MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Dec. 27–Jan. 3)
PREP WRESTLING: 40th annual Bi-State Classic
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial
Locals shine at Bi-State Classic
LA CROSSE — Belmont/Platteville senior Porter Mandurano didn’t need much mat time to vanquish five of his seven foes at last week’s 40th annual Bi-State Classic.
Mandurano (9–1) notched first-period pins over his first four opponents en route to a third-place finish (out of 48 wrestlers) at 285 pounds at the 70-team tournament.
“Porter also wrestled a very good tournament, where one mistake put him in the third place match instead of the championship match,” said Belmont/Platteville head coach Emeric Williams. “We were proud of him for wrestling back to the third place match, and then putting on, in my opinion, the best overall match he has wrestled in high school.”
The Platteville senior pinned Adams–Friendship’s Tanner Bula in 50 seconds, Luxemburg–Casco’s Aden Weber in 1:30 and Lodi’s Henry Koeppen at the 1:39 mark in succession to reach Thursday night’s quarterfinal round.
He then caught Cashton’s Austin Culpitt (16–7) with a 14-second pin to move on to the semifinals.
Manduarano’s run toward a Bi-State title ended with a 26-second loss to undefeated Isaac Bunker (19–0) of Monroe Friday morning, but he bounced back with a 1:40 pin over Waunakee’s Jackson Lenzendorf (22–6) -to each a spot in the Friday night’s third-place match.
He closed out his highly-successful run with a hard-fought 1–0 victory over Bay Port’s Vaughn Campbell (22–4) with a second-period escape and held Campbell down the entire third period in the 285-pound third-place match.
This was Mandurano’s first extensive action of the season after missing the first four weeks of competition. He picked up a pin and two forfeit wins in his return to action at the Belmont quadrangular Dec. 20.
Dodgeville's Reid Spurley wins 120-pound title
Dodgeville's Reid Spurley (21–0) kept his perfect record in tact by going 6–0 to win the 120-pound title at Bi-State with a 3–0 victory over Roen Carey in the finals.
He opened the two-day tournament with a a bye, a 15–0 technical fall over Holmen's Camden Thiele, and back-to-back pins over Sawyer Ostrum (Nekoosa/Assumption) and Bradyn Galsspoole (West Salem/Bangor) to reach Friday's semifinal round. He then defeated Easton Cooper of DC Everest 3–0 to reach the finals.
Spurley's championship run helped the Dodgers finished seventh out of 26 teams in Division 2 with a 106.5 points.
Sullivan, Carey lead Pointers to second-place finish; Sullivan wins 138-pound title
Undefeated Lucas Sullivan (138 pounds) and Roen Carey (120) finished first and second individually to lead Mineral Point to a second-place finish in Division 3. The Pointers finished second in Division 3 behind La Crosse Aquinas (250) with 198 team points.
Sullivan went 6–0 with a tech fall, a pin, a major decision and a pair of narrow victories to reach the finals where he pinned defending 132-pound Bi-State champion Rhett Koenig (16–1) at the 5:07 mark of the third period of the 138-pound title bout.
Carey (18–2) went 5–1 with a bye and three pins before suffering a 3–0 loss to Dodgeville's Reid Sullivan.
Point's Tarrin Riley (20–1) finished third at 145 pounds after a 5–3 semifinal loss to Caledonia/Houston's Tucker Ginther. He bounced back with a 6–0 win over Stoughton's Cole Sarbacker and a 4–3 victory over Tomah's Gavin Finch in the third-place match.
Prairie du Chien places second in Division 2
Four wrestlers placed in the top four to lead Prairie du Chien to a third-place finish in Division 2 with 184.5 points behind a pair of Minnesota schools, Caledonia/Houston (189) and Zumbrota–Mazeppa (188).
Rhett Koenig (16–1) finished second at 138 pounds after a championship loss to Mineral Point's Lucas Sullivan. Luke Kramer (17–2) finished third at 152, Blake Thiry (18–1) placed third at 195 and Jeremiah Avery (16–4) placed sixth at 160 for the Blackhawks.
Iowa–Grant/Highland finishes fifth in Division 3
Led by freshman Hunter Stevens (126 pounds) and junior Elliott Biba, the Iowa–Grant/Highland Panthers finished fifth in Division 3 with 143 points, just behind Riverdale (133).
Stevens (20–1) suffered his first loss of the season, an 11–9 decision to Chatfield's Gage Bartels (12–3) in the quarterfinals, but battled back with four straight victories to finish third at 126, including an 8–4 win in rematch with Bartels in the third-place match.
Biba (20–4) went 6–2 to place fourth at 132. He also suffered a quarterfinal loss Oconto Falls' Cole Bozile, 8–4, but won three straight matches to get to the third-place match like Stevens, before dropping a 3–1 decision in a rematch with Bozile.
