EVANSVILLE - Three Monroe wrestlers won championships at the WIAA Division 2 Evansville-Albany regional Saturday.
The regional champions for the Cheesemakers were sophomore Cole Murray at 126 pounds, junior McKenzy Foley (160) and junior Traiten Gorr (220). Each of the Monroe trio qualified for the Division 2 Richland Center sectional Saturday. With the wins, Gorr (41-2), ranked No. 3 at 220 in the Wisconsin Wrestling Online Division 2 state poll, is looking to make a state run similar to what his older brother Trevor Gorr did two straight years at the same weight class.
The top two finishers in each weight class advance to the sectional.
"Those are three kids I anticipated would qualify," Monroe coach Tom Witt said. "I wasn't anticipating three champions. That is a huge plus. They all wrestled great."
Evansville-Albany, ranked No. 2 in Division 2, crowned five regional champions and had 11 wrestlers qualify for the sectional en route to winning the regional team title 269-191.5 over Brodhead-Juda. The regional champions for Evansville-Albany included Brandon Robinson (120), Nolan Kicmol (132), Jordan Meyer (138), Tyler Schmidt (152) and Tyler Grant (170). Monroe finished fifth as a team (117) and Sugar River took sixth (92) at the seven-team regional.
"They (Evansville-Albany) have a team with a lot of experience," Witt said. "They won a sectional and made a trip to state last year. I'm sure their goal is to win Tuesday and do a much better job at team state."
Brodhead-Juda had six wrestlers qualify for the sectional. The Cardinals had three wrestlers win regional titles including sophomore Tyler Hoesly (145), senior Gavin Baade (182) and senior Logan Maurer (heavyweight). Baade (42-1), ranked No. 4, is primed for another state run. With the win, Maurer improves to 43-0 and is ranked No. 2. Maurer was dominant with a 16-0 win over Monroe sophomore Kyle Walter and a 31-second pin against Beloit Turner's Dan Draeving in the title match.
"Going in, I thought we could get four to seven to sectionals," Brodhead-Juda coach Tim Colden said. "We got more than half our team to sectionals so it was a good day."
Hoesly (145) defeated Evansville-Albany's Zach Wille 13-2 in a title match. Hoesly pulled out a grueling 6-4 overtime win over Monroe's Dempzy Foley in the semifinals. Hoesly won the match with a takedown in overtime. Foley finished fourth place.
"He was one mistake away from making it to the sectionals," Witt said of Dempzy Foley.
Colden was excited to see Hoesly qualify for the sectional.
"I don't know if it's a surprise," he said. "I knew it could happen. He wrestled smart. It's great for young kids to get the experience at sectionals."
Grant, ranked No. 7 clipped senior Brady Colden (170) in a nail-biting championship match 18-15. It's just the second loss this season for Colden (42-2), who is ranked No. 3. The Cardinals three second-place finishers included Colden, Blake Burns (106) and Derrick Hartman (152).
"The Grant kid is a good wrestler," Colden said. "Brady just didn't have his A-game. He (Grant) had the home crowd. It's a motivating factor going into sectionals. Sometimes a loss isn't the worst thing."
Sugar River senior Jacob Larson, ranked No. 7 defeated No. 10-ranked Lucius Rinehart of Evansville-Albany 9-2 in the championship match. Larson will be joined at the sectional by Kody Popenfus, who finished second place at 138.
One of the biggest surprises of the regional was Murray for the Cheesemakers. Murray (30-14) at 126 defeated seventh-ranked Evansville-Albany sophomore Chase Katzenmeyer 5-3 in the title match. It's the first time Murray has defeated Katzenmeyer this season. Foley (22-19), who has recovered from a knee injury, pinned Beloit Turner's Josh Christenson in 4 minutes. Gorr pinned No. 4-ranked Dustin Bjugstad of Evansville-Albany in 3:17 in the championship match.
"The last time he (Murray) wrestled aggressively and completely and finished matches was at Bi-State," Witt said. "It's a big step in the right direction for him to win a big match like that."
The Cheesemakers weren't the only team to have some stunning performances. Baade (182) defeated Evansville-Albany's Jake Carpenter 13-2 in the championship match. Brodhead-Juda received some other solid performances from the lower and middle weights. Burns (106) took second place due to a 28-second pin of Evansville-Albany's Taylor Milz earlier in the regional. The only loss by Burns came to Edgerton's Ben Counter 6-2 in the championship match. Evansville-Albany's Schmidt (152) pinned Hartman in the title match in 2:28. Hartman clinched a sectional berth by pinning Beloit Turner's Chad Hester in 1:24 for second place.
Monroe had three other wrestlers place. Monroe sophomore Isaac Allen finished fourth place (170), Walter took fourth place (heavyweight) and sophomore Hayden Arneson (182) was fifth place. The 22 area wrestlers that qualified for the Division 2 sectional will wrestle at Richland Center at 11 a.m. Saturday. The top three in each weight class will advance to state.
"You can just throw out the rankings when you get to the regional and you can say it even more for the sectionals," Colden said.
The regional champions for the Cheesemakers were sophomore Cole Murray at 126 pounds, junior McKenzy Foley (160) and junior Traiten Gorr (220). Each of the Monroe trio qualified for the Division 2 Richland Center sectional Saturday. With the wins, Gorr (41-2), ranked No. 3 at 220 in the Wisconsin Wrestling Online Division 2 state poll, is looking to make a state run similar to what his older brother Trevor Gorr did two straight years at the same weight class.
The top two finishers in each weight class advance to the sectional.
"Those are three kids I anticipated would qualify," Monroe coach Tom Witt said. "I wasn't anticipating three champions. That is a huge plus. They all wrestled great."
Evansville-Albany, ranked No. 2 in Division 2, crowned five regional champions and had 11 wrestlers qualify for the sectional en route to winning the regional team title 269-191.5 over Brodhead-Juda. The regional champions for Evansville-Albany included Brandon Robinson (120), Nolan Kicmol (132), Jordan Meyer (138), Tyler Schmidt (152) and Tyler Grant (170). Monroe finished fifth as a team (117) and Sugar River took sixth (92) at the seven-team regional.
"They (Evansville-Albany) have a team with a lot of experience," Witt said. "They won a sectional and made a trip to state last year. I'm sure their goal is to win Tuesday and do a much better job at team state."
Brodhead-Juda had six wrestlers qualify for the sectional. The Cardinals had three wrestlers win regional titles including sophomore Tyler Hoesly (145), senior Gavin Baade (182) and senior Logan Maurer (heavyweight). Baade (42-1), ranked No. 4, is primed for another state run. With the win, Maurer improves to 43-0 and is ranked No. 2. Maurer was dominant with a 16-0 win over Monroe sophomore Kyle Walter and a 31-second pin against Beloit Turner's Dan Draeving in the title match.
"Going in, I thought we could get four to seven to sectionals," Brodhead-Juda coach Tim Colden said. "We got more than half our team to sectionals so it was a good day."
Hoesly (145) defeated Evansville-Albany's Zach Wille 13-2 in a title match. Hoesly pulled out a grueling 6-4 overtime win over Monroe's Dempzy Foley in the semifinals. Hoesly won the match with a takedown in overtime. Foley finished fourth place.
"He was one mistake away from making it to the sectionals," Witt said of Dempzy Foley.
Colden was excited to see Hoesly qualify for the sectional.
"I don't know if it's a surprise," he said. "I knew it could happen. He wrestled smart. It's great for young kids to get the experience at sectionals."
Grant, ranked No. 7 clipped senior Brady Colden (170) in a nail-biting championship match 18-15. It's just the second loss this season for Colden (42-2), who is ranked No. 3. The Cardinals three second-place finishers included Colden, Blake Burns (106) and Derrick Hartman (152).
"The Grant kid is a good wrestler," Colden said. "Brady just didn't have his A-game. He (Grant) had the home crowd. It's a motivating factor going into sectionals. Sometimes a loss isn't the worst thing."
Sugar River senior Jacob Larson, ranked No. 7 defeated No. 10-ranked Lucius Rinehart of Evansville-Albany 9-2 in the championship match. Larson will be joined at the sectional by Kody Popenfus, who finished second place at 138.
One of the biggest surprises of the regional was Murray for the Cheesemakers. Murray (30-14) at 126 defeated seventh-ranked Evansville-Albany sophomore Chase Katzenmeyer 5-3 in the title match. It's the first time Murray has defeated Katzenmeyer this season. Foley (22-19), who has recovered from a knee injury, pinned Beloit Turner's Josh Christenson in 4 minutes. Gorr pinned No. 4-ranked Dustin Bjugstad of Evansville-Albany in 3:17 in the championship match.
"The last time he (Murray) wrestled aggressively and completely and finished matches was at Bi-State," Witt said. "It's a big step in the right direction for him to win a big match like that."
The Cheesemakers weren't the only team to have some stunning performances. Baade (182) defeated Evansville-Albany's Jake Carpenter 13-2 in the championship match. Brodhead-Juda received some other solid performances from the lower and middle weights. Burns (106) took second place due to a 28-second pin of Evansville-Albany's Taylor Milz earlier in the regional. The only loss by Burns came to Edgerton's Ben Counter 6-2 in the championship match. Evansville-Albany's Schmidt (152) pinned Hartman in the title match in 2:28. Hartman clinched a sectional berth by pinning Beloit Turner's Chad Hester in 1:24 for second place.
Monroe had three other wrestlers place. Monroe sophomore Isaac Allen finished fourth place (170), Walter took fourth place (heavyweight) and sophomore Hayden Arneson (182) was fifth place. The 22 area wrestlers that qualified for the Division 2 sectional will wrestle at Richland Center at 11 a.m. Saturday. The top three in each weight class will advance to state.
"You can just throw out the rankings when you get to the regional and you can say it even more for the sectionals," Colden said.
