Let’s wrestle at the…

SWAL-SWC Conference Tournament

Participants: Belmont/Platteville, Boscobel, Cuba City/Southwestern, Darlington, Dodgeville, Fennimore, Iowa-Grant, Lancaster, Mineral Point, Prairie du Chien, Richland Center, River Valley, Riverdale

Format: Individual Tournament
Date: Saturday, February 4^th
Location: Mineral Point High School

The combined conference tournament of the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League and Southwest Wisconsin will be hosted by Mineral Point High School this weekend.  The first round will commence at 10:00 AM, followed by two more rounds and the final round beginning at 3:30 PM.

Division II: #7 Lancaster, #10 Dodgeville

Division III: #1 Iowa-Grant, #4 Mineral Point, HM Riverdale

103

The battle for the championship should be seen between Lancaster’s #2-ranked junior, Jase Langkamp, and Dodgeville’s #3-ranked sophomore, Grant Sutter.  A few weeks ago at the Lancaster-Dodgeville dual, Sutter edged Langkamp with a decision of 9-6.  Can Sutter pull a repeat victory or will Langkamp claim revenge?  Either way, the key win will be at Regionals next weekend, where they will face each other yet again.

112

This weight class looks to be the most loaded of the conference tournament.  Headlining the group is Dodgeville’s #1-ranked Bobby Wunnicke, who took the conference title at 103 last year.  Other ranked wrestlers vying for the conference title will be #5 Zach Elliot of Prairie du Chien, #6 Hunter Burghy of Iowa-Grant, #7 Cody Sorge of Riverdale, #8 P.C. Halverson of Darlington, and HM Dylan Shaffer of River Valley.

119

Last year’s state and conference champion, #1-ranked T.J. Wunnicke of Dodgeville will be challenged by, most notably, #2-ranked Garrett Kite of Iowa-Grant and #4-ranked Spencer Moore of Riverdale.  Also ranked at this weight is #10 Jeffrey Crooke of River Valley.

125

With the anticipated absence of HM Darrin Hampton of Iowa-Grant due to injury, the 125-pound weight class will include ranked wrestlers #5 Josh Malott of Darlington, coming off of a 0-1 loss to #1 Curtis Fiedler of Mineral Point, and HM Dan Tisdale of Riverdale, both newly-ranked wrestlers.

130

The championship match at 130 should prove to be a highlight of the tournament - D2’s #1-ranked Travis Droessler of Belmont/Platteville, last year’s conference champ at 125, faces D3’s #1-ranked Curtis Fiedler of Mineral Point.  Other ranked wrestlers in the weight class include #9 Alex Stormoen of Prairie du Chien and #10 Sean Olson of Iowa-Grant.

135

#1 Cade Sarbacker of Iowa-Grant should have little trouble in clenching the championship title here.  The only other ranked participant in this weight class is Lancaster’s #8-ranked Craig McKelvey.

140

Mineral Point’s #1-ranked Greg Burke, who lost to Travis Droessler of Belmont/Platteville in last year’s conference finals 4-3, will be challenged this year by #4 Grant Miller of Dodgeville, #7 Kyle Perrin of Darlington, and HM James Jordon of River Valley.

145

An intense championship match could be seen between Iowa-Grant’s #3-ranked Tyler Bollant and Prairie du Chien’s #4-ranked Casey Bode.  Others competing for the title include HM Tom Donar of Cuba City/Southwestern and HM Chris Limmex of River Valley.

152

Last year’s conference champ at 145, #4 Danny Sullivan of Mineral Point, will attempt a repeat performance, this time at 152 pounds - that is, if he’s back.  The interview that follows with Coach Schmitz of Mineral Point expresses his uncertainty of whether or not Sullivan will be able to wrestle, who is currently out due to injury.  #7 Brandon Welu of Iowa-Grant and newly-ranked #8 Phil Blasco of Cuba City/Southwestern will also be vying for the conference title.

160

Iowa-Grant’s #2-ranked Travis Halverson will be quite tough to stop at this weight class.  Newly-ranked HM Joe Hilby of Cuba City/Southwestern will be among his competitors.

171

The scramble for first should be an intense one; Belmont/Platteville’s #4-ranked Andrew Eastlick has a couple of wins on Lancaster’s #6-ranked Jamin Seippel, although their match at the Belmont/Platteville-Lancaster dual a couple of weeks ago went into overtime before Eastlick claimed the win of 2-0.  Throw the #3-ranked Jason Campbell of Riverdale in the mix, and you’ve got a battle.  Also at this weight class is #10 Andrew Olson of River Valley.

189

Former conference champ, #1 Rory Edge of Iowa-Grant will try to defend his title this weekend from a handful of talented wrestlers.  #3 Jacob Spargrove of Boscobel, #5 Andrew Rognholt of Riverdale, and #6 AJ Vogt (whom Edge pinned in last year’s conference final) will all show up ready to wrestle.

215

Belmont/Platteville’s #4-ranked Lucas Clayton may be the lone ranked wrestler at this weight class this weekend.  Richland Center’s #6-ranked Ryan Schmidt is rumored to be out for the season due to an elbow injury.

275

Iowa-Grant’s #2-ranked heavyweight Cody Soderstrom and Cuba City/Southwestern’s #3-ranked Joe Vogt will both be competing for the title this weekend, as well as #10 Andy Fowler of Lancaster and HM Robbie Goldthorpe of Mineral Point.

Interview with: Scott Schmitz, Mineral Point’s head coach

Looking at the results from last week’s dual against Iowa-Grant, I noticed you were missing a few of your varsity guys.

Yes.

Will that be the case this weekend?

As of right now, it’s still kind of up in the air.  We’re hoping, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Who all are you missing?

We’re going to be missing Danny Sullivan and possibly Carter Stephenson.

How will your strategy change for your next shot at Iowa-Grant at Regionals.  Any plans on how to close that gap or is that classified information?

(Laughs)  No… I think we just gotta go out and wrestle our style.  I thought we wrestled well on Friday night, and hopefully with those other two guys back in the lineup, it will be enough to get it done.  Maybe it will inspire our other guys to wrestle a little harder, and if we can get a little help from other schools, that might make the difference.