MINERAL POINT – Four wrestlers from Lancaster and one from River Ridge/Cassville will be concluding the 2017-18 wrestling season at the WIAA State Championships this Thursday through Saturday at the Kohl Center in Madison.
The Flying Arrows had six sectional qualifiers competing last Saturday in Mineral Point, four of which placed in the top three of their respective weight class, and earned a trip to the state tournament.
Making return trips to the state tournament for Lancaster are 145-pound junior Collin Lull and 182-pound junior Troy Klein.
Both competed at the state tournament as sophomores, both losing their first-round matches.
This year, Lull takes a record of 20-13 into Madison after placing third at last week’s sectional meet. He will match up against Levi Snortum (33-5) of Shiocton in Thursday night’s opening round, with the winner moving on against Nathan Roach (38-4) of Ladysmith.
Last Saturday, he picked up two straight pins in his first two matches before suffering a 19-4 technical fall to Fennimore’s Riley Blair (28-2) in his championship match. He then lost a 12-2 major decision to Gavin Burch (38-6) of Ithaca/Weston for third place.
Klein finished second at last Saturday’s sectional meet, losing by pin to Iowa-Grant/Highland’s Brady Peat in his championship match.
He began the day with a pin in his first match followed by a 4-2 over Noah Riedl of Royall in his semifinal match.
Klein takes a record of 37-7 into the state meet, where he will first match up against Allan Arendt (33-11) of Random Lake. The winner of Thursday night’s match will move on to Friday to take on freshman Trett Joles (43-1) of Boyceville.
Making their first trip to the state tournament are Lancaster freshman Remington Bontreger at 106 pounds, and senior heavyweight Tyler Hale.
Hale was the team’s lone sectional champion last Saturday, where he pinned all three of his opponents in the first period.
In his championship match, Hale pinned Trey Kaiser (37-5) of Brookwood in a time of 1:50, which came after an 18-second pin in his first-round match and a pin in 1:16 in his semifinal match.
Hale will take a season record of 37-9 into the state tournament, where he will wrestle on Friday against either Tanner Gaffey (36-8) of Saint Croix Falls, or Brock Martinson (33-11) of Coleman.
Also in his heavyweight bracket are Noah Novotney (39-5) of Boyceville, Max Villnow (42-1) of Amherst, and Tanner Weber (41-0) of Markesan.
Also in the Division 3 heavyweight field is Ben Wheeler of River Ridge/Cassville, who finished third at last Saturday’s Mineral Point Sectional.
Wheeler will be making a return trip to state, where last year he placed fifth in the heavyweight division.
This season he will be taking a record of 30-9 into Madison, where he will take the mat against Seth Roberts (18-2) of Johnson Creek. The winner will then move on to face Max Villnow.
Last Saturday, Wheeler suffered pin in the semifinals to Trey Kaiser (37-5) of Brookwood. He then won his consolation semifinal by forfeit over Owen Thronson (12-18) of Pecatonica/Argyle, and this third-place match over Leif Bredeson 19-17) of Darlington/Black Hawk.
Remi Bontreger, who has put together a sensational freshman season for the Flying Arrows, finished second in the 106-pound weight class at last Saturday’s sectional meet.
Following a first-round pin and a technical fall in the semifinals, Bontreger suffered a 5-4 loss to Brody Lee (36-12) of Fennimore in his championship match.
Bontreger will take a record of 39-5 into the state tournament, where on Thursday night will match up against Dane Klinger (37-7) of Marathon, with the winner advancing to face Grant Gelger (38-6) of Brillion on Friday.
Among those from Lancaster competing at Saturday’s sectional meet, but not advancing to state were 113-pound freshman Carter Lull and 195-pound sophomore Caden Straka.
Lull concluded an outstanding season with a record of 17-10 and placed fourth at Saturday’s sectional meet.
Straka, who was battling through a substantial knee injury on Saturday, concluded his season with a record of 29-11.
D3 Mineral Point Sectional
(from Saturday, Feb. 17)
Team scores - 1. Fennimore 168.5; 2. Lancaster 81.5; 3. Mineral Point 70; 4. Iowa-Grant/Highland 63.5; 5. Darlington/Black Hawk 62.5; 6. Marshall 55; 7. Pecatonica/Argyle 45.5; 8. Ithaca/Weston 42.5; 9. Riverdale 39; 10. Brookwood 34; 11. Boscobel 30; T12. Aquinas 29, Parkview 29; 14. Royall 25; 15. New Lisbon 23; 16. Deerfield 21; 17. Hillsboro 18; 18. River Ridge/Cassville 16; 19. Waterloo 15; 20. Cashton 14; 21. De Soto 11; 22. North Crawford/Seneca 9; T23. Coulee Christian 0, Kickapoo/La Farge 0, Necedah 0.
Lancaster participants
106 - Remington Bontreger (39-5) placed 2nd and scored 17.50 team points.
Quarterfinal - Remington Bontreger (Lancaster) 39-5 won by fall over Kobe Grossman (Marshall) 24-16 (Fall 3:34)
Semifinal - Remington Bontreger (Lancaster) 39-5 won by tech fall over Nolan McKittrick (Royall) 40-8 (TF-1.5 4:42 (19-0))
1st Place Match - Brody Lee (Fennimore) 36-12 won by decision over Remington Bontreger (Lancaster) 39-5 (Dec 5-4)
2nd Place Match - Remington Bontreger (Lancaster) 39-5 won by rule over Nolan McKittrick (Royall) 40-8 (RULE)
113 - Carter Lull (17-10) placed 4th and scored 9.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Carter Lull (Lancaster) 17-10 won by fall over Tagan Starkey (North Crawford/Seneca) 14-11 (Fall 0:26)
Semifinal - Noah Krahenbuhl (Pecatonica/Argyle) 31-11 won by fall over Carter Lull (Lancaster) 17-10 (Fall 3:06)
Cons. Semi - Carter Lull (Lancaster) 17-10 won by decision over Jadin Atha (Brookwood) 16-17 (Dec 9-2)
3rd Place Match - Zach Wilfong (Deerfield) 35-10 won by decision over Carter Lull (Lancaster) 17-10 (Dec 8-1)
145 - Collin Lull (20-13) placed 3rd and scored 15.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Collin Lull (Lancaster) 20-13 won by fall over Korben Brown (Parkview) 20-14 (Fall 5:21)
Semifinal - Collin Lull (Lancaster) 20-13 won by fall over Isaac LaBudda (New Lisbon) 34-10 (Fall 4:56)
1st Place Match - Riley Blair (Fennimore) 28-2 won by tech fall over Collin Lull (Lancaster) 20-13 (TF-1.5 4:53 (19-4))
2nd Place Match - Gavin Burch (Ithaca/Weston) 38-6 won by major decision over Collin Lull (Lancaster) 20-13 (MD 12-2)
182 - Troy Klein (37-7) placed 2nd and scored 16.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Troy Klein (Lancaster) 37-7 won by fall over Peter Riley (Aquinas) 17-8 (Fall 4:30)
Semifinal - Troy Klein (Lancaster) 37-7 won by decision over Noah Friedl (Royall) 39-3 (Dec 4-2)
1st Place Match - Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 41-3 won by fall over Troy Klein (Lancaster) 37-7 (Fall 3:19)
2nd Place Match - Troy Klein (Lancaster) 37-7 won by rule over Noah Friedl (Royall) 39-3 (RULE)
195 - Caden Straka (29-11) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Cade Nettesheim (Ithaca/Weston) 34-8 won by major decision over Caden Straka (Lancaster) 29-11 (MD 9-0)
Cons. Semi - Lucas Gilbertson (Pecatonica/Argyle) 35-9 won by tech fall over Caden Straka (Lancaster) 29-11 (TF-1.5 4:00 (20-5))
285 - Tyler Hale (37-9) placed 1st and scored 24.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Tyler Hale (Lancaster) 37-9 won by fall over Cameron Johnson (North Crawford/Seneca) 2-14 (Fall 0:18)
Semifinal - Tyler Hale (Lancaster) 37-9 won by fall over Leif Bredeson (Darlington/Black Hawk) 19-17 (Fall 1:16)
1st Place Match - Tyler Hale (Lancaster) 37-9 won by fall over Trey Kaiser (Brookwood) 37-5 (Fall 1:50)
River Ridge/Cassville participants
285 - Ben Wheeler (30-9) placed 3rd and scored 16.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Ben Wheeler (River Ridge/Cassville) 30-9 won by fall over Charlie Langeberg (Aquinas) 16-12 (Fall 0:58)
Semifinal - Trey Kaiser (Brookwood) 37-5 won by fall over Ben Wheeler (River Ridge/Cassville) 30-9 (Fall 3:56)
Cons. Semi - Ben Wheeler (River Ridge/Cassville) 30-9 won by forfeit over Owen Thronson (Pecatonica/Argyle) 12-18 (For.)
3rd Place Match - Ben Wheeler (River Ridge/Cassville) 30-9 won by fall over Leif Bredeson (Darlington/Black Hawk) 19-17 (Fall 1:28)
2nd Place Match - Trey Kaiser (Brookwood) 37-5 won by rule over Ben Wheeler (River Ridge/Cassville) 30-9 (RULE)
