LA CROSSE — Platteville senior Luke Fugate and Belmont junior Issac Wiegel each continued their outstanding seasons for the Belmont/Platteville wrestling co-op with fantastic individual performances at the 60-team Bi-State Classic last Thursday and Friday.
Fugate (17–2) went 5–1 and reached the finals at 182 pounds, eventually finishing second out of 46 wrestlers. Wiegel (17–2) went 6–1 and placed third out of 46 wrestlers at 113 pounds.
Fugate breezed through his preliminary matches with a tech fall, a pin and a 7–0 decision over Lodi’s Casey Persikie. He then pinned Dodgeville’s Zach Weber in Friday’s night’s quarterfinals and survived a 19–18 decision over Ellsworth’s Jacob Sigler in Friday morning’s semifinals. La Crosse Central’s Conner Williams pinned Fugate in the first period of the 182-pound championship.
“I was very happy with both Luke’s second place finish and Isaac third place finish,” said Belmont/Platteville head coach Andrew Campbell. “In Lukes semifinal match he was wrestling a very tough kid from Ellsworth. The first two periods the match was back and forth. In the third period, Luke got a lead and knew how many points he could give up to still win. It is always nerve wrecking seeing kids come back at the end like Sigler was trying to do. Luke kept his composure and was very smart on the way he finished his match. In his finals Luke had double under hooks and thought he was safe, but as soon as the Williams’ feet touched the math he hit Luke with a headlock and that was the match.”
Wiegel posted back-to-back first-period pins and a major decision to reach the quarterfinals. He then blanked Eau Claire North’s Carter Duerkop 7–0.
Wiegel lost a close 6–3 decision in the semifinals to Stratford’s Max Schwabe. Wiegel bounced back with a 7–1 consolation victory over Muskego’s Parker Bevilacqua, then defeated Ellsworth’s Mathew Peterson 3–1 in the 113-pound third-place match.
“Isaac got thrown and gave up two near fall points early in his semifinal match so he was down 4–0,” said Campbell. “He just was not able to fight his way back from down 4–0. In his third-place match, Isaac slowly wore the kid down before he took the lead in the third period.”
As a team, Belmont/Platteville scored 79 points and placed 14th out of 20 teams in Division 2 and 36th out of 60 overall.
“As a team I felt okay about how we did,” added Campbell. “Our goal at all of our tournaments is to score more points than we did in the year past and we did that. It would have been nice to have a few more wrestlers win a few matches but we met our goal.”
Freshmen Tristen Gillbertson and Will Shafer both made it to the second session but did not win enough matches to place. Gilbertson (6–3) went 2–2 with a decision and a forfeit win at 106 pounds. Schaefer (9–6) had a first-round bye, but lost his next two matches to finish 1–2 at 195 pounds.
The Braves will return to action Thursday at Belmont with a SWC dual meet against Richland Center. They will then take part in the Lancaster Invitational on Saturday.
35th Annual Bi-State Classic
(from Dec. 29–30 @ La Crosse Civic Center)
Division 3 team scores — 1.Ellsworth 343, 2.Luxemburg–Casco 224.5, 3.River Valley 219, 4.Viroqua 146.5, 4.West Salem/Bangor 146.5, 6.Lodi 145, 7.Lewiston–Altura/Rushford–Peterson (MN) 138, 8.Spencer/Columbus Catholic 133.5, 9.Monroe 127, 10.Mauston 121.5, 11.Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka–Steuben 112.5, 12.South Saint Paul 112.5, 13.Dodgeville 81.5, 14.Belmont/Platteville 79, 15.Nekoosa/Assumption/Port Edwards 70, 16.Richland Center 47, 17.Mount Horeb 38, 18.La Cresent–Hokah 31, 19.Adams–Friendship 27.5, 20.Cuba City/Benton/Southwestern 4.
Belmont/Platteville individual results.
106 — Tristen Gilbertson (6-3) place is unknown and scored 5.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Tristen Gilbertson (Belmont/Platteville) 6-3 won by decision over Dakota Wickstrum (Monroe) 2-7 (Dec 7-2)
Champ. Round 2 - Ashton Ackman (Spencer/Columbus Catholic) 14-3 won by tech fall over Tristen Gilbertson (Belmont/Platteville) 6-3 (TF-1.5 4:53 (20-5))
Cons. Round 2 - Tristen Gilbertson (Belmont/Platteville) 6-3 won by forfeit over Forfeit Forfeit (DC Everest) 2-6 (For.)
Cons. Round 3 - Wyatt Wolfe (West Salem/Bangor) 10-6 won by major decision over Tristen Gilbertson (Belmont/Platteville) 6-3 (MD 12-4)
113 — Isaac Wiegel (17-2) placed 3rd and scored 34.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Isaac Wiegel (Belmont/Platteville) 17-2 won by fall over Caiden Roe (La Crosse Central) 0-5 (Fall 1:06)
Champ. Round 2 - Isaac Wiegel (Belmont/Platteville) 17-2 won by fall over Allen Everson (Bloomington Kennedy) 5-7 (Fall 1:14)
Champ. Round 3 - Isaac Wiegel (Belmont/Platteville) 17-2 won by major decision over Ernesto Espino-Sanchez (South Saint Paul) 7-4 (MD 14-0)
Quarterfinal - Isaac Wiegel (Belmont/Platteville) 17-2 won by decision over Carter Duerkop (Eau Claire North) 13-4 (Dec 7-0)
Semifinal - Max Schwabe (Stratford) 18-1 won by decision over Isaac Wiegel (Belmont/Platteville) 17-2 (Dec 6-3)
Cons. Semi - Isaac Wiegel (Belmont/Platteville) 17-2 won by decision over Parker Bevilacqua (Muskego) 16-6 (Dec 7-1)
3rd Place Match - Isaac Wiegel (Belmont/Platteville) 17-2 won by decision over Matthew Peterson (Ellsworth) 17-4 (Dec 3-1)
126 — Christopher Gillen (4-8) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Logan West (Holmen) 9-5 won by fall over Christopher Gillen (Belmont/Platteville) 4-8 (Fall 0:35)
Cons. Round 1 - Paul Bartel (La Crosse Logan) 4-11 won by major decision over Christopher Gillen (Belmont/Platteville) 4-8 (MD 10-2)
152 — Joshua Taber (3-9) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Matt Chambers (Mauston) 13-7 won by fall over Joshua Taber (Belmont/Platteville) 3-9 (Fall 1:02)
Cons. Round 2 - Dylan Wachter (New Richmond) 12-4 won by fall over Joshua Taber (Belmont/Platteville) 3-9 (Fall 1:24)
170 — Grey Genzoli (4-10) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Dalton George (Ellsworth) 8-5 won by major decision over Grey Genzoli (Belmont/Platteville) 4-10 (MD 15-3)
Cons. Round 2 - Brady Statz (Middleton) 8-3 won by medical forfeit over Grey Genzoli (Belmont/Platteville) 4-10 (M. For.)
182 — Lucas Fugate (17-2) placed 2nd and scored 40.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Lucas Fugate (Belmont/Platteville) 17-2 won by fall over Reagan Stauffer (Verona Area) 5-8 (Fall 0:42)
Champ. Round 2 - Lucas Fugate (Belmont/Platteville) 17-2 won by fall over Nick Gallegos (South Saint Paul) 7-5 (Fall 1:23)
Champ. Round 3 - Lucas Fugate (Belmont/Platteville) 17-2 won by decision over Casey Persike (Lodi) 14-3 (Dec 7-0)
Quarterfinal - Lucas Fugate (Belmont/Platteville) 17-2 won by fall over Zack Weber (Dodgeville) 3-4 (Fall 3:36)
Semifinal - Lucas Fugate (Belmont/Platteville) 17-2 won by decision over Jacob Sigler (Ellsworth) 18-5 (Dec 19-18)
1st Place Match - Connor Williams (La Crosse Central) 13-1 won by fall over Lucas Fugate (Belmont/Platteville) 17-2 (Fall 0:49)
195 — William Schaefer (9-6) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - William Schaefer (Belmont/Platteville) 9-6 received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Jack Westcott (Holmen) 17-6 won by fall over William Schaefer (Belmont/Platteville) 9-6 (Fall 0:58)
Cons. Round 2 - Zach King (Pulaski) 6-4 won by fall over William Schaefer (Belmont/Platteville) 9-6 (Fall 2:09)
220 — Christopher Spoor (3-10) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Antonio Putnick (Eau Claire North) 12-3 won by fall over Christopher Spoor (Belmont/Platteville) 3-10 (Fall 1:12)
Cons. Round 2 - Will Rommes (La Crescent-Hokah) 6-5 won by fall over Christopher Spoor (Belmont/Platteville) 3-10 (Fall 4:37)
