RICHLAND CENTER - The Monroe wrestling team qualified three wrestlers for the state tournament at the WIAA Division 2 Richland Center sectional on Saturday.
Junior Hayden Arneson at 195 pounds and senior Traiten Gorr (220) both finished second, while junior Kyle Walter (heavyweight) took third. The top three finishers from the sectional advance to the state tournament starting Thursday at the Kohl Center in Madison.
"It was exciting," Monroe coach Tom Witt said. "When we saw the brackets, we thought Traiten and Hayden had a good shot. Kyle had some work to do and he came through."
River Valley racked up 106 points to edge Lodi (95) for the sectional team title. Monroe finished sixth (63) out of 26 teams at the sectional.
Arneson (29-13) pinned Marshall's Justin Chadwick in 5 minutes, 17 seconds in a first-round match on Saturday. He then pinned Mount Horeb's Max Olinger in 1:40 to secure a state berth. Evansville-Albany's Lucuis Rinehart defeated Arneson 6-0 for the third time this year in the championship match. Arneson then knocked off Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka-Steuben 4-0 in a second-place match.
Gorr (39-2) pinned Viroqua's Nathan Normann in a quarterfinal match. He then pinned River Valley's Tennessee Hatfield in 2:16. Dodgeville Brady Wetter (26-0), ranked No. 2, pinned Gorr in a title match in 3:09. It marked the second time this year Gorr has lost to Wetter. Gorr rebounded to pin Beloit Turner's Tyler Burt in 1:49 to seal second.
Walter (35-9) at heavyweight pinned Dodgeville's Payton Calvert in 4:29 in a quarterfinal match. It was Walter's first win against Calvert in four matches this season. Calvert had pinned him twice this year. In the semifinals, Columbus' Brenden Lillo knocked him off 6-1. Walter bounced back by pinning West Salem/Bangor's Layne Anderson in 2:30 and edging Cuba City's Aaron McCarthey 4-2 on a takedown with 4 seconds to go. Walter took third based on an earlier loss to Lillo.
"Kyle had a great day and beat some wrestlers who he lost to before," Witt said.
Monroe junior Cole Murray (132) just missed qualifying for state finishing fourth. Murray defeated River Valley's Nate Jennings 6-4 and was then pinned by Lodi's Jacob Busser in 2:59. Murray defeated West Salem/Bangor's Noah Reedy 9-4 in a consolation wrestleback and then lost a hard-fought third-place match 3-1 to Viroqua's Ryan Hannah.
"I'm sure he had a lot of thoughts after that match," Witt said. "He was really close. He gave up a takedown late in the first period. The guy who gets the takedown is going to win 80 percent of the time. I think he (Murray) knows he has the ability."
Lodi's Bryant Ziegler defeated Monroe's David Andrews (120) 14-3. At 106, Gabe Witt wrestled in the sectional for an Edgerton wrestler who couldn't make the tournament. West Salem-Bangor's Dalton Schams pinned Witt in 52 seconds in a quarterfinal match. In a consolation semifinal match, River Valley's Zach Licht pinned Witt in 57 seconds.
Monroe sophomore Travis Wolf (145) was pinned by Mauston's John Maki (40-4) in a quarterfinal match. River Valley's Gavin Wipperfurth (35-8) then pinned Wolf in 5:35.
Monroe sophomore Dempzy Foley (160) pinned Poynette's Max Ripp in 137 in a quarterfinal match. River Valley's Elijah Alt, ranked No. 1, then beat him 18-2. Foley then lost a consolation wrestleback to Viroqua's Dalton Bernett 16-4.
Senior teammate McKenzy Foley (170), who has been plagued by a knee injury, lost a quarterfinal match to Mauston's Jared Lenze 11-5. Foley had a 5-4 lead over Poynette's Jordan Decorah with 3 seconds to go, but was called for stalling after his knee buckled. Decorah went on to pull out an 8-6 win over Foley in overtime.
"For McKenzy it was tough and frustrating because he wasn't healthy," Witt said. "I thought if he would have been healthy he would have been a state qualifier."
Monroe sophomore Sam Kind (138) didn't wrestle in the sectional due to a knee injury.
Each one of Brodhead-Juda's three sectional qualifiers lost quarterfinal matches and didn't qualify for state. Sugar River also had two wrestlers who came up short of qualifying for state.
Division 3
MINERAL POINT - The Black Hawk-Darlington wrestling team qualified two for the state tournament.
Black Hawk-Darlington's Kolbe Ubersox (34-10) at 120 finished second and teammate Hunter Bredeson (25-14) at 113 took third to both punch their tickets to state at the WIAA Division 3 Mineral Point sectional.
Bredeson got off to a tough start with Fennimore's Riley Lull (40-5) pinning him in 1:49 in a quarterfinal match. Bredeson bounced back by pinning Hillsboro's Jason Griffiths in a consolation wrestleback. He then won a thriller over Johnson Creek's Anthony Purpi 3-2 on an ultimate tiebreaker. Iowa-Grant/Highland's Sawyer Sarbacker pinned Bredeson in 1:55 in a second-place match.
Ubersox rolled to a technical fall win in 5:36 over Hillsboro's Dakota Wells in a quarterfinal match. He then lost a semifinal match to Fennimore's Riley Blair 7-0. In a consolation wrestleback, Ubersox defeated Cashton's Jestin Hemmersbach 6-3. Ubersox then knocked off Ithaca/Weston's Gavin Burch 10-3. He edged Luther's Aaron Raabe 7-4 in a second-place match.
Both senior teammates Conrad Blosch (182) and Taylor Evenstad (220) both took fourth and just missed a state berth.
Parkview's Patrick Engen (41-14) beat Blosch 9-4 in a third-place match. Cashton's Dylan Compton slipped by Evenstad 4-3.
Junior Hayden Arneson at 195 pounds and senior Traiten Gorr (220) both finished second, while junior Kyle Walter (heavyweight) took third. The top three finishers from the sectional advance to the state tournament starting Thursday at the Kohl Center in Madison.
"It was exciting," Monroe coach Tom Witt said. "When we saw the brackets, we thought Traiten and Hayden had a good shot. Kyle had some work to do and he came through."
River Valley racked up 106 points to edge Lodi (95) for the sectional team title. Monroe finished sixth (63) out of 26 teams at the sectional.
Arneson (29-13) pinned Marshall's Justin Chadwick in 5 minutes, 17 seconds in a first-round match on Saturday. He then pinned Mount Horeb's Max Olinger in 1:40 to secure a state berth. Evansville-Albany's Lucuis Rinehart defeated Arneson 6-0 for the third time this year in the championship match. Arneson then knocked off Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka-Steuben 4-0 in a second-place match.
Gorr (39-2) pinned Viroqua's Nathan Normann in a quarterfinal match. He then pinned River Valley's Tennessee Hatfield in 2:16. Dodgeville Brady Wetter (26-0), ranked No. 2, pinned Gorr in a title match in 3:09. It marked the second time this year Gorr has lost to Wetter. Gorr rebounded to pin Beloit Turner's Tyler Burt in 1:49 to seal second.
Walter (35-9) at heavyweight pinned Dodgeville's Payton Calvert in 4:29 in a quarterfinal match. It was Walter's first win against Calvert in four matches this season. Calvert had pinned him twice this year. In the semifinals, Columbus' Brenden Lillo knocked him off 6-1. Walter bounced back by pinning West Salem/Bangor's Layne Anderson in 2:30 and edging Cuba City's Aaron McCarthey 4-2 on a takedown with 4 seconds to go. Walter took third based on an earlier loss to Lillo.
"Kyle had a great day and beat some wrestlers who he lost to before," Witt said.
Monroe junior Cole Murray (132) just missed qualifying for state finishing fourth. Murray defeated River Valley's Nate Jennings 6-4 and was then pinned by Lodi's Jacob Busser in 2:59. Murray defeated West Salem/Bangor's Noah Reedy 9-4 in a consolation wrestleback and then lost a hard-fought third-place match 3-1 to Viroqua's Ryan Hannah.
"I'm sure he had a lot of thoughts after that match," Witt said. "He was really close. He gave up a takedown late in the first period. The guy who gets the takedown is going to win 80 percent of the time. I think he (Murray) knows he has the ability."
Lodi's Bryant Ziegler defeated Monroe's David Andrews (120) 14-3. At 106, Gabe Witt wrestled in the sectional for an Edgerton wrestler who couldn't make the tournament. West Salem-Bangor's Dalton Schams pinned Witt in 52 seconds in a quarterfinal match. In a consolation semifinal match, River Valley's Zach Licht pinned Witt in 57 seconds.
Monroe sophomore Travis Wolf (145) was pinned by Mauston's John Maki (40-4) in a quarterfinal match. River Valley's Gavin Wipperfurth (35-8) then pinned Wolf in 5:35.
Monroe sophomore Dempzy Foley (160) pinned Poynette's Max Ripp in 137 in a quarterfinal match. River Valley's Elijah Alt, ranked No. 1, then beat him 18-2. Foley then lost a consolation wrestleback to Viroqua's Dalton Bernett 16-4.
Senior teammate McKenzy Foley (170), who has been plagued by a knee injury, lost a quarterfinal match to Mauston's Jared Lenze 11-5. Foley had a 5-4 lead over Poynette's Jordan Decorah with 3 seconds to go, but was called for stalling after his knee buckled. Decorah went on to pull out an 8-6 win over Foley in overtime.
"For McKenzy it was tough and frustrating because he wasn't healthy," Witt said. "I thought if he would have been healthy he would have been a state qualifier."
Monroe sophomore Sam Kind (138) didn't wrestle in the sectional due to a knee injury.
Each one of Brodhead-Juda's three sectional qualifiers lost quarterfinal matches and didn't qualify for state. Sugar River also had two wrestlers who came up short of qualifying for state.
Division 3
MINERAL POINT - The Black Hawk-Darlington wrestling team qualified two for the state tournament.
Black Hawk-Darlington's Kolbe Ubersox (34-10) at 120 finished second and teammate Hunter Bredeson (25-14) at 113 took third to both punch their tickets to state at the WIAA Division 3 Mineral Point sectional.
Bredeson got off to a tough start with Fennimore's Riley Lull (40-5) pinning him in 1:49 in a quarterfinal match. Bredeson bounced back by pinning Hillsboro's Jason Griffiths in a consolation wrestleback. He then won a thriller over Johnson Creek's Anthony Purpi 3-2 on an ultimate tiebreaker. Iowa-Grant/Highland's Sawyer Sarbacker pinned Bredeson in 1:55 in a second-place match.
Ubersox rolled to a technical fall win in 5:36 over Hillsboro's Dakota Wells in a quarterfinal match. He then lost a semifinal match to Fennimore's Riley Blair 7-0. In a consolation wrestleback, Ubersox defeated Cashton's Jestin Hemmersbach 6-3. Ubersox then knocked off Ithaca/Weston's Gavin Burch 10-3. He edged Luther's Aaron Raabe 7-4 in a second-place match.
Both senior teammates Conrad Blosch (182) and Taylor Evenstad (220) both took fourth and just missed a state berth.
Parkview's Patrick Engen (41-14) beat Blosch 9-4 in a third-place match. Cashton's Dylan Compton slipped by Evenstad 4-3.
