Indees third at home tournament
The Independence/Gilmanton wrestling team took third at the 16-team Indee Invite in Independence on Saturday.
Four I/G wrestlers placed in the top three in their respective weight classes as the team scored 131 points, behind Westby (133.5) and Clear Lake (188.5) and ahead of Pittsville (127). Other area teams also competed in the tournament as the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro Varsity Reserve (GMVR) team finished sixth, Blair-Taylor, seventh and Whitehall, 11th.
Jacobo Medina (285) continued his strong season with a championship at the home tournament. The wrestler, who now has a 36-2 record on the season, had two byes before pinning Ethan Wagner of Cleark Lake and Ethan Brunner of Durand — both in less than a minute — to claim the individual title.
Drew Bragger (220) and Gavin Bragger (170) both finished second in their weight classes. Drew Bragger’s tournament began with a bye before he picked up two pins. He lost 3-1 to Brad Neve of Pittsville in the championship. Gavin Bragger’s tournament was similar as he opened with a bye before registering two pins. He lost to Ben Petersen of the GMVR team, 16-2, in the championship.
Owen Gierok (126) placed third for the Indees. After a bye and a win, the I/G freshman was pinned by Dryden Luther of Pittsville in the semifinal round. He responded with two wins to take third in the tournament.
Gracie Rombalski (106), Sam Marsolek (138) and Anderson Barcenas (285) all placed sixth for the Indees. Rombalski had a bye and won one match, while Marsolek and Barcenas both went 2-3 on the day.
The GMVR team included several wrestlers who have competed for the G/M varsity squad this season. Peterson (170) claimed the title with his 16-2 win over I/G’s Gavin Bragger, he also registered a pin and an 8-3 win on the day. He has a 32-4 record on the season.
Jayce Stetzer (120) finished second winning his first three matches before being pinned in the championship. Koda Purney (113) and Gunnar Kremer (120) both took third, both went 4-1 with their losses coming in the semifinal round.
Scott Johnson (132) went 3-2 on the day to take fourth, Max Knapmiller (182) also went 3-2 and was fifth while Jerron Hansen (145) won two of five matches to place sixth.
Blair-Taylor’s Jackson Shramek (182) added four wins to win his weight class and improve to 36-2 on the season. After a bye, Shramek picked up two first-period pins then topped Whitehall’s Eric Kleinhans 14-5 in the championship.
Bryan Rogstad (195) also went undefeated in the tournament, opening with a bye before two wins and a 7-4 win over Ty Nottestad of Westby.
Ryan Flynn (138) and Gunar Koxlien (152) both took third with 4-1 records. Flynn’s loss came in the quarterfinal round and Koxlien fell in the semifinal.
Ben Lien (160) finished fifth as he went 3-2 on the day.
Kleinhans was the highest-placing Whitehall wrestlers as he took second. He pinned his first two opponents – both in the first period – before losing to B-T’s Shramek.
Matthew Poulos (145) went 3-2 on the day as he placed fourth. Both Nolan Thompson (113) and Andy Flores (120) were sixth in the tournament.
All three Dairyland Conference teams and GMVR will compete in a Dairyland Conference dual at Cochrane-Fountain City on Thursday.
