Four Titans earn place on state wrestling podium

With a program-record eight qualifiers making their way to Madison for this year’s individual state wrestling tournament, the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro Titans figured to be in the mix to have multiple wrestlers standing on the podium when medals were awarded on Saturday night.

They made good on that potential, with half of their wrestlers landing on the podium with top-six finishes in their weight classes. Three of those medalists were seniors taking their final shot at state glory at the Kohl Center.

Colton Koss made his fourth consecutive appearance at the state tournament and found his way onto the podium for a third straight year by placing fourth in the Division 2 132-pound bracket. He previously finished in third at 106 pounds in 2024 and second at 120 pounds in 2025.

Third-seeded Koss started off his final trip to the Kohl Center with a bang last Thursday, pinning Denmark freshman Rhett Welsing just 29 seconds into their opening round bout. Koss then defeated Coleman junior Michael Ciancio in the quarterfinals via an injury default when Ciancio couldn’t continue after suffering a neck injury in the first period.

In Friday night’s semifinals, Kiel junior Logan Schad beat Koss in an 18-1 technical fall, and Belmont/Platteville sophomore Briggs Weigel bested Koss via a 7-2 decision in the third-place match Saturday afternoon.

After making his first state appearance last year as a junior, Koda Purney made his Madison curtain call on the podium by finishing in fifth in the D2 120-pound bracket as the 10 seed.

Purney began his run by beating Saint Croix Central sophomore Austin Voeltz in a 23-8 tech fall Thursday evening before falling in a 15-1 major decision to Dodgeville junior Shane Rochon (the eventual runner-up) later that same night.

A prospective opponent’s medical forfeit meant Purney did not have to wrestle on Friday. When he returned to the mat for Saturday’s consolation semifinals, Purney locked up a podium spot with a 15-0 tech fall win over Chilton/Hilbert senior Ayden Daul and proceeded to earn a 12-4 major decision victory in a rematch with Voeltz in the fifth-place match.

“Having wrestled him already, I just kind of knew he already knew how I was going to wrestle, and I still went out there and whooped up on him,” Purney said.

In his first and only state appearance, Jayce Stetzer made the most of his opportunity as a 10 seed to place fifth at 157 pounds.

In his opening match against Osceola sophomore Cody Meyer, Stetzer only trailed 7-6 after a takedown in the second period. However, Meyer escaped, got a takedown of his own and finished off a pin with nine seconds left in the period.

Stetzer’s path to the podium in the consolation bracket was filled with dramatic wins, starting with a 4-1 sudden victory against Port Washington sophomore Carter Melichar thanks to an overtime takedown.

That win wound up being Stetzer’s favorite of the tournament, allowing him the chance to flip the script from December’s Bi-State Classic.

“I won it overtime, one to one, it was a really close match,” he said. “I ended up beating a kid that I lost to in the semifinals at Bi-State.”

Takedowns in the first and second periods against Antigo sophomore Joseph Stimac helped propel Stetzer to a victory by a 7-3 decision in their consolation semifinal, guaranteeing the Titan senior a medal.

In a rematch with Meyer in the fifth-place match, Stetzer avenged his first-round loss with a win via a thrilling 13-12 decision. Meyer led 9-7 through two periods and bumped that up to 10-7 when Stetzer conceded the escape to start the third. Stetzer flipped the script with two takedowns of his own, the second coming with 20 seconds left.

Meyer escaped again and made a final attempt at a winning takedown in the dying seconds, but time ran out and Stetzer secured his redemptive victory.

Titan junior Aaron Dunigan matched his seed by placing fourth in the D2 190-pound bracket, though that medal came with frustrations.

Dunigan battled an illness last week that only continued to get worse as the days wore on. He was able to gut it out on Thursday and notch a pair of wins, defeating Saint Croix Central sophomore Jayden Stave in a 12-5 decision and riding a first-period takedown to a 4-3 victory against Shawano senior Drew Chelberg in the quarterfinals.

Unfortunately, that would be the end of Dunigan competing at the Kohl Center for the weekend. His illness caused him to have to forfeit his semifinal and third-place matches and even prevented him from being able to attend the medal ceremony Saturday evening.

“The amount of time and work that Aaron puts in that’s above and beyond is just exceptional,” said Titan head coach Pete Peterson. “Aaron never misses practice, he’s never gone. We knew wasn’t feeling good and it just got worse. Can’t do anything about it. He can’t go out and wrestle when he can barely walk.”

Titan junior Brody Banse and sophomore Merek Windsor each came a win away from a podium spot at 144 and 165 pounds, respectively. 

Banse only trailed 3-2 early in the third period of his opening match against Abbotsford/Colby senior Matthew Jakel, but Jakel got a takedown, a near-fall and finally a pin in the waning seconds of the match. Banse beat Chilton/Hilbert junior Drayk Nolan in a 13-5 major decision in the consolation quarterfinals but then dropped a 19-4 tech fall to Plymouth senior Landen Fick in the following round.

Windsor pinned Coleman senior Cole Berth in his first match, then lost in a 19-4 tech fall to Dodgeville senior Haakon Peterson, who would go on to join the exclusive club of wrestlers to become four-time state champions. Windsor advanced to the consolation semis thanks to a medical forfeit, where he lost in a 15-0 tech fall to Somerset junior Alvin Peterson.

In the 126-pound bracket, senior Gunnar Kremer rallied back from a 13-3 deficit and nearly got a late pin against Seymour junior Logan Boehnlein in the preliminary round, but ultimately lost via a 15-11 decision. Kremer picked up an 18-3 tech fall win over Campbellsport freshman Trayton Renderman in the consolation bracket, then battled in a competitive match against Abbotsford/Colby senior Tristen Smazal in the consolation quarters before being falling behind 4-3 on a takedown midway through the third period that turned into a pin right at the buzzer.

Junior Braden Peterson, competing in the 175-pound bracket, dropped a heartbreaker to Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal senior Jake Luchterhand on Thursday evening in an 11-9 decision, where Luchterhand was awarded a takedown right as the final buzzer. Peterson then lost via an 8-4 decision to Osceola junior Isaac Dunnom in the consolation quarterfinals.

After plenty of individual success last weekend in Madison, the Titans head to the La Crosse Center this weekend for the team state tournament. G-E-T/Mel-Min, the second seed in the eight-team D2 field, will take on Denmark in the quarterfinals Friday at 7:30 p.m. Semifinals are set for 10 a.m. on Saturday with championship duals following at 3 p.m. that same day.

“Individual-wise it’s cool, but it’d be even better to put a stamp as a team coming home with the title,” Koss said.