G/M send seven to state tourney

Seven wrestlers from the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro co-op will be participating in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Individual State Tournament after their performances in Osceola on Saturday.

The Titans earned two first-place finishes, four second place finishes and one third place finish among their 10 wrestlers who competed for a trip to Madison this weekend.

The WIAA State Tournament will be held in Madison on Thursday through Saturday.

Osceola Sectional - G/M’s individual performances were led by their first place finishers, Tanner Andersen (113) and Bryce Burns (195). 

Andersen won his quarterfinal 11-2 over Alexander Nitz of Stanley-Boyd/Owen-Withee, before winning 6-0 over Thomas Oswald of Osceola in the semifinal and 5-1 over Ashton Ackman of Spencer/Columbus Catholic in the first place match.

Burns tallied a pin over Nick Carlson of Osceola, followed by a 5-3 win over Carter Grewe of Abbotsford/Colby and a 7-1 win over Kale Hopke of Amery in the first place match. 

The Titans also tallied four second-place nods, including Sam Johnson (138), Hunter Andersen (170), Jacob Summers (182) and Trevor Daffinson (285).

Johnson won his quarterfinal 9-7 over Mason Tylee of Amery before taking a 9-3 win over Tanner Kaufman of Northwestern. He fell by pin in the first place match, before earning second by no contest over Tylee. 

Hunter Andersen pinned Eli Schue of Ashland and Max Ramberg of Baldwin-Woodville to reach the first place match, where he fell by pin. He took second by no contest over Ramberg.

Summers pinned Andrew Jeske of A/C and took a 7-0 win over Cart Melton of Spooner/Webster before falling 5-1 in the first place match. He took second by no contest over Melton. 

The final Titans second-place finisher was Daffinson, who pinned Riley Bauer of Regis/Altoona and Sayer Wilson of Somerset to reach the first place match, where he fell 5-3. He took second on a pin of Tyler Krizan of SB/OW.

The lone third-place finisher and final state-qualifying competitor for G/M was Carson Koss, who fell in his quarterfinal matchup 7-2 before earning his way back to the podium in wrestle-backs. Koss pinned Nolan Johnson of Luck/Frederic/Grantsburg/Siren in the consolation semifinal, before pinning Carter Schulz of Rice Lake in the third place match. He fell by no contest to his quarterfinal opponent in the second place match.

G/M also had two wrestlers narrowly miss the cut in Bryce Blaken (145) and Jaden Anderson (160).

Blaken won 6-0 over Tjay Ziebaerth of Northwestern in the quarterfinal, fell 8-2 in the semifinal, won by pin over Joseph McDermond of SB/OW and fell 14-0 in the decisive third-place match.

Anderson won by pin over Mitch Harmon of Bloomer/Colfax, lost his semifinal by pin, won his consolation semifinal by pin over Willy Bearskin of Ashland and fell in a 14-13 marathon in the third place match. 

Daniel Slattery of G/M also wrestled at 152, but lost his only match.