Whitehall wrestlers fifth at BR Falls invite

Three Whitehall wrestlers finished second as they took fifth out of 15 teams at the Black River Falls Invitational on Saturday.

Wylie Dunn (285), Matthew Poulos (145) and Brock Johnson (113) all finished second as they began their seasons in the tournament, while other Whitehall wrestlers placed.

The Norse have their first dual of the season against the Osseo-Fairchild cooperative team at home on Thursday and will wrestle at Eau Claire North on Saturday. Next Friday, Whitehall will host several area teams for a tournament.

BR Falls Invite

Three Whitehall wrestlers advanced to the championship matches where they fell to finish second.

After a bye in the first round, Dunn pinned Cisco Jimenez of Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro varsity reserve in 31 seconds then topped Javier Moytol-Hernandez of Portage in 1:40. 

The championship match didn’t go the way of the 2020 state qualifier, however, as he was pinned by James Schaefbauer of Nekoosa-Assumption in 2:51. 

Poulos also received a bye in the first round before beating Onalaska’s Kasey Barth 5-2. He advanced to the championship with a pin of Hayden Fry of G/M in 3:17 before being pinned by Preston Buroker of Viroqua in 2:14.

Johnson had to win three matches to get to the championship. He opened the tournament by pinning Landy Sanders of De Soto in 90 seconds before beating Dale Sayles of Stanley-Boyd, 12-7. Another pin, this time over Adam Hentsch of BR Falls in 3:22, put the Whitehall wrestlers in the championship match. He had to settle for second, however, being pinned by Colten Weiler of Auburndale in 24 seconds.

Alex Katzman (138) and Erik Klienhans (182) both finished fourth.

Katzman won his first two matches, both by pins in the first period before losing by pin to Jackson McCormick of BR Falls in the semifinal. He was pined again in the championship.

Kleinhans had a by win the first round then pinned Aaron DiPietro of Viroqua in the quarterfinal. Like Katzman, his tournament ended with two losses by pin.

Brekken Kulig (170) went 3-1 on the day, but settled for fifth. After a bye in the first round, Kulig was defeated by eventual champion Carter Lueck of Stratford, 4-3. Because that loss happened in the quarterfinal round, the best Kulig could do was fifth, which he managed with three pins.

Bryce Johnson, Broc Coburn and Taevyn Saintforth all wrestled, but did not place.

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