Dates to Remember
Regionals: Saturday
Division 2: Monroe, Brodhead-Juda, Sugar River, Evansville-Albany at Evansville, 10 a.m.
Division 3: Black Hawk-Darlington, Pecatonica-Argyle at Lancaster, 10:15 a.m.
Sectionals: Saturday, Feb. 21
Individual state: Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 26-28
Team state: March 6-7
MILTON - Monroe junior Traiten Gorr won a Badger Conference championship at 220 pounds and the Cheesemakers had six wrestlers place in the conference tournament Saturday.
Gorr (38-2), ranked No. 3 at 220 in the Division 2 Wisconsin Wrestling Online poll, edged Sauk Prairie senior Gage Neumaier 3-2 in the title match.
"It's a great accomplishment for him," Monroe coach Tom Witt said. "He's just a junior and will have a chance to win another conference championship."
Gorr scored the match-winning point on an escape with about 1 minute to go in the third period.
"He's been in that situation before," Witt said. "He hasn't been held down this year. He knows he can get one point when he chooses down. He's a very heady and smart wrestler. He knows when he got that escape he wasn't going to be taken down."
Stoughton won the Badger tournament by having five wrestlers win conference titles. Eight Stoughton wrestlers competed in the finals as the Vikings won the tournament 335-5 points-310 over Milton, which won the regular season dual matchup to split the Badger South Conference title. Monroe finished 11th (93) out of 13 teams overall and fourth place in the final Badger South standings. Sauk Prairie finished third overall (285.5), but won the Badger North title.
Other wrestlers who placed for the Cheesemakers were sophomore Cole Murray (126), sixth; freshman Sam Kind (113), seventh; junior McKenzy Foley (160), eighth; sophomore Isaac Allen (170), eighth; and sophomore Hayden Arneson (182), eighth.
"We had six wrestlers place and it was a much better performance than last year," Witt said of the Cheesemakers, who finished last in 2014. "Everyone of these wrestlers will be back next year."
As the No. 1 seed, Gorr received a first-round bye. He then defeated Stoughton's Josiah Nelson 5-0. In the semifinals, Gorr pinned Baraboo's Nicholas Pierce in 4 minutes, 47 seconds.
Murray (126) finished 2-3 in the tournament, but had several nail-biting matches. After a bye, Murray lost to Waunakee's Preston Ernst 3-0. He then rebounded to beat Portage senior Tyler McTier 6-3. He lost to Milton sophomore Levi Garrett 5-1. In a fifth-place match, Murray lost a heartbreaker to Reedsburg junior Lawrence Lewerenz 2-0 in overtime. Lewerenz won the thrilling match with a takedown in overtime.
"The fourth through sixth seeds were all pretty even," Witt said. "I was hoping for him to get to that third-place match. On a good day, that is where he could have got."
Kind (113) wrestled his first varsity matches of the season in the tournament after coming back from injury. Kind went 3-2 in the tournament. He pinned DeForest's Travis Konopacki in 3:31 in the first-round. Kind then lost a close battle to Reedsburg freshman Mason McMillen (33-7) 5-0. McMillen entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed.
"He went toe-to-toe with the kid from Reedsburg who was the No. 2 seed," Witt said. "He was glad to be out there. You could tell conditioning wise in the third period he just didn't have it. If Sam had been healthy and wrestling all year, I think he would have won that match. Sam is a competitor. He fights hard no matter who he is wrestling."
Fort Atkinson freshman Draven Sigmund then defeated Kind and he pinned Oregon's Connor Brickely in 1:55 for seventh place.
Both Foley (160) and Allen (170) finished the tournament 2-2. DeForest senior Jared Endres defeated Foley for seventh place 4-2.
"For him (Foley) to place eighth coming off a knee injury is a step in the right direction," Witt said.
Allen opened the tournament by pinning Portage's Pierson White in the third period. Allen wrestled No. 2 seed and eventual conference champion John McCarthy of Milton in a tight match. Allen trailed just 2-0 in the third period before McCarthy pinned him in 5:16. In a seventh-place match, White avenged an earlier loss to Allen beating him 1-0 on a penalty point.
"In the first match against White he was wrestling great and his fundamentals were there," Witt said of Allen. "In the placing match, he didn't do a lot of wrestling. I think he got a little tired."
Arneson (182) went 2-3 in the tournament. He opened the tournament by pinning Stoughton's Matt Krcma in 1:14. After two straight losses, he bounced back to pin Portage's Ethan Emmerich in 1:53. Arneson lost a seventh-place match to Sauk Prairie sophomore Logan Moore. Arneson entered the third period trailing 3-2 and chose down to try to get an escape, but was able to break out.
Monroe and Brodhead-Juda will wrestle in the WIAA Division 2 Evansville-Albany sectional at 10 a.m. Saturday. The top two in each weight class advance on to the sectional.
"All of them have to have a good week of practice and refocus their goals," Witt said.
Gorr (38-2), ranked No. 3 at 220 in the Division 2 Wisconsin Wrestling Online poll, edged Sauk Prairie senior Gage Neumaier 3-2 in the title match.
"It's a great accomplishment for him," Monroe coach Tom Witt said. "He's just a junior and will have a chance to win another conference championship."
Gorr scored the match-winning point on an escape with about 1 minute to go in the third period.
"He's been in that situation before," Witt said. "He hasn't been held down this year. He knows he can get one point when he chooses down. He's a very heady and smart wrestler. He knows when he got that escape he wasn't going to be taken down."
Stoughton won the Badger tournament by having five wrestlers win conference titles. Eight Stoughton wrestlers competed in the finals as the Vikings won the tournament 335-5 points-310 over Milton, which won the regular season dual matchup to split the Badger South Conference title. Monroe finished 11th (93) out of 13 teams overall and fourth place in the final Badger South standings. Sauk Prairie finished third overall (285.5), but won the Badger North title.
Other wrestlers who placed for the Cheesemakers were sophomore Cole Murray (126), sixth; freshman Sam Kind (113), seventh; junior McKenzy Foley (160), eighth; sophomore Isaac Allen (170), eighth; and sophomore Hayden Arneson (182), eighth.
"We had six wrestlers place and it was a much better performance than last year," Witt said of the Cheesemakers, who finished last in 2014. "Everyone of these wrestlers will be back next year."
As the No. 1 seed, Gorr received a first-round bye. He then defeated Stoughton's Josiah Nelson 5-0. In the semifinals, Gorr pinned Baraboo's Nicholas Pierce in 4 minutes, 47 seconds.
Murray (126) finished 2-3 in the tournament, but had several nail-biting matches. After a bye, Murray lost to Waunakee's Preston Ernst 3-0. He then rebounded to beat Portage senior Tyler McTier 6-3. He lost to Milton sophomore Levi Garrett 5-1. In a fifth-place match, Murray lost a heartbreaker to Reedsburg junior Lawrence Lewerenz 2-0 in overtime. Lewerenz won the thrilling match with a takedown in overtime.
"The fourth through sixth seeds were all pretty even," Witt said. "I was hoping for him to get to that third-place match. On a good day, that is where he could have got."
Kind (113) wrestled his first varsity matches of the season in the tournament after coming back from injury. Kind went 3-2 in the tournament. He pinned DeForest's Travis Konopacki in 3:31 in the first-round. Kind then lost a close battle to Reedsburg freshman Mason McMillen (33-7) 5-0. McMillen entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed.
"He went toe-to-toe with the kid from Reedsburg who was the No. 2 seed," Witt said. "He was glad to be out there. You could tell conditioning wise in the third period he just didn't have it. If Sam had been healthy and wrestling all year, I think he would have won that match. Sam is a competitor. He fights hard no matter who he is wrestling."
Fort Atkinson freshman Draven Sigmund then defeated Kind and he pinned Oregon's Connor Brickely in 1:55 for seventh place.
Both Foley (160) and Allen (170) finished the tournament 2-2. DeForest senior Jared Endres defeated Foley for seventh place 4-2.
"For him (Foley) to place eighth coming off a knee injury is a step in the right direction," Witt said.
Allen opened the tournament by pinning Portage's Pierson White in the third period. Allen wrestled No. 2 seed and eventual conference champion John McCarthy of Milton in a tight match. Allen trailed just 2-0 in the third period before McCarthy pinned him in 5:16. In a seventh-place match, White avenged an earlier loss to Allen beating him 1-0 on a penalty point.
"In the first match against White he was wrestling great and his fundamentals were there," Witt said of Allen. "In the placing match, he didn't do a lot of wrestling. I think he got a little tired."
Arneson (182) went 2-3 in the tournament. He opened the tournament by pinning Stoughton's Matt Krcma in 1:14. After two straight losses, he bounced back to pin Portage's Ethan Emmerich in 1:53. Arneson lost a seventh-place match to Sauk Prairie sophomore Logan Moore. Arneson entered the third period trailing 3-2 and chose down to try to get an escape, but was able to break out.
Monroe and Brodhead-Juda will wrestle in the WIAA Division 2 Evansville-Albany sectional at 10 a.m. Saturday. The top two in each weight class advance on to the sectional.
"All of them have to have a good week of practice and refocus their goals," Witt said.
