BELLEVILLE - Monroe senior Dylan Schwitz looked forward to starting a rivalry against Brodhead-Juda's Hunter Colden at the Richland Center sectional last year.
Schwitz lost in the quarterfinals and never had the opportunity to wrestle Colden who became Brodhead-Juda's first freshman to qualify for state in the history of the program. Fast forward almost a year and the highly anticipated rivalry at 152 pounds didn't disappoint at the WIAA Division 2 Sugar River regional. Schwitz (37-5), in dramatic fashion, pulled off an escape right before the buzzer to defeat Colden 5-4 to win a regional title Saturday. For Colden (38-2) it was just his second loss this year.
"This rivalry has been going on since last year," Schwitz said after an intense final seconds. "Last year we knew we would meet. In the back of my head this is what I have been preparing for. I knew he was a good wrestler. It was just two good wrestlers going at it and I came out on top this time."
There were 11 area wrestlers who punched their tickets to the WIAA Division 2 Evansville sectional. Monroe had four wrestlers qualify for the sectional. In addition to Schwitz, sophomore Kevin Klopfenstein (125) won a regional championship, senior Nick Walker at heavyweight won a regional title, and sophomore Trevor Gorr (215) took second.
"Those four we expected," Monroe coach Jeriamy Jackson said. "I feel good about those four moving on."
Clinton edged Evansville-Albany 226-209 to win the regional team title and will advance to the Mauston sectional Tuesday. Brodhead-Juda qualified five wrestlers for Saturday's Evansville sectional and the Cardinals finished third (171.5) ahead of fourth-place Monroe (157.5).
"We thought we had a chance," Jackson said of winning the regional. "Everything had to go right for us."
The highlight for the Cardinals was freshman Jordan Kraak winning a regional title at 103 pounds. The other sectional qualifiers for the Cardinals included Dalton Oborne (119), Colden (152), junior Kramer Lewis (160) and senior heavyweight Dylan Severson. Sugar River had two wrestlers qualify for the sectional including Young-Chul Vetterli (135) and senior Mike Nolden (189).
Brodhead-Juda coach Tim Colden said he was hoping to finish third, just like during the Rock Valley Conference tournament where the Cardinals finished behind Clinton and Evansville-Albany.
"You just never know this time of year," Colden said. "Some kids are ready to be done and some aren't. The whole focus changes once you get here."
In another highly anticipated match, Walker (34-8) edged Severson 3-2 for the title. He used a second-period takedown to take a 3-1 lead. Walker defeated Severson at last year's Richland Center sectional, but he didn't want to take anything for granted.
"I know he (Severson) has improved a lot like all good wrestlers have since last year," Walker said after winning his semifinal match. "He is not the same wrestler as last year and I'm not the same wrestler as last year. You always want to advance. I don't want to settle for second."
Walker had his sights set on helping the Cheesemakers win the regional.
"We wanted to show that we could still do it with 11 wrestlers," Walker said.
The Cheesemakers entered the regional with just 11 wrestlers and had a tough break when junior Aaron Hesgard, who usually wrestles 119, missed making weight by 0.4 pounds. He wrestled up at 130 and finished fourth. Monroe sophomore Dusty Burkhlater also just missed a chance to qualify for the sectional, finishing third. He led Edgerton senior Alex Beechler, who was the No. 1 seed, 1-0 going into the third period. Beechler scored on a takedown with about two seconds left to beat Burkhalter 2-1. The Cheesemakers also wrestled without Cody Stamm who suffered a season ending injury at Lena-Winslow.
"We would have been in a better position," Jackson said of winning the regional with Stamm healthy and Hesgard at 119. "Even then everything would have to fall right. I would have loved to have had Cody because I think he could have made it to the sectional. Aaron would have made it to the sectional at 119. We learn from that and move on."
The big four for the Cheesemakers - including Klopfenstein, Schwitz, Gorr and Walker - shined throughout the regional. Klopfenstein (35-8), who was a state qualifier last year, pinned Evansville-Albany's Alex Lange in 3:09. He followed that up by pinning Clinton's Jason Rosales in 4:30 in the title match.
Klopfenstein said he didn't feel any extra pressure as the top seed.
"My goal was to make it to the sectional again," Klopfenstein said. "We thought we could come in and win the key matches we needed to."
Gorr (34-6) at 215 pinned Clinton's Jose Amador in 3:27. He lost a championship match to Edgerton's Adam Carlson 3-2. Walker (34-8) pinned Sugar River's Aaron Koch in 37 seconds. He then pinned Clinton's Jacob Bobolz in the semifinals in 1:59. Then he pulled out a hard-fought victory against Severson. Severson (32-8) came back and pinned Bobolz in 1:35 to take second.
"The coaches are really pushing us and getting the best out of us," Gorr said. "It's just up to us now. I just want to make it to the sectional and help the team out."
Kraak (28-10) at 103 pinned Sugar River's Kyle Xistris-Songpanya in 3:54. He earned his way to the sectional by pinning Evansville-Albany's Jesse Cothrad in 1:29.
Oborne pinned Edgerton's Robert Reynolds in 5:17. Evansville-Albany's J.J. Boley pinned him in 2:28. He then pinned Beloit Turner's Jordan Kasbohm in 2:49. He earned a sectional berth by pinning Sugar River's Anthony Chiarello in 5:52.
Lewis (31-11) pinned Sugar River's Zach Gehrett in 1:33. He then lost to Clinton's Dane Brandl 5-1 in the semifinals. He rebounded to beat Beloit Turner's Kyle Allen 8-4 and he pinned Edgerton's Dalton Rittenhouse in 51 seconds for second.
Tim Colden has high expectations for the Cardinals five sectional qualifiers. He was excited with the way Kraak wrestled.
"He's had a good season," Colden said of Kraak. "With the record he had coming in, I thought he would win it. He did what he needed to do. It's a good experience as a freshman."
Schwitz lost in the quarterfinals and never had the opportunity to wrestle Colden who became Brodhead-Juda's first freshman to qualify for state in the history of the program. Fast forward almost a year and the highly anticipated rivalry at 152 pounds didn't disappoint at the WIAA Division 2 Sugar River regional. Schwitz (37-5), in dramatic fashion, pulled off an escape right before the buzzer to defeat Colden 5-4 to win a regional title Saturday. For Colden (38-2) it was just his second loss this year.
"This rivalry has been going on since last year," Schwitz said after an intense final seconds. "Last year we knew we would meet. In the back of my head this is what I have been preparing for. I knew he was a good wrestler. It was just two good wrestlers going at it and I came out on top this time."
There were 11 area wrestlers who punched their tickets to the WIAA Division 2 Evansville sectional. Monroe had four wrestlers qualify for the sectional. In addition to Schwitz, sophomore Kevin Klopfenstein (125) won a regional championship, senior Nick Walker at heavyweight won a regional title, and sophomore Trevor Gorr (215) took second.
"Those four we expected," Monroe coach Jeriamy Jackson said. "I feel good about those four moving on."
Clinton edged Evansville-Albany 226-209 to win the regional team title and will advance to the Mauston sectional Tuesday. Brodhead-Juda qualified five wrestlers for Saturday's Evansville sectional and the Cardinals finished third (171.5) ahead of fourth-place Monroe (157.5).
"We thought we had a chance," Jackson said of winning the regional. "Everything had to go right for us."
The highlight for the Cardinals was freshman Jordan Kraak winning a regional title at 103 pounds. The other sectional qualifiers for the Cardinals included Dalton Oborne (119), Colden (152), junior Kramer Lewis (160) and senior heavyweight Dylan Severson. Sugar River had two wrestlers qualify for the sectional including Young-Chul Vetterli (135) and senior Mike Nolden (189).
Brodhead-Juda coach Tim Colden said he was hoping to finish third, just like during the Rock Valley Conference tournament where the Cardinals finished behind Clinton and Evansville-Albany.
"You just never know this time of year," Colden said. "Some kids are ready to be done and some aren't. The whole focus changes once you get here."
In another highly anticipated match, Walker (34-8) edged Severson 3-2 for the title. He used a second-period takedown to take a 3-1 lead. Walker defeated Severson at last year's Richland Center sectional, but he didn't want to take anything for granted.
"I know he (Severson) has improved a lot like all good wrestlers have since last year," Walker said after winning his semifinal match. "He is not the same wrestler as last year and I'm not the same wrestler as last year. You always want to advance. I don't want to settle for second."
Walker had his sights set on helping the Cheesemakers win the regional.
"We wanted to show that we could still do it with 11 wrestlers," Walker said.
The Cheesemakers entered the regional with just 11 wrestlers and had a tough break when junior Aaron Hesgard, who usually wrestles 119, missed making weight by 0.4 pounds. He wrestled up at 130 and finished fourth. Monroe sophomore Dusty Burkhlater also just missed a chance to qualify for the sectional, finishing third. He led Edgerton senior Alex Beechler, who was the No. 1 seed, 1-0 going into the third period. Beechler scored on a takedown with about two seconds left to beat Burkhalter 2-1. The Cheesemakers also wrestled without Cody Stamm who suffered a season ending injury at Lena-Winslow.
"We would have been in a better position," Jackson said of winning the regional with Stamm healthy and Hesgard at 119. "Even then everything would have to fall right. I would have loved to have had Cody because I think he could have made it to the sectional. Aaron would have made it to the sectional at 119. We learn from that and move on."
The big four for the Cheesemakers - including Klopfenstein, Schwitz, Gorr and Walker - shined throughout the regional. Klopfenstein (35-8), who was a state qualifier last year, pinned Evansville-Albany's Alex Lange in 3:09. He followed that up by pinning Clinton's Jason Rosales in 4:30 in the title match.
Klopfenstein said he didn't feel any extra pressure as the top seed.
"My goal was to make it to the sectional again," Klopfenstein said. "We thought we could come in and win the key matches we needed to."
Gorr (34-6) at 215 pinned Clinton's Jose Amador in 3:27. He lost a championship match to Edgerton's Adam Carlson 3-2. Walker (34-8) pinned Sugar River's Aaron Koch in 37 seconds. He then pinned Clinton's Jacob Bobolz in the semifinals in 1:59. Then he pulled out a hard-fought victory against Severson. Severson (32-8) came back and pinned Bobolz in 1:35 to take second.
"The coaches are really pushing us and getting the best out of us," Gorr said. "It's just up to us now. I just want to make it to the sectional and help the team out."
Kraak (28-10) at 103 pinned Sugar River's Kyle Xistris-Songpanya in 3:54. He earned his way to the sectional by pinning Evansville-Albany's Jesse Cothrad in 1:29.
Oborne pinned Edgerton's Robert Reynolds in 5:17. Evansville-Albany's J.J. Boley pinned him in 2:28. He then pinned Beloit Turner's Jordan Kasbohm in 2:49. He earned a sectional berth by pinning Sugar River's Anthony Chiarello in 5:52.
Lewis (31-11) pinned Sugar River's Zach Gehrett in 1:33. He then lost to Clinton's Dane Brandl 5-1 in the semifinals. He rebounded to beat Beloit Turner's Kyle Allen 8-4 and he pinned Edgerton's Dalton Rittenhouse in 51 seconds for second.
Tim Colden has high expectations for the Cardinals five sectional qualifiers. He was excited with the way Kraak wrestled.
"He's had a good season," Colden said of Kraak. "With the record he had coming in, I thought he would win it. He did what he needed to do. It's a good experience as a freshman."
