Eleven Titans, three Raiders to compete at sectional wrestling tournament

Both the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro and Arcadia high school wrestling teams were prepared for a tough slate of competition last Saturday at a Division Two regional tournament in Richland Center.

The G-E-T/Mel-Min Titans had the second-best performance of any team to earn a qualification to Tuesday’s team sectional while advancing 11 to the individual sectional in Wisconsin Dells on Saturday. 

Arcadia defied the odds of an uphill start to the 2024 postseason, advancing two freshmen and a sophomore to this Saturday’s sectional tournament. The top three finishers in each weight class at the sectional qualify for the state tournament in Madison next week. 

Arcadia freshmen Logan Breska (36-10 record this season) and Ony Zaragoza (27-13) each qualified for Saturday’s sectional, as did sophomore teammate Adalberto Ortiz (13-11).

Breska finished second in the 120-pound bracket at last Saturday’s regional, winning three of his four matches after an opening bye. Zaragoza won the fourth-place match to earn the final berth at 106 pounds and finished the tournament 2-2.

Ortiz won his fourth-pound match by sudden victory, taking down Wautoma/Wild Rose’s Brady Abitz in the final seconds and winning his final three matches despite losing his opener to G/M’s Landon Windsor.

Windsor was one of 10 Titans who placed inside the top four in their weight class at Saturday’s regional to advance to this weekend’s sectional tournament.

The Titans had the second-most productive day of any team to claim the final team berth to this weekend’s sectional. The Titans scored 243.5 points as a team behind only Prairie du Chien’s 295.

Colton Koss (44-5 this year) continued his success for G/M at 106 pounds, winning his weight class by pinning both of his opponents. Teammate Cisco Jimenez (31-14 record) also used pins to earn a first-place regional tittle, pinning all three of his opponents at 285 pounds,

Braydon Lockington (215 pounds), Jackson Blaken (144) and Gunnar Johnson (157) each took second in their respective weight classes to earn trips to the sectional.

Koda Purney (113), Jayce Stetzer (132), Windsor and Braden Peterson (165) took third in their weight classes for G/M, and teammates Brody Banse and Layne Fry were the final Titan wrestlers to punch their tickets to the sectional.

Mauston/Necedah finished third (208.5), followed by River Valley (132) and host Richland Center (121) to round out the top five teams last weekend. Arcadia’s 103.5 was good for sixth, and the top ten was closed by Nekoosa/Assumption/Port Edwards (89), Wisconsin Dells (86.5), Black River Falls (84) and Adams-Friendship (72). Viroqua (57), Wautoma/Wild Rose (55) and Berlin (50) were the final teams in the 13-team field.

The Titans wrestled Lodi at the team sectional in River Valley on Tuesday. The winner of that dual will take on the winner of the match between Prairie du Chien and Bellville/Monticello/New Glarus. The sectional champion will wrestle in the team state tournament in Madison on March 2. 

Saturday’s sectional tournament is slated to begin at 10 a.m. at Wisconsin Dells High School.

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