Titans’ Koss, Johnson earn second-place finishes at state

Colton Koss was the No. 1 overall seed in his weight class who was coming off a third-place finish at state a year ago as a sophomore. Gunnar Johnson was the No. 6 seed in his weight class competing in the final wrestling tournament of his high school career.

Though that duo of Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro wrestlers headed to Madison for this year’s state tournament at different points in their careers and with different sets of expectations, both wound up in the same spot: competing in the final round of matches at the Kohl Center with a state championship hanging in the balance.

Koss and Johnson settled for second-place finishes in the Division 2 120- and 157-pound brackets, respectively at the 2025 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament, which was held from last Thursday to Saturday at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Johnson took the long path to reach the finals since he was not one of the four sectional champions in his weight class who earned a bye into the quarterfinals.

In Thursday’s preliminary round, Johnson scored a pinfall win over Derek Klinkner of Two Rivers just over a minute into their match. He followed that up with a third-period pinfall victory against Baldwin-Woodville’s Taden Holldorf in the quarterfinals later in the evening.

That set the stage for a thrilling semifinal between Johnson and Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol’s Spencer Madsen (the No. 2 seed) Friday night. Johnson found himself trailing 4-3 in the third period and in desperate need of a takedown. After seemingly getting a takedown on Madsen near the edge of the circle and being awarded the three points by one official, the other official working the match came in and waved it off because he had blown his whistle too quickly in ruling Johnson out of bounds.

Despite that setback, Johnson stayed aggressive and nearly had another takedown, but it came outside the circle. The third time proved to be the charm, as he finally got the takedown to seize a 6-4 lead. Though Madsen got back to his feet and earned an escape point, he was unable to get a takedown in the final seconds as Johnson held on for a win in a 6-5 decision.

“I didn’t get that takedown call that I thought I had. It just kind of fueled me and got me mad,” Johnson said. “That’s when I wrestle best, I feel like. I went out there and let it fly.”

In Saturday’s finals, Johnson suffered a 19-2 tech fall loss to Evansville’s Danny Heiser. However, there was certainly no shame in that considering that this past weekend Heiser, along with Kenosha St. Joseph’s Co’Ji Campbell at D3 126 pounds, joined the exclusive club of 31 wrestlers in Wisconsin since 1940 to become four-time state champions.

Titans head coach Pete Peterson noted that Johnson was a JV wrestler as a freshman who almost didn’t come out for his sophomore season. But he stuck with it, made his first state trip as a junior and capped off his career with a spot near the top of the medalist podium.

“You think of his progression from a freshman to a senior, it’s crazy,” Peterson said. “So much growth. And that’s him. He works hard. He goes to the weight room all the time. He’s really committed this last year to being where he’s at.”

As a sectional champion and the top seed in the D2 120-pound bracket, Koss earned a first-round bye and defeated Lodi’s Bryer Caves via a 17-7 major decision in the quarterfinals. It was a similar story in his semifinal match, where Koss picked up a 16-6 major decision win against Whitewater’s Jarvis Porcaro.

The first-place match pitted Koss against Amery’s Lane Andersen, who defeated Koss 1-0 during a tournament in Arcadia back in January. Andersen got the better of Koss again, winning the state title via a 4-0 decision.

Peterson noted that Koss has lost to an Amery wrestler in his last match at state in each of his first three years of high school. Koss said he’ll use this close call as further fuel as he strives to finish atop the podium as a senior in 2026.

“It really wasn’t what I wanted, but I still feel like I performed pretty well,” Koss said. “I was going for first and it didn’t happen, but there’s always next season.”

The Titans’ two other wrestlers competing in Madison were junior Koda Purney at 113 pounds and sophomore Aaron Dunigan at 215 pounds, who each fell a win shy of a podium spot in their state debuts.

On Thursday, Purney earned a 17-2 tech fall win against Delavan-Darien’s Kevin Vaughn in the opening round. In the quarterfinals against Isaiah Holtz of Oconto Falls, Purney held a lead in the third period and had Holtz to the mat with under a minute left. However, Purney attempted to turn him over for a pin and instead opened himself up to a reversal, resulting in Holtz pinning him with 37 seconds left to advance to the semifinals.

Purney shook off that bitter defeat to beat Chetek-Weyerhaeuser/Prairie Farm’s Aaron Olson in a 10-3 decision on Friday morning, only to lose a 12-2 major decision to Coleman’s Bently Nowak in the consolation semifinals later in the day.

Dunigan followed a similar path. He picked up a 10-1 major decision win over Saint Croix Central’s Hayden Buckel in the preliminary round and then dropped a 12-5 decision to Seymour’s Cael Leisgang in the quarterfinals.

Duigan defeated Freedom’s Henry Vander Heiden via an 11-4 decision to start Friday but then was pinned by Darlington/Black Hawk’s Ross Crist in the consolation semifinals.

Klimek gets win in state debut

Independence/Gilmanton sophomore Grant Klimek earned a win in thrilling fashion in his state debut but later fell victim to a heartbreaking defeat to wrap up his stay at the Kohl Center.

In the preliminary round in the D3 138-pound bracket, Klimek went to overtime against Crandon’s Brexden Kane. Klimek quickly got the takedown he needed in OT to pick up the 11-8 sudden victory.

A 15-0 tech fall loss to Glenwood City’s Wyatt Unser in the quarterfinals sent Klimek to the consolation bracket for Friday. In his first match in the wrestlebacks against Marathon’s Levi Krautkramer, Klimek held a 4-3 lead as the final seconds of the third period ticked away. However, Krautkramer got a late takedown to steal away a win via a 6-4 decision and eliminate Klimek.

“It’s going to motivate me not to lose like that ever again, that’s for sure,” Klimek said.