State qualifiers return for area wrestling teams
Four wrestlers who competed in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Tournament at the conclusion of the last wrestling season will be returning to the mat for area teams this fall.
The Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro wrestling team has been the strongest program in the area for the last decade. Though last year could be considered a bit of a down year for the program because it was the first time the team didn’t win a regional since 2016, the team was still represented in Madison.
Jackson Blaken (126 pounds) and Brayden Lockingon (220) both qualified for the state tournament as sophomores last year. Neither placed, though Blaken won one match and finished the season with a 35-18 record. Lockington lost his first match at the state tournament, but returns after compiling a 29-10 record.
Two wrestlers from the Dairyland Conference return after qualifying for the state tournament last year.
Jackson Shramek (170) went 32-12 for Blair-Taylor a year ago, losing his first match at the state tournament. Gavin Bragger (182) also lost his first match as the state tournament, finishing his junior season with a 33-6 record.
A number of sectional qualifiers will return for area teams.
Two G/M wrestlers who did not qualify for the state tournament, but competed in the sectional are Carson Koss (145) and Ben Peterson (160). Koss went 24-8 and Peterson was 25-10 last year, both will be seniors this season.
The Whitehall wrestling team won its Division Three regional last year. While the only state qualifier from the team graduated, the Norse return three individual sectional qualifiers in Nolan Thompson (106), Marcus Petersen (120) and Matthew Poulos (132). Thompson went 19-11 and Petersen was 12-17, both return for their junior campaigns. Poulos will be a senior after going 21-12 last season.
While Shramek was the only state qualifier, B-T returns four other sectional qualifiers. Three, Gunar Koxlien 9138), Bryan Rogstad (182) and Dylan Elvaker (195) will be seniors, while Ryan Flynn (145) joins Shramek as a junior on the team. Rogstad went 15-19 last year while Flynn was 20-19, Elvaker, 14-9 and Koxlien, 15-15.
Gracie Rombalski (106) and Drew Bragger (220) return for the Indees after qualifying for the sectional last year. Roblaski went 11-7 as a sophomore and Bragger was 22-13 as a freshman.
The only area team that did not have any sectional qualifiers last year is Arcadia. Despite a rich wrestling tradition, the program has struggled in recent years. The Raiders had 10 wrestlers compete in the regional, but the best they could get was a handful of third-place finishes. Hunter Fitzpatrick (132) and Cruz Patzner (152) both return for their senior seasons, Fitzpatrick went 23-10 last year and Patzner was 23-11.
The wrestling season begins locally on Thursday as Arcadia will wrestle at Blair-Taylor, while G/M competes in a quadrangular at Tomah. I/G also competes on Thursday with a dual at Mondovi while Whitehall’s season begins in a tournament at Black River Falls on Saturday.
