MINERAL POINT — Four Iowa–Grant/Highland wrestlers placed in the top three at Saturday’s WIAA Division 3 Mineral Point Sectional to qualify for this week’s 72nd Annual Individual State Wrestling Tournament.
Seniors Luke Nowak and Kyle Soderstrom each won individual sectional titles, while sophomore Sawyer Sarbacker and freshman Max Maylor both finished second.
Nowak (43–4), the defending D3 champion at 160 pounds, won Saturday’s 170-pound sectional crown with three straight decisions. He defeated Fennimore’s Brandon Ashmore 7–2 in the finals.
Nowak has a first-round bye when the D3 state tournament begins Thursday night. He will face the winner of Bonduel’s Mitch Sokolski (38–10) and Martin Luther’s Aaron Huber (27–13) in Friday’s quarterfinals that begin at 11:15 at the Kohl Center.
Soderstrom (38–9) won the 220-pound title with a 5–3 win over New Lisbon’s Derek Mendearis (26–8) to earn his first trip to state.
Sarbacker (33–12) went 3–1 to finish second at 106. After losing a 7–0 decision to Fennimore’s Riley Blair (40–7) in the finals, Sarbacker defeated Weston/Ithaca’s Gavin Burch 7–1 to finish second.
Maylor (41–9) earned his first state berth the hard way, coming back through the 126-pound consolation bracket after a quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Cal Hansen (41–2) of Deerfield.
Maylor defeated Cashton’s Ethan Lies (44-second pin), Orfordville–Parkview’s Collin Hatlevig (17–2 tech fall) and Fennimore’s Justin Tollefson (6–4) to battle back for second place. Tollefson defeated Maylor a week ago at regionals.
“It was a good day for us,” said Panthers’ head coach Ryan Allen. “To get four guys out of that sectional is a great accomplishment. Luke and Kyle really wrestled well to win it and I was very happy for them. Sawyer and Max also wrestled well in getting second. I was especially happy to see Max win his wrestle back against a kid who beat him last week at regionals. These four guys will be fun to watch next week in Madison.”
Sophomore Ronny Allen (12–14) finished fourth at 113 after a loss to Johnson’s Creek Weston Wichman in the third-place match.
Senior Jordan Jenks (13–12) went 0–2 at 120 and freshman Brady Peat (30–13) was knocked out of the 160-pound bracket with a quarterfinal loss.
“Ronny wrestled hard, but just doesn’t have the experience yet,” said Allen. “But making it to sectionals will help him for next year. Jordan and Brady both lost to some very good wrestlers but I thought they both wrestled hard.”
WIAA Division 3 Mineral Point Sectional
(from Saturday, Feb. 21 @ Mineral Point)
Iowa–Grant/Highland’s state qualifiers
106 — Sawyer Sarbacker (33-12) placed 2nd and scored 16.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Sawyer Sarbacker (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 33-12 won by major decision over Conner Nolan (Parkview) 20-16 (MD 8-0)
Semifinal - Sawyer Sarbacker (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 33-12 won by major decision over Josh Korn (Cashton) 33-10 (MD 11-1)
1st Place Match - Riley Blair (Fennimore) 40-7 won by decision over Sawyer Sarbacker (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 33-12 (Dec 7-0)
2nd Place Match - Sawyer Sarbacker (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 33-12 won by decision over Gavin Burch (Weston/Ithaca) 31-15 (Dec 7-1)
126 — Max Maylor (41-9) placed 2nd and scored 14.50 team points.
Quarterfinal - Cal Hansen (Deerfield) 41-2 won by major decision over Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 41-9 (MD 10-0)
Cons. Semi - Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 41-9 won by fall over Ethan Leis (Cashton) 26-11 (Fall 0:44)
3rd Place Match - Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 41-9 won by tech fall over Collin Hatlevig (Parkview) 22-19 (TF-1.5 5:19 (17-2))
2nd Place Match - Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 41-9 won by decision over Justin Tollefson (Fennimore) 41-9 (Dec 6-4)
170 — Luke Nowak (43-4) placed 1st and scored 19.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Luke Nowak (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 43-4 won by major decision over Patrick Engen (Parkview) 30-7 (MD 12-2)
Semifinal - Luke Nowak (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 43-4 won by decision over Lance Buckles (De Soto) 43-5 (Dec 7-3)
1st Place Match - Luke Nowak (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 43-4 won by decision over Brandon Ashmore (Fennimore) 36-12 (Dec 7-2)
220 — Kyle Soderstrom (38-9) placed 1st and scored 21.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Kyle Soderstrom (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 38-9 won by fall over Erik Knipfer (Deerfield) 23-19 (Fall 2:31)
Semifinal - Kyle Soderstrom (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 38-9 won by major decision over Dylan Campton (Cashton) 35-12 (MD 14-4)
1st Place Match - Kyle Soderstrom (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 38-9 won by decision over Derek Medearis (New Lisbon) 26-8 (Dec 5-3)
Iowa–Grant/Highland’s other sectional qualifiers
113 — Ron Allen (12-14) placed 4th and scored 7.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Riley Cade (Westby) 31-14 won by fall over Ron Allen (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 12-14 (Fall 1:22)
Cons. Semi - Ron Allen (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 12-14 won by forfeit over Forfeit Forfeit () 1-2 (For.)
3rd Place Match - Weston Wichman (Johnson Creek) 41-5 won by tech fall over Ron Allen (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 12-14 (TF-1.5 5:48 (18-3))
120 — Jordan Jenks (13-12) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Hunter Dischler (Weston/Ithaca) 41-3 won by fall over Jordan Jenks (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 13-12 (Fall 3:26)
Cons. Semi - Adam Becker (Johnson Creek) 38-6 won by decision over Jordan Jenks (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 13-12 (Dec 5-1)
160 — Brady Peat (30-13) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Jared Roen (Riverdale) 39-3 won by major decision over Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 30-13 (MD 15-5)
