RICHLAND CENTER — Belmont senior Isaac Wiegel is headed back to state for the fourth time.
The school’s all-time leader in victories picked up three more to win the 120-pound title at Saturday’s WIAA Division 2 Richland Center Sectional.
Wiegel pinned Lodi junior Garrett Moll late in the third period of his quarterfinal match. Moll (32-3) battled all the way back to finish second in the weight class.
After a grueling opening match, Wiegel then pinned Arcadia’s Tanner Klar early in the second period of their semifinal match.
Then, Wiegel claimed the sectional title by avenging a regional final loss to River Valley senior Caleb Radtke (26-11) with a dominating 8-1 victory in the finals.
Wiegel improved to 43-4 on the season and secured the all important first-round bye for this week’s WIAA State Tournament that begins with a preliminary round Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center in Madison.
“We are very proud of Isaac,” said Belmont/Platteville head coach Andrew Campbell. “He is an extremely hard working kid who won a very difficult sectional bracket. He has a great draw and he has put in a ton of work since last season. We are excited to see what we can do.”
Wiegel, who is now 161-28, sits six wins shy of the Belmont/Platteville career record held by Dusty Jentz, will face either Freedom junior Koy Murphy (25-17) or East Troy senior Joe Moede (30-14) in a quarterfinal match Friday morning. The Division 2/3 quarterfinal round will begin at approximately 11:15 a.m.
Wiegel finished third at 113 pounds at state as a junior, fourth at 106 as a sophomore and did not place at 106 as a freshman.
Platteville sophomore William Schaefer’s (27-12) season ended Saturday with an 11-9 loss in the 182-pound quarterfinal to G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro’s Landon Lockington (33-3).
“Will wrestled a tough kid from GET,” said Campbell. “He gave up some big moves early and just did not quite have enough time to complete the comeback. He is the type of kid who will enjoy the fact that he was a sectional qualifier, but will start working for next year so he can become a state qualifier. He is a very motivated kid.”
Wiegel headed back to state