MADISON – Darlington/Black Hawk junior Kolbe Ubersox added another state medal to his growing collection of wrestling awards after placing third in the Division 3 132-pound weight class at the 2018 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Meet held at UW-Madison’s Kohl Center on Feb 22-24.
    Ubersox (43-4, #3-ranked) posted a 4-1 record on the mats during the three-day event with his lone blemish coming to eventual champion, Cochrane-Fountain City senior Tate Murty, in a quarterfinal match on Friday morning. The Darlington junior closed his tournament with three straight wins to earn a career-best third-place finish in his third state appearance.
    “I feel good about placing third. I didn’t get what I wanted, but I got the next best thing basically,” said Ubersox.
    Ubersox pinned Johnson Creek’s Tucker Roehl (17-8, #12) in 1:46 of their preliminary match at 132 to set up a rematch with top-ranked Murty, who defeated Ubersox in the 132 semifinal round at last year’s state meet.
    Murty (42-2) got Ubersox to his back in the second period and pinned him at the 3:50 mark to send the WarBird back into the consolation round for the second year in a row.
    Murty advanced all the way to the finals and secured the first state title in his school’s history with a 16-0 technical fall decision over Cumberland junior Reid Olson (41-7, #8) on Saturday night.
    Ubersox remained alive in the tournament by posting a 10-0 major decision over Mineral Point junior Caden Carey (34-14, #7) on Friday afternoon, and then posted an 8-3 decision over Kewaunee senior Cam Hanrahan (44-7, #5) in a consolation semifinal match and a 7-6 decision over Fennimore junior Trevor Wanek (45-8, #2) to lock up third-place.
    Wanek, a 2017 state champion at 126, had previously defeated Ubersox for the 132 sectional title at Mineral Point the previous weekend.
    “I knew the third-place match was going to be a close one after getting beat by him at sectionals, so it felt good to beat a SWAL rival like him,” Ubersox conceded. 
    After finishing fifth as a sophomore and third as a junior, Ubersox hopes to return to state as a senior and take the next step up on the award’s podium.
    “To win it next year is obviously the goal. Finishing third this year will motivate me in the off-season,” commented Ubersox. “It’s a great environment up there. There’s always a lot of friends and family there, so it’s a fun experience.”
    Ubersox holds a 120-20 career record with the WarBirds heading into his senior campaign.
    Senior Paul King (33-9, #9) joined his WarBird teammate at the Kohl Center during the weekend, going 0-2 in the 120-pound class in his first-ever state appearance.
    “I was just happy to be at the state meet. I was really excited after winning the sectional title last weekend. I didn’t think I could do that, but I pulled it off and I was really proud of myself,” King said.
    King dropped an 11-0 major decision to Weyauwega-Fremont junior Cian Fischer (45-4, #4) in a quarterfinal match on Friday morning, and then the Darlington senior fell by a 9-0 major decision to Stratford sophomore Max Schwabe (42-10, #8) in his consolation match on Friday afternoon to finish his season and his prep career.
    “I feel like I wrestled well. I just had to wrestle some tough guys,” stated King. “I knew after I was done that day that I was probably done wrestling for the rest of my life. It was kind of sad, but I knew I tried as hard as I could.”
    Fischer advanced all the way to the Saturday’s finale at 120 before dropping a 6-0 to Coleman junior Caleb Gross (47-1, #1) to settle for second-place. Schwabe wrestled all the way back to finish third in the class.
    King ends his career with the WarBirds with a 95-52 overall record. 



D3-120
Paul King (33-9) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Cian Fischer (Weyauwega-Frem.) 45-4 won by major decision over Paul King (Darlington/Black Hawk) 33-9 (MD 11-0)
Cons. Round 1 - Max Schwabe (Stratford) 42-10 won by major decision over Paul King (Darlington/Black Hawk) 33-9 (MD 9-0)
D3-132
Kolbe Ubersox (43-4) placed 3rd and scored 16.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Kolbe Ubersox (Darlington/Black Hawk) 43-4 won by fall over Tucker Roehl (Johnson Creek) 17-8 (Fall 1:46)
Quarterfinal - Tate Murty (Cochrane-Foun.City) 42-2 won by fall over Kolbe Ubersox (Darlington/Black Hawk) 43-4 (Fall 3:50)
Cons. Round 1 - Kolbe Ubersox (Darlington/Black Hawk) 43-4 won by major decision over Caden Carey (Mineral Point) 34-14 (MD 10-0)
Cons. Semi - Kolbe Ubersox (Darlington/Black Hawk) 43-4 won by decision over Cam Hanrahan (Kewaunee) 44-7 (Dec 8-3)
3rd Place Match - Kolbe Ubersox (Darlington/Black Hawk) 43-4 won by decision over Trevor Wanek (Fennimore) 45-8 (Dec 7-6)