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Wisconsin Top 10 “Sophomores”
Ok were back with the top ten sophomores. Many
wrestlers on this list made a name for themselves while they were
kids and made an even bigger name for themselves last year as
freshmen. Some of these wrestlers were on the schoolboy team that
won the national championship a few years back. It was very hard to
rank the wrestlers in this list because we really only have one year
to judge from. If we update this list in the middle of the season,
you can be assured the list will be altered.
At this moment, we don’t plan on ranking any
freshman, but we would like to list some of the top freshman judging
off of their success at the kids level. If you know of any freshman
that could be worth mentioning, please email us at
wiwresrankingstaff@wiwrestling.com with their credentials.
1. Ben Provisor, Stevens Point
Ben has always been a great wrestler. He may
not have won the state title last year as a freshman, but what he
did this summer assured us that not only is he one of the best in
Wisconsin, but also in the nation. After placing 5th at the state
championships last year, Ben had a very impressive off-season that
included a cadet Greco national championship. For his efforts,
themat.com named him their cadet wrestler of the week. Ben was also
named the most outstanding wrestler of the cadet national
championships.
2. Nick Hagar, Tomahawk
This kid surprised a lot of people last year
and was the only freshman to win a state championship.
3. Steven Monk, Wausau West
Steven had an incredible season last year with
a 47-4 record. What makes that even more amazing is that Wausau
West doesn’t exactly have the easiest schedule, a schedule that
includes the valley conference and the Cheesehead tournament. His
only loss at the state tournament was to the eventual champion Josh
Chappa of Wisconsin Rapids, who he had beaten earlier in the season.
4. Justin Pollack, Tomah
If you were one that followed the rankings last
year, you probably had not of heard of Justin until he made it to
the state tournament. He entered the state tournament with a 25-3
record and left it with a 3 point loss in the championship match.
Placing second as a freshman in division one at 125 pounds is still
quite the accomplishment.
5. Zach Anderson, Ladysmith
You would have to be a beast to make it to
state as a freshman, let alone place at heavyweight, a weight that
is usually dominated by upperclassman. Yeah, some say its because
of a week sectional and because of someone else’s injury that he
even got there, however, after placing third this summer at the
cadet national championships he has shown that his success as a
freshman was no fluke.
6. Kalvin York, Bellville/New Glarus/
Monticello
Like some of the other wrestlers on this list,
Kalvin also had some tremendous success this off-season. After
placing 4th in the state last season, he placed 3rd
in the nation at the freshman folkstyle nationals. He was also one
win shy of earning All-American honors this summer at the cadet
freestyle national championships.
7. Seth Moe, Seymour
If there was a most improved freshman award
last season, there is no doubt that Seth would have gotten that
award. Seth had a 39-17 record last year with most of those
losses coming early in the season. Seth improved dramatically
and took 5th
at the state tournament at 112 pounds.
8. Brett Klopp, Wrightstown
Its no secret that Wrightstown has one of the
toughest schedules in the state. So when a freshman at 130 pounds
has a record of 47-6 and places 5th at state, you know he
is one of the top wrestlers in his age group.
9. Drew Barman, Deforest
Some of us heard of Drew when he was winning
kids state championships, the rest took notice of him when he made
it to state at 189 pounds as a freshman.
10. Ben Best, Wisconsin Rapids
It really would have been nice to have seen
this kid get a shot to make it to the state tournament had his
season not ended due to injury.
Close Considerations
Shawn Perry, Merrill-state qualifier
Casey Pashower, Seymour-6th place
Cameron Drier, Hilbert-state qualifier
Luke Wiegman, Cuba City-4th place
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