CAMBRIDGE - With wrestling power Lodi in the Capitol Conference, the race was to see who could finish second place.
Lodi, ranked eighth in the Wisconsin Online Wrestling poll, ran away with the conference title 262-168 over Sugar River on Saturday. The Raiders had six wrestlers finish in the top three of their weight classes led by conference champions Young-Chul Vetterli at 152 pounds and Jak Nelson (195). The Raiders were wrestling without two starters - sophomore Kody Popenfus (113) and junior Manual Gomez (220). Popenfus missed the conference meet due to a shoulder injury and Gomez missed the meet due to family reasons.
"I thought that would make the race for second more competitive," Sugar River coach Peter Swenson said. I knew we would have to wrestle good to get second place."
Vetterli (28-10) pinned Cambridge's Jeremiah Smith in 2:20 seconds in his first match of the tournament. In the semifinals, he defeated Lodi's Matt Byars 10-1 and then pinned Waterloo's Hans Skalitzky in 5:13 in the title match. Nelson (22-12) after two byes, edged Lodi's Cody Dolson 8-7 to get to the championship match. Nelson in the title match pinned Lake Mills' Harold Dunkleberger in 1:46.
"Young-Chul has just been a consistent wrestler this year," Swenson said.
Swenson said both Vetterli and Nelson cleared mental hurdles in defeating wrestlers from Lodi in the semifinals.
"That was really a big mental hurdle knowing the program and school."
Sugar River senior Taylor Christen (126), junior Anthony Chiarello (138), sophomore Jacob Larson (160) and junior A.J. Halbach (220) each finished third place. Sarah Marsh (106) and Albert Everson each took fourth and Evan Dorn was fifth (132). The three Raider wrestlers who finished sixth include Jessica Byrne (120), Brett Grinder (145) and Bryant Bryan (182).
Christen, Chiarello, Larson and Halbach each finished 3-1 in the tournament. Christen opened the tournament by pinning Lakeside Lutheran's Jacob Klug in 1:33. He was pinned by Poynette's Brody Golueke in 1:53, but he bounced back. Christen pinned Cambridge's Ben Andersen in 1:24 and defeated Columbus' Jesse Virgin 12-4. Chiarello defeated Marshall's Bryce Meier 8-4 and then in the semifinals was pinned by Lodi's Kyle Clapper in 1:30. He rebounded pinning Poynette's Dylan Doherty in 1:52 and pinning Lake Mills' Joey Rush in 3:14.
Larson (26-14) knocked off Cambridge's Jared Kenseth 9-2 and then was pinned by Marshall's Cole Hensen in 1:32. He pinned Waterloo's Collin Kovacas in 1:30 and defeated Kenseth for the second time 17-2. Halbach (20-13) started strong pinning Brett Ward of Lake Mills in 34 seconds. He then lost to Waterloo's Sean Stiyer 6-0 and came back to pin Lakeside Lutheran's Brandon Swenson in 30 seconds. He locked up third place by pinning Cambridge's Miguel Mares in 2:57.
Six Rivers
SOLDIERS GROVE - Black Hawk's Colin Novak at 113 pounds won a conference championship at the Six Rivers/ Scenic Bluff Ridge and Valley Conference tournament Saturday.
Novak was one of five Black Hawk wrestlers to place in the top five at the conference tournament. Cashton racked up 195 points to win the conference title ahead of Weston-Ithaca (180). Pecatonica-Argyle took 12th (29) out of 13 teams.
Black Hawk junior Dakota Meier (145) took second place and Caleb Novak was third. Sophomore Jared Pickett (120) and senior Mike Powers (heavyweight) each took fourth place.
Colin Novak pinned Weston-Ithaca's Jordan Rupp in the quarterfinals in 41 seconds. He pinned River Ridge-Cassville's David Seng in 3:42 in the semifinals and pinned Necedah's August Pintarro in 1:41 for the title. Meier also started the tournament strong defeating Cashton's Drew Pieper 12-1 and Royall's Trenton Pasch 8-3 in the semifinals. In the championship match, he was pinned by new Lisbon's Cullen Pedersen (36-1 in 2:35. Caleb Novak pinned Royall's Taylor Juresh in 3:18 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he was pinned by Weston-Ithaca's Hunter Dischler in 58 seconds. Caleb Novak bounced back and pinned North Crawford-Seneca's Tyler Finnell in 58 seconds.
Pecatonica-Argyle had three wrestlers place in the top six led by Nick Gilbertson (220) who finished second. Pecatonica-Argyle junior Lucas McKeon (182) took fourth and senior Ben Meyer (195) was sixth.
Gilbertson (26-3) pinned Weston-Ithaca's Wyatt Gundlach in the quarterfinals and then won a hard-fought match 9-4 over North Crawford-Seneca's Jared Grimsled. In the championship match, he lost to Royall's Christian Moore (35-0) 13-2.
SWAL/SWC
RICHLAND CENTER - Darlington had two wrestlers place in the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League/ Southwest Wisconsin Conference clash Saturday.
Darlington's Cruz Bahena finished second place and Zach Wolf (220) took seventh. Bahena, who stepped into the role as heavyweight after an early season injury to Hayden Black, pinned Lancaster's Brandon Richardson in 1:57 in his first match. In the semifinals, he pinned Prairie du Chien's Brogan Riter in 3:19, but he was pinned by Iowa-Grant's Ben McFall in the championship match.
Lancaster, ranked No. 1 in Division 3, won the team title 299.5-251.5 over fourth-ranked Mineral Point. Darlington finished last in the 13-team tournament.
Lodi, ranked eighth in the Wisconsin Online Wrestling poll, ran away with the conference title 262-168 over Sugar River on Saturday. The Raiders had six wrestlers finish in the top three of their weight classes led by conference champions Young-Chul Vetterli at 152 pounds and Jak Nelson (195). The Raiders were wrestling without two starters - sophomore Kody Popenfus (113) and junior Manual Gomez (220). Popenfus missed the conference meet due to a shoulder injury and Gomez missed the meet due to family reasons.
"I thought that would make the race for second more competitive," Sugar River coach Peter Swenson said. I knew we would have to wrestle good to get second place."
Vetterli (28-10) pinned Cambridge's Jeremiah Smith in 2:20 seconds in his first match of the tournament. In the semifinals, he defeated Lodi's Matt Byars 10-1 and then pinned Waterloo's Hans Skalitzky in 5:13 in the title match. Nelson (22-12) after two byes, edged Lodi's Cody Dolson 8-7 to get to the championship match. Nelson in the title match pinned Lake Mills' Harold Dunkleberger in 1:46.
"Young-Chul has just been a consistent wrestler this year," Swenson said.
Swenson said both Vetterli and Nelson cleared mental hurdles in defeating wrestlers from Lodi in the semifinals.
"That was really a big mental hurdle knowing the program and school."
Sugar River senior Taylor Christen (126), junior Anthony Chiarello (138), sophomore Jacob Larson (160) and junior A.J. Halbach (220) each finished third place. Sarah Marsh (106) and Albert Everson each took fourth and Evan Dorn was fifth (132). The three Raider wrestlers who finished sixth include Jessica Byrne (120), Brett Grinder (145) and Bryant Bryan (182).
Christen, Chiarello, Larson and Halbach each finished 3-1 in the tournament. Christen opened the tournament by pinning Lakeside Lutheran's Jacob Klug in 1:33. He was pinned by Poynette's Brody Golueke in 1:53, but he bounced back. Christen pinned Cambridge's Ben Andersen in 1:24 and defeated Columbus' Jesse Virgin 12-4. Chiarello defeated Marshall's Bryce Meier 8-4 and then in the semifinals was pinned by Lodi's Kyle Clapper in 1:30. He rebounded pinning Poynette's Dylan Doherty in 1:52 and pinning Lake Mills' Joey Rush in 3:14.
Larson (26-14) knocked off Cambridge's Jared Kenseth 9-2 and then was pinned by Marshall's Cole Hensen in 1:32. He pinned Waterloo's Collin Kovacas in 1:30 and defeated Kenseth for the second time 17-2. Halbach (20-13) started strong pinning Brett Ward of Lake Mills in 34 seconds. He then lost to Waterloo's Sean Stiyer 6-0 and came back to pin Lakeside Lutheran's Brandon Swenson in 30 seconds. He locked up third place by pinning Cambridge's Miguel Mares in 2:57.
Six Rivers
SOLDIERS GROVE - Black Hawk's Colin Novak at 113 pounds won a conference championship at the Six Rivers/ Scenic Bluff Ridge and Valley Conference tournament Saturday.
Novak was one of five Black Hawk wrestlers to place in the top five at the conference tournament. Cashton racked up 195 points to win the conference title ahead of Weston-Ithaca (180). Pecatonica-Argyle took 12th (29) out of 13 teams.
Black Hawk junior Dakota Meier (145) took second place and Caleb Novak was third. Sophomore Jared Pickett (120) and senior Mike Powers (heavyweight) each took fourth place.
Colin Novak pinned Weston-Ithaca's Jordan Rupp in the quarterfinals in 41 seconds. He pinned River Ridge-Cassville's David Seng in 3:42 in the semifinals and pinned Necedah's August Pintarro in 1:41 for the title. Meier also started the tournament strong defeating Cashton's Drew Pieper 12-1 and Royall's Trenton Pasch 8-3 in the semifinals. In the championship match, he was pinned by new Lisbon's Cullen Pedersen (36-1 in 2:35. Caleb Novak pinned Royall's Taylor Juresh in 3:18 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he was pinned by Weston-Ithaca's Hunter Dischler in 58 seconds. Caleb Novak bounced back and pinned North Crawford-Seneca's Tyler Finnell in 58 seconds.
Pecatonica-Argyle had three wrestlers place in the top six led by Nick Gilbertson (220) who finished second. Pecatonica-Argyle junior Lucas McKeon (182) took fourth and senior Ben Meyer (195) was sixth.
Gilbertson (26-3) pinned Weston-Ithaca's Wyatt Gundlach in the quarterfinals and then won a hard-fought match 9-4 over North Crawford-Seneca's Jared Grimsled. In the championship match, he lost to Royall's Christian Moore (35-0) 13-2.
SWAL/SWC
RICHLAND CENTER - Darlington had two wrestlers place in the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League/ Southwest Wisconsin Conference clash Saturday.
Darlington's Cruz Bahena finished second place and Zach Wolf (220) took seventh. Bahena, who stepped into the role as heavyweight after an early season injury to Hayden Black, pinned Lancaster's Brandon Richardson in 1:57 in his first match. In the semifinals, he pinned Prairie du Chien's Brogan Riter in 3:19, but he was pinned by Iowa-Grant's Ben McFall in the championship match.
Lancaster, ranked No. 1 in Division 3, won the team title 299.5-251.5 over fourth-ranked Mineral Point. Darlington finished last in the 13-team tournament.
