RICHLAND CENTER - After a storied career at Monroe, including more than 130 wrestling wins, senior Gavin Wels will not be making a second trip to state for the Cheesemakers. Instead, sophomore Dylan Schwitz will be the wrestler Monroe will cheer on at the Kohl Center.
"It's not the way I thought we'd get to the state tournament, but he's turned it on the last two weeks and has wrestled good," Monroe head coach Jeriamy Jackson said of Schwitz.
Schwitz (30-15) defeated Evansville senior A.J. Harper (28-13) by major decision, 9-0, in the third-place match in the 135-pound bracket to lock up his bid to Madison.
"It feels great," Schwitz said. "I've been talking about it all week. I just wanted to get my name up on the state qualifier wall."
Schwitz lost to Adams-Friendship's Ryan Seidler (44-1) by pin in the first match, but beat Lodi's Dillon Schutz (36-9) by a 6-5 decision.
Schwitz took a quick 4-0 lead in the first on a takedown and then a cradle into near-fall. From there, he held his ground before jumping in the arms of Wels after the match.
Schwitz would lose to Dodgeville's Andy Phelan (31-5) in the wrestleback to determine the higher seed at state.
Wels, on the other hand, was not so lucky. The senior defeated Whitewater's Emmanuel Valadez (24-8) in the first match, 6-3. However, when facing Lodi freshman Kasey Einerson (40-4) in the second match, Wels (39-5) lost 9-4. In the third-place match, Wels lost a heartbreaker to Clinton's Daniel Banh (35-6).
Wels fell behind 2-0 in the first period but tied up the score in the second. Banh escaped from Wels to start the third and a final takedown attempt with less than four seconds left failed as Banh could not be flipped.
"Every guy who beat me wrestled good. It's just a little disappointing. It's my senior year and I just wanted to finish a little bit better," Wels said.
Monroe junior Jack Deem (140) and senior Michael Ingold (189) both fell in their first matches of the day and were knocked out.
Senior heavyweight Lucas Leu (285) won his first match of the day via pin, but lost two straight matches.
"Lucas Leu had a very tough bracket. As a senior, it's a tough way to go out. Michael lost early and then that kid lost, so he was out. And a lot of people didn't think they would see Jack Deem here, but he made it and that's going to be good for him next year," Jackson said.
"For Gavin, you can't take away his career here. These last four years have been great. He's got over 135 wins in his career and is one of the better wrestlers this school has ever seen."
"It's not the way I thought we'd get to the state tournament, but he's turned it on the last two weeks and has wrestled good," Monroe head coach Jeriamy Jackson said of Schwitz.
Schwitz (30-15) defeated Evansville senior A.J. Harper (28-13) by major decision, 9-0, in the third-place match in the 135-pound bracket to lock up his bid to Madison.
"It feels great," Schwitz said. "I've been talking about it all week. I just wanted to get my name up on the state qualifier wall."
Schwitz lost to Adams-Friendship's Ryan Seidler (44-1) by pin in the first match, but beat Lodi's Dillon Schutz (36-9) by a 6-5 decision.
Schwitz took a quick 4-0 lead in the first on a takedown and then a cradle into near-fall. From there, he held his ground before jumping in the arms of Wels after the match.
Schwitz would lose to Dodgeville's Andy Phelan (31-5) in the wrestleback to determine the higher seed at state.
Wels, on the other hand, was not so lucky. The senior defeated Whitewater's Emmanuel Valadez (24-8) in the first match, 6-3. However, when facing Lodi freshman Kasey Einerson (40-4) in the second match, Wels (39-5) lost 9-4. In the third-place match, Wels lost a heartbreaker to Clinton's Daniel Banh (35-6).
Wels fell behind 2-0 in the first period but tied up the score in the second. Banh escaped from Wels to start the third and a final takedown attempt with less than four seconds left failed as Banh could not be flipped.
"Every guy who beat me wrestled good. It's just a little disappointing. It's my senior year and I just wanted to finish a little bit better," Wels said.
Monroe junior Jack Deem (140) and senior Michael Ingold (189) both fell in their first matches of the day and were knocked out.
Senior heavyweight Lucas Leu (285) won his first match of the day via pin, but lost two straight matches.
"Lucas Leu had a very tough bracket. As a senior, it's a tough way to go out. Michael lost early and then that kid lost, so he was out. And a lot of people didn't think they would see Jack Deem here, but he made it and that's going to be good for him next year," Jackson said.
"For Gavin, you can't take away his career here. These last four years have been great. He's got over 135 wins in his career and is one of the better wrestlers this school has ever seen."
