MINERAL POINT - It was easy as one, two, three for Black Hawk's Jake Kaempfer, Pecatonica-Argyle's Casey Krahenbuhl and Darlington's Devin Malott.
The three area wrestlers each found themselves at different spots in the top three of their respective brackets Saturday at the WIAA Division 3 Sectional in Mineral Point and claimed a spot at this weekend's state tournament.
Kaempfer, the Warriors' 160-pound grappler, won his flight and brought a sectional championship to South Wayne after Black Hawk almost had to chop wrestling from the activities list due to referendum in the summer. Kaempfer won all three of his matches by decision (one by a major decision) and defeated Riverdale's Andy Chitwood, 5-3, to earn the title.
The Vikings' Krahenbuhl, a senior, was left out in the cold last season with an overtime defeat, but came through in 2007-08 with a second place finish. This season Krahenbuhl was on the positive side of the extra frame scoring a takedown on Boscobel's Jacob Ward for a 5-3 state-clinching victory in the 130-pound semifinals. Krahenbuhl was owned by Cambridge's Jon Biermeier in the finals 19-9.
Malott, a Redbirds sophomore and younger brother to Josh, a state champion last year, rounded out the 103-pound division with a third-place finish. Malott had a long afternoon with four matches, but finished strong with a pin a 5:30 over New Lisbon's Zach Oleson in the consolation finals to secure his place at the state meet at the Kohl Center starting Thursday.
The three area wrestlers each found themselves at different spots in the top three of their respective brackets Saturday at the WIAA Division 3 Sectional in Mineral Point and claimed a spot at this weekend's state tournament.
Kaempfer, the Warriors' 160-pound grappler, won his flight and brought a sectional championship to South Wayne after Black Hawk almost had to chop wrestling from the activities list due to referendum in the summer. Kaempfer won all three of his matches by decision (one by a major decision) and defeated Riverdale's Andy Chitwood, 5-3, to earn the title.
The Vikings' Krahenbuhl, a senior, was left out in the cold last season with an overtime defeat, but came through in 2007-08 with a second place finish. This season Krahenbuhl was on the positive side of the extra frame scoring a takedown on Boscobel's Jacob Ward for a 5-3 state-clinching victory in the 130-pound semifinals. Krahenbuhl was owned by Cambridge's Jon Biermeier in the finals 19-9.
Malott, a Redbirds sophomore and younger brother to Josh, a state champion last year, rounded out the 103-pound division with a third-place finish. Malott had a long afternoon with four matches, but finished strong with a pin a 5:30 over New Lisbon's Zach Oleson in the consolation finals to secure his place at the state meet at the Kohl Center starting Thursday.
