (195) each went 2-1 for second place and Caleb Novak 19-10) took third place. The only loss for Holland came 11-2 to Cuba City-Southwestern's J.J. Donar. The only loss for Blosch came to Cuba City-Southwestern's Scott Fink 9-4 and the lone loss for Evenstad came to Prairie du Chien's Alex Wasechek 2-1.
Darlington Black Hawk is 13-3 in dual meets and 4-1 SWAL. They are tied with Riverdale for second place in the conference although Darlington-Black Hawk lost to Riverdale 41-18. Darlington-Black Hawk will wrestle at conference unbeaten Mineral Point Feb. 6. With a win, they could still earn a share of the conference title.
"There is no doubt we go in as underdogs," Mathias said of the SWAL showdown looming against Mineral Point. "At the same time we feel confident that we can give them a match so we can win a share of the conference title.
"The kids definitely know what is on the line. They will be pretty pumped up."
Meier, at 152 pounds, has eclipsed 100 career wins and was one of three champions for Darlington-Black Hawk at the Monroe Invitational Saturday, Jan. 25. He's in the top three all-time on the Black Hawk career wins list.
"I didn't think it would happen," Meier said. "I definitely want to make it to state."
The other champions for Darlington-Black Hawk include junior Colin Novak (126) and junior Zach Wolf (heavyweight). Darlington-Black Hawk dominated the meet with five other wrestlers finishing second place en route to winning the Monroe Invitational title 193-158 over Prairie du Chien (158) and third-place Whitewater (140). The quintet of Darlington-Black Hawk wrestlers that took second include Jared Pickett (120), Beau Holland (132), Conrad Blosch (170), Tyler Brunkow (195) and Taylor Evenstad (220). Darlington-Black Hawk entered the tournament on the heels of their first conference dual meet loss to Riverdale.
"We told the guys the only way to make up for Friday was to win the tournament Saturday," Darlington-Black Hawk co-coach Tom Mathias said. "Team depth is what won the championship."
It didn't hurt that Darlington-Black Hawk racked up 19 pins as a team, which gave them 38 more points.
"You can accumulate a lot more points with pins," Mathias said. "We have preached all year we have to pin and avoid being pinned."
Meier (26-3), ranked eighth at 152 in the Division 2 Wisconsin Wrestling Online poll, dominated his weight class. He racked up three pins and pinned Monroe's Isaac Allen in 1 minute, 32 seconds. He credits his success to more battles and on the mat in practice.
"There is more competition," Meier said of the practices. "I think it really helps us all."
The Cheesemakers took fifth as a team (110.5) and had two champions including sophomore Traiten Gorr (182) and senior Austin Minder (195). Gorr (23-10) defeated Prairie du Chien's Peyton Hall 3-0 in the semifinals. In the championship, he defeated Cuba City-Southwestern's Brett Wilson in a double overtime thriller 2-1.
"I thought we had a great day since we had just 10 guys," Monroe coach Tom Witt said of the fifth-place finish as a team. "We don't have the numbers to win the title. It was about doing the best as individuals."
Minder (26-6) defeated Prairie du Chien's Tye Schafer 12-0 in the semifinals and in the championship match he defeated Brunkow 15-3. Minder entered the invite with three losses in his last four matches.
"The last three matches made me more humble," Minder said. "I knew I had to win at least this one. I wanted to win it no matter what seed I had. You always want to beat the kid next to you."
Minder set two goals this season - not to get pinned and to be a state qualifier.
"I failed with my first goal," he said. "I figure if I make it to state I will set another goal."
Monroe freshman David Andrews (106) went 3-1 to finish second place and improved his record to 20-12. Andrews pinned No. 2 seed Jameson Hutschins of Whitewater in 1:45 and finished with two pins and a technical fall. Monroe freshman Cole Murray (126) and sophomore McKenzy Foley (145) both took third place. Foley had three pins and his only loss was in overtime to Poynette's Jordan Decorah 6-4.
Colin Novak (9-1), a state qualifier last year, had a tough match against Murray. Murray jumped out to a 4-0 lead on Novak. However, Novak came through with a reversal and a near fall at the end of the second period to take a 5-4 lead. Novak capped the comeback by pin at 5:17.
"I had to get a score and work my hardest for some points," Novak said. "I thought that was big."
Witt wanted Murray to be ready for Novak's step over.
"The kid (Novak) is long and lanky and he (Murray) has to be ready for that step over," Witt said. "He (Murray) can't ride him on just one hip. With Cole being up, he should have won that match. He dominated the match for 3 minutes."
Murray (16-12) had his only loss was to Novak. He pinned Big Foot-Williams Bay's Logan Chase in 38 seconds and pinned Whitewater's Jimmy Cushman in 43 seconds. Murray also pinned Poynette's Jared Renz in 3:38.
It's been a long road back for Novak, who missed a big chunk of the season due to two broken fingers. Novak said he's still working his way into wrestling shape.
"It was frustrating," Novak said. "I couldn't wait to get back to practice and start wrestling. I have to get better at my feet and riding."
Novak has big goals even though he didn't start wrestling until January.
"I set a goal to be all-conference in Division 2 and to make it to state," he said.
Andrews defeated Poynette's Ryan McCumber 16-0. The only loss for Andrews came to Travis Berryman by a pin.
Monroe sophomore Kyle Walter finished fifth in his first tournament at heavyweight. He was wrestling in place of Brett Zimmerman who will miss the rest of the season with a back injury (herniated disc). Allen took fifth (152) and sophomore Jarod Amacher finished sixth (138) for the Cheesemakers.
There were several wrestlers who turned in dominant performances for the Warriors. At heavyweight, Wolf (26-4), pinned Big Foot-Williams Bay's Evan Graham in 3:04 and won the championship on a tiebreaker. Pickett (120) (25-6) pinned Parkview's Michael Brenum in 1:34 and pinned Big Foot-Williams Bay's Nick Magala in 1:36. He pinned Whitewater's Jake Walton in 1:11 and lost to Prairie du Chien's Clayton Beers 10-2. Evenstad (220) each went 3-1 and posted two pins.
Holland (132), Blosch (170), Brunkow (195) each went 2-1 for second place and Caleb Novak 19-10) took third place. The only loss for Holland came 11-2 to Cuba City-Southwestern's J.J. Donar. The only loss for Blosch came to Cuba City-Southwestern's Scott Fink 9-4 and the lone loss for Evenstad came to Prairie du Chien's Alex Wasechek 2-1.
Darlington Black Hawk is 13-3 in dual meets and 4-1 SWAL. They are tied with Riverdale for second place in the conference although Darlington-Black Hawk lost to Riverdale 41-18. Darlington-Black Hawk will wrestle at conference unbeaten Mineral Point Feb. 6. With a win, they could still earn a share of the conference title.
"There is no doubt we go in as underdogs," Mathias said of the SWAL showdown looming against Mineral Point. "At the same time we feel confident that we can give them a match so we can win a share of the conference title.
"The kids definitely know what is on the line. They will be pretty pumped up."
