LA CROSSE — In a bracket full of studs, Iowa–Grant/Highland senior Max Maylor rose to the top of the medal stand.

Maylor beat three straight undefeated wrestlers  Friday and Saturday to claim the 160-pound title at the 36th annual Bi-State Classic at the La Crosse Center, while teammates Brady Peat and Drew Hennessey finished second at 182 and 220 pounds respectively.

The Panthers racked up 154.5 points to finish third out of 18 teams in Division 3 and 14th overall out of 61 teams overall at the two-day event.

Eight wrestlers in the 160-pound bracket entered the tournament with unblemished records, yet Maylor outlasted them all.

Maylor (24–1), a three-time state qualifier who is currently ranked second in Division 3 at 160 according to wiwrestling.com, cruised through his opening round matches Friday with a bye, a pin and a technical fall.

He then pinned Prairie du Chien’s Nick Rogge, who entered the match 16–0 and ranked fifth in Division 2, in Friday night’s quarterfinal round.

Next Maylor defeated Medford’s Kolton Hanson, who was also 16–0 and is ranked second in D2 at 170, by the score of 9–3 in Saturday’s semifinal and went on to score a dominating 16–4 major decision over Hudson’s Jacob Anderson (16–1, #4 in D1) in Saturday’s night’s championship match.

“Max did a great job of wrestling his style this weekend,” said Panthers’ head coach Ryan Allen. “He stayed moving even when guys tried their best to slow him down.”

Peat (23–2), a senior from Iowa–Grant, was nearly as dominant at 182 in his march to the finals. He pinned four straight opponents, including conference rival Zack Weber of Dodgeville in the quarterfinals, then gutted out a 10–8 win over previously unbeaten Jacob Heyroth (14–1, #5 in D2) of Lodi to reach the finals.

Peat’s championship bid ended with a 5–3 loss to Holmen’s Isaac Lahr (21–3), who is ranked number two in Division 1 at 182.

“Brady wrestled well to get into the finals but still needs to keep working on small things that will make big differences,” said Allen. “He is a hard worker and I know he will do whatever it takes to get better.”

Hennessey (24–1), a junior from Highland, entered Bi-State undefeated and made his own spectacular run to the finals.

After a bye, he recorded four straight pins, including a 43-second fall over Lakeville South’s (Minn.) Jared Stewart in the semifinals. 

Spencer/Columbus Catholic senior Hunter Luepke (24–0), the #1-ranked wrestler in Division 2, handed Hennessey his first loss of the season with a pin at 1:39.

“Drew did a great job this weekend in taking second,” said Allen. “He was getting into positions that he likes to score from and executing well from there. In the finals, Drew lost a scramble and ended up on his back but I think we win that position nine times out of ten. I think Drew really showed people how tough he is this weekend and I hope steps it up another notch in practice.”

Alec Zimmer (13–7) went 3–2 and scored 10 team points at 113 pounds. Noah Pennekamp (14–9) also went 3–2 and scored four team points at 132. 

Iowa–Grant/Highland (8–4, 2–1 SWAL) will return to action Saturday morning at the Lancaster Invitational. The Panthers will then host Darlington/Black Hawk (3–1, 2–1 SWAL) in a SWAL dual on Friday, Jan. 12.

Bi-State Classic

(from Dec. 29-30 @ La Crosse Center)

Division 3 team scores — 1.Stratford 319.5, 2.Goodhue (MN) 171.5, 3.Iowa–Grant/Highland 154.5, 4.Athens 142.5, 5.Kenyon-Wanamingo (MN) 136.5, 6.Lancaster 124.5, 7.Caledonia/Houston (MN) 123, 8.Riverdale 93, 9.Auburndale 69, 10.Ithaca/Weston 61.5, 11.Royall 57, 12.Hillsboro 48, 13.New Lisbon 42, 14.Boscobel 23, 15.Cashton 13, 16.North Crawford/Seneca 11, 17.Kickapoo/La Farge 6, 18.De Soto 2.

Iowa–Grant/Highland individual results

113 — Alec Zimmer (13-7) place is unknown and scored 10.00 team points. Zimmer went 3–2.

126 — Andrew Winders (7-13) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points. Winders went 0–2.

132 — Noah Pennekamp (14-9) place is unknown and scored 4.00 team points. Pennekamp went 3–2.

138 — Jason Sedbrook (10-11) place is unknown and scored 3.00 team points. Sedbrook went 1–2.

152 — Owen Murphy (0-4) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points. Murphy went 0–2.

160 — Max Maylor (24-1) placed 1st and scored 48.50 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 24-1 received a bye () (Bye)

Champ. Round 2 - Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 24-1 won by fall over Garret Rau (Sheboygan Falls) 7-7 (Fall 3:04)

Champ. Round 3 - Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 24-1 won by tech fall over Ben Statz (Waunakee) 20-5 (TF-1.5 5:25 (18-2))

Quarterfinal - Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 24-1 won by fall over Nick Rogge (Prairie du Chien) 17-3 (Fall 3:18)

Semifinal - Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 24-1 won by decision over Kolten Hanson (Medford Area) 16-2 (Dec 9-3)

1st Place Match - Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 24-1 won by major decision over Jacob Anderson (Hudson) 16-1 (MD 16-4)

170 — Keegan Pilling (7-14) place is unknown and scored 3.00 team points. Pilling went 1–2.

182 — Brady Peat (23-2) placed 2nd and scored 42.00 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 23-2 won by fall over Alonzo Madsen (Hudson) 4-9 (Fall 0:49)

Champ. Round 2 - Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 23-2 won by fall over Ty Pankratz (Stratford) 4-3 (Fall 3:09)

Champ. Round 3 - Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 23-2 won by fall over Jake LaVenture (New Richmond) 11-6 (Fall 2:39)

Quarterfinal - Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 23-2 won by fall over Zackery Weber (Dodgeville) 13-6 (Fall 3:28)

Semifinal - Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 23-2 won by decision over Jacob Heyroth (Lodi) 14-1 (Dec 10-8)

1st Place Match - Isaac Lahr (Holmen) 21-3 won by decision over Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 23-2 (Dec 5-3)

220 — Drew Hennessey (24-1) placed 2nd and scored 44.00 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - Drew Hennessey (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 24-1 received a bye () (Bye)

Champ. Round 2 - Drew Hennessey (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 24-1 won by fall over Cedric Warner (Eastview) 6-7 (Fall 1:01)

Champ. Round 3 - Drew Hennessey (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 24-1 won by fall over Garret Wilmot (Riverdale) 16-8 (Fall 1:35)

Quarterfinal - Drew Hennessey (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 24-1 won by fall over Ryan Schoenfelder (Goodhue) 7-2 (Fall 2:31)

Semifinal - Drew Hennessey (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 24-1 won by fall over Jared Stewart (Lakeville South) 17-6 (Fall 0:43) 

1st Place Match - Hunter Luepke (Spencer/Columbus Catholic) 24-0 won by fall over Drew Hennessey (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 24-1 (Fall 1:39)