Wrestling: G/M fourth, AHS seventh at Raider Challenge
The Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro wrestling team finished fourth, while Arcadia was seventh at the Raider Challenge in Arcadia on Saturday.
The tournament featured several powerhouse teams including champion Cadott with 464 points, while Aquinas took second with 450 and St. Croix Central was third with 446.5. G/M scored 417 points for fourth, Arcadia finished with 241.5 to take seventh and Independence/Gilmanton had 181 points for 11th.
Tanner Andersen (138) took first for G/M while Jackson Blaken (126) and Bradyn Lockington (220) were both second.
Andersen didn’t have a close match as he scored two pins then advanced to the championship with an 11-2 win. He won the title by beating Kaleb Sonnentag 12-0 in the championship match.
Blaken and Lockington both won their first four matches.
Blaken had four pins, three of which came in the first period before he lost to Brayden Sonnentag of Cadott 15-0 in the championship match. Sonnentag had a 30-1 record on the season.
Lockington had three pins before an injury default win over Arcadia’s Jack Ziegeweid in the semifinal round. He then lost to Gavin Tegels of Cadott 5-0. Tegels has a 33-1 record on the season.
Justice Vaaler (195), Carson Koss (145) and Tyden Jones (106) all took third for G/M. Brooks Johnson (120) was fourth.
The next-highest finisher for G/M was Ben Peterson (160) who took seventh while Cisco Jimenez (285) was eighth, Alex Wieczorek (170), Mitch Berg (182) and A.J. Willette were all ninth and Gunnar Johnson was 10th.
Hunter Fitzpatrick (132) broke through with a first-place finish for Arcadia. Fitzpatrick had two byes and a pin in his first three matches before another pin put him in the championship. It was close, but he scored a 3-1 win over Trevor Paulson of Aquinas to win the championship.
Cruz Patzner (152) took third while Eric Bustos (285) and Ziegeweid (220) were fourth. Miguel Sepulveda (195) took sixth with Ivan Aguilar (120) and Nestor Badillo (126) both finishing seventh, Jose Monroy (132) was eighth and Martin Aguilar took 12th.
Gavin Bragger (195) led the Indees with a second-place finish. He lost to Grant Rydlund of Ladysmith 9-6 in the championship.
While he wasn’t technically a varsity wrestler, Blaine Severson (285), took third for the Indees. The matches he won did not go toward the team’s point total. Mason Gierok (182) and Drew Bragger (220) both finished sixth. Jacobo Medina (285) was seventh, Gabe Pietrek (138) took eighth, Charles Baize (113) and Anderson Barcenas (285) both took 11th, Max Marsolek (145) was 12th and Alex Johnson (126) was 14th.
G/M wrestlers split duals
By Benjamin Pierce
Times Staff
The Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro high school wrestling team split a pair of duals in Kasson-Mantorville last Tuesday.
The Titans beat Decorah thanks to five pins across the weight classes before being beaten by a strong Kasson-Mantorville team.
West Salem/Bangor visited G-E-T High School on Tuesday, and the Titans were scheduled to close the week with an invitational in Independence on Saturday.
G/M 48, Decorah 28
Bradyn Lockington (220), Alex Wieczorek (170), Carson Koss (145), Tanner Andersen (138) and Jackson Blaken (126) each earned six points by pin on Tuesday against Decorah.
Two Titans won by decision, as Justice Vaaler beat Decorah’s Corbyn Palmer in the 195-pound match and Terek Fry topped his opponent 7-2.
K-M 68, G/M 11
Andersen and Koss earned the Titans their only points in the second match of Tuesday’s event.
Ten of the 14 matches ended with a pin for Kasson-Mantorville.
Andersen won by a 15-0 tech fall over Joseph Kennedy, while Koss pinned his opponent in just under two minutes.
Wildcat wrestlers 14th in Sparta
By Benjamin Pierce
Times Staff
Blair-Taylor placed 12th out of 14 teams in a high school wrestling tournament in Sparta last Saturday.
Five wrestlers competed for the Wildcats, all finishing in the top eight for their weight brackets. Blair-Taylor wrestles at Cochrane-Fountain City on Thursday and is scheduled to compete in an invitational at Independence High School on Saturday.
Dylan Elvaker had the best finish for the Wildcats in Sparta, wrestling to a second place finish behind a 3-1 record at 195 pounds.
Jackson Shramek (170) finished fourth at 2-2, and Gunar Koxlien (138) finished sixth with a 3-2 record.
Bryan Rogstad (182) took seventh with a 1-2 day, and Ryan Flynn went 2-3 to place eighth at 145 pounds.
Norse win two at Durand Duals
By Andrew Dannehy
Times Editor
The Whitehall wrestling team went 2-1 at the Durand dual tournament while senior Wylie Dunn reached a career landmark.
The only loss for the Norse came on a tiebreaker as they lost to Durand 43-42. They rebounded with a 39-18 win over Mondovi before beating Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/Fall Creek 36-30.
Individual match results for the duals weren’t reported to the Times, however, Dunn picked up the 100th win of his career during the tournament.
