Multiple county wrestlers advance to day two of individual state tournament

Four Trempealeau County prep wrestlers are still in the running for an individual state wrestling title after Thursday’s opening day of the 2023 state championships in Madison, and two others could finish as high as third.

Alex Wieczorek won his first-ever state tournament match on Thursday, overtaking Nate Grooms of Lake Country Lutheran in a 7-4 decision.

Wieczorek, a G-E-T junior, is seeded 10th at 220 pounds and will face off with Peshtigo’s Connor Thomas (46-2) on Friday at 11:15 a.m.

Thomas had a bye on Thursday as the second-seeded wrestler in the weight class.

Wieczorek and G-E-T senior Ben Peterson won’t be the only Titans competing on Friday—Melrose-Mindoro junior Jackson Blaken also punched his ticket to more wrestling with a Thursday win.

The 132-pound wrestler earned his 45th win of the year with a 12-5 decision win over Colin Meiselwitz of Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah/Howards on Thursday.

Blaken next faces Luxemburg-Casco senior Easton Worachek, who boasts a 45-5 record in his senior season and earned the No. 2 seed this week.

Peterson, seeded third, starts wrestling Friday after receiving a bye on Thursday.

The G-E-T senior will open his state tournament at 11:45 a.m. against Northwestern’s Tanner Kaufman, a sixth-seeded senior with a 48-2 record equally as impressive as Peterson’s 48-4 slate in 2022-23. 

A win in that match would see Peterson advance to wrestle again at 7 p.m. on Friday against the winner of Ellsworth’s Louis Jahnke (42-4, second seed) and Freedom’s Jack Van Rossum (46-7, ninth seed).

An opening loss for Peterson would still allow him a chance at a third-place finish, a journey that would see his second match at 2:45 p.m. on Friday.

Arcadia senior Cruz Patzner dropped his first match of the tournament on Thursday, losing to eighth-seeded Noah Nusbaum of Saint Croix Central by 14-5 major decision. Patzner entered Thursday as the ninth seed and finishes his season with a 39-15 record.

G/M’s Colton Koss (106) fell at the hands of Amery’s Antonio Sowell in an 11-1 major decision victory on Thursday to round out the Titans’ day.

Koss ends his freshman season with a 40-15 record.

Shramek, Rombalski could reach podium in D3 field

Blair-Taylor’s only representative in the Division Three field started his state tournament with a dominant showing on Thursday.

Shramek (47-4) won by an 11-2 major decision over Joe Schoeder (Cedar Grove-Belgium, 38-12) to reach the winners’ bracket in the Division Three tournament.

Shramek’s journey will continue Friday with a tough matchup at 11:15 a.m. against second-seeded Tyson Bogacz of Bonduel. The latter has just one loss so far in his senior season (42-1).

A win would see Shramek compete again at 7 p.m. on Friday, while a loss would mean a 2:45 p.m. start time for Shramek’s third match.

Gracie Rombalski won her quarterfinal match at 107 pounds in the girls’ state championship bracket on Thursday to give herself a shot at a top-three finish this weekend. 

The Independence/Gilmanton junior pinned Adalyn Raue of Hustisford in 3 minutes, 31 seconds in her opening match.

Rombalski (8-4 this season) lost her second match and will compete Friday at 10 a.m. against Richland Center junior Emma Hady (14-4) as she attempts to wrestle her way to third place.

A pair of Indees ended their high school careers at the tournament on Thursday.

Independence/Gilmanton senior Gavin Bragger finished his high school career at the Kohl Center, falling in his 170-pound quarterfinal match to ninth-seeded Brad Demerath (41-4) of Shiocton.

Bragger ends 2022-23 with a 39-13 record.

Classmate Cora Sonsalla also saw her season come to an end on Thursday with a quarterfinal pin from Lauren Buehler of Whitewater in 3:47.

The loss is just Sonsalla’s second of the year. The senior finished 9-2 in 114-pound matches.