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WarBirds crown two champions at Lancaster Invitational
Darl-BH wrest King color
DARLINGTON/BLACK HAWK senior Paul King (top) posted a 2-0 record to win the 126-pound weight class at the Lancaster Invitational held on Saturday, Jan. 6.
nobyline
Updated: Jan 11, 2018, 4:10 PM
Published: Jan 11, 2018, 4:12 PM

    LANCASTER – Senior Paul King claimed the title in the 120-pound weight class and junior Kolbe Ubersox earned a first-place finish in the 138-pound class to highlight a fine day on the mats for Darlington/Black Hawk co-op at the 2018 Lancaster Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 6.
    The WarBirds placed eight of their 11 wrestlers among the top in their respective weight classes at the stacked 11-team event en route to a fifth-place team finish with 130 points.
    Host Lancaster ran away with the team title with 193 points with Division 1 Sparta placing a distant second with 167.5 points. SWAL rival Iowa-Grant/Highland was third with 153.5 points.
    King (13-4) went 2-0 in the round robin competition at 120 to capture the team’s first crown, winning a high-scoring 17-10 decision over Lancaster’s Caleb Lucey to open his day and then pinning Ethan Tallman of Monticello (IA) in 1:37 to lock up the title.
    Ubersox (17-2) added the title at 138 by going 3-0 on the day. After posting pins over River Ridge/Cassville’s Myles Wehrle and Lancaster’s Logan Schneider to move onto the finals, the Darlington junior defeated Dubque Senior’s Alex Richard by a score of 6-2 in the title match to become the WarBirds’ second champion of the day.
    Seniors Grady Rielly and Brody Milz and sophomore Bailey Schilling finished third in their divisions with 3-1 records, while sophomores Cody Blosch, Cayden Milz and Carson Lobdell each placed fourth for the WarBirds.
    Rielly (12-6) bounced back from a hard-fought 16-7 loss to IG/H’s Clayton Kite in the semifinal round to post back-to-back decisions over Lancaster’s Morgan Seippel, 6-2, and Dubuque Wahlert’s Bryce Anstoetter, 6-1, to take third at 152.
    B. Milz (16-4) also suffered a loss in the semis when he was pinned by Wahlert’s Boone McDermott in 1:19 in their 220-pound match. Milz pinned Lancaster’s Cole Zenz in just 20 seconds in his consolation match, and then placed third at 220 after winning by injury default over Sparta’s Garet Pfaff.
    McDermott posted a 15-0 technical fall decision over IG/H’s Drew Hennessey in a time of 2:46 in the finals to claim the title at 220 and earn the Wrestler of the Meet honors.
    After opening his day with a 2:58 pin of IG/H’s Clint Havlik, Schilling (9-6) dropped an 11-2 major decision to eventual 195-pound champion Declan Duffy of Wahlert. The Redbird came back to pin Dubuque Senior’s Hunter Thoma in 1:24, and then took third by injury default over Havlik.
    Blosch (8-8) rallied from a quarterfinal loss to Brodhead’s Jayson Starr to post a 5-3 decision over Sparta’s Esteban Rodriguez and a pin over Lancaster’s Andrew McCarville in 4:07 to make the third-place match at 126. However, he had to settle for fourth after dropping a 9-1 major decision to IG/H’s Andrew Winders.
    C. Milz (11-8) began his day at 145 with a pair of wins by pin over Wahlert’s Andrew Johnson in 2:33 and Cuba City/Southwestern/Benton’s Martin Shelliam in 5:40, but fell in the semifinals to Senior’s Matt Connolly by a 17-5 major decision.
    He pinned Johnson again– in 1:24 this time– in a consolation match to advance to the third-place match where he was pinned by Lancaster’s Collin Lull in 4:40.
    Lobdell (8-9) also opened his day with a pin, sticking Senior’s Dashawn Tigges in 5:35 of their 170-pound match; but he dropped a 12-6 decision to eventual champion Kolton Bartow of Wahlert in the semis to fall back into the consolation round.
    Lobdell bounced back with an 11-4 decision over Lancaster’s Clay McCartney to make the third-place match at 170, however Boscobel’s Chase Beinborn edged the Darlington sophomore by a score of 5-3 for third. 
    Darlington/Black Hawk has a SWAL dual meet against Iowa-Grant/Highland at IGHS in Livingston on Friday, Jan. 12, beginning at 7 p.m.; and the WarBirds will participate in the annual Madison LaFollette Dual Meet Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 13, starting at 9 a.m.

LANCASTER INVITATIONAL
Team Standings: Lancaster 193, Sparta 167.5, Iowa-Grant/Highland 153.5, Dubuque Senior 137, Darlington/Black Hawk 130, Dubuque Wahlert 119.5, Monticello IA 91, Brodhead 54, Boscobel 45, Cuba City/Benton/Southwestern 34, River Ridge/Cassville 6.

Darlington/Black Hawk Individual Results: 120-pounds- 1- Paul King, 2-0; 126- 4- Cody Blosch, 2-2; 138- 1- Kolbe Ubersox, 3-0; 145- 4- Cayden Milz, 3-2; 152- 3- Grady Reilly, 3-1; 160- Hunter Bredeson, 0-2; 170- 5- Carson Lobdell, 2-2; 182- Lance Ubersox, 0-2; 195- 3- Bailey Schilling, 3-1; 220- 3- Brody Milz, 3-1; 285- Leif Bredeson, 0-2.

WISCONSIN CHALLENGE SERIES
MIDDLETON QUALIFIER
Darlington/Black Hawk Individual Results: 106-pounds- Aiden McGuire, 0-2; 113- Eric Hocking, 0-2; 145- 1- Connor Novak, 4-0; 152- Dylan Zasada, 0-2; 160- 1- Curtis Blosch, 5-0; Jared Vosberg, 2-2; 170- Thomas Wessel, 2-2; Wyatt Bredeson, 0-2; 182- 2- Karl Seffrood, 4-1; 220- 5- Matt King, 4-1.

(The challenge series is a tournament that gives the varsity reserve wrestlers an opportunity to compete in a statewide tournament, much like a J.V. state tournament, with the top 3 individuals from each of the eight regionals earning the right to go to Wausau to compete at the state level event on Saturday, Jan. 20.)
Darlington honors long-time coach Arnie Miehe
School renames cross country course after legendary coach
Arnie Miehe
Former Darlington cross country coach Arnie Miehe (left) stands as it is announced that the DHS cross country course will be renamed after him at the Darlington Invitational on Sept. 7. The years of accomplishments are displayed on the banner behind Miehe. - photo by Casey Lindecrantz
Natalie Dillon, Fox Tales
Updated: Sep 13, 2024, 4:03 PM
Published: Sep 13, 2024, 4:04 PM

DARLINGTON — At its 41st annual Darlington Invite, the cross country team honored long-time head coach Arnie Miehe by renaming the course after him.

“It’s an incredible honor,” Arnie said. “It’s very humbling. It makes me think of all the hours, days, weeks and years that went into it — all the events and kids I’ve come in contact with.”

Since taking over  the program in 1982, Arnie has had nine state championship teams — eight for the boys and one for the girls — including six consecutive boys’ titles from 2011-2016. Another 39 teams went to state — 23 for the boys and 16 for the girls. For four straight years from 1993-1996, Darlington boys were state runners-up to Cochrane-Fountain City. In this 41-year span, he’s also had numerous individual state runners.

Two of those runners were his sons, Kent and Tyson. Tyson has run in the Olympic trials, and Kent currently coaches the Redbirds cross country teams.

“The recognition needs to be spread out,” Arnie said. “It should really be named the Miehe course. My wife and kids had as much to do with the success as I did. It was an entire family effort.”

But Kent was quick to turn the recognition back to his father.

“All the success we had started here, with him,” Kent said of Darlington’s home course and the annual Invite, which Arnie had begun years ago.

Darlington kept its successful streak at home with the girls finishing runners-up to Lancaster. Adalee Berget led the squad with her third-place finish. As a team, the Lady Redbirds, ranked No. 9 in Division 3 per Week 1 of the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association Poll, ran faster than the 2023 squad that finished third at state.

“We are learning what good is,” Kent said. “The returners know what it takes to be good. We have a perspective of what we are working toward. The season is far from over.”