Ready?  Let’s wrestle…

Schedule
Round One: 10:00 AM
Round Two (Quarterfinals): 11:15 AM
Round Three (Semifinals): 1:30 PM
Round Four (Finals): 3:30 PM

103

Jase Langkamp of Lancaster, ranked #3 in D2 and seeded #4, displayed his dominance consistently throughout the whole tournament.  In a weight class populated generally by freshman, the slender junior had not only age on his opponents but skill as well.  He began his day with a first period pin over the #5 seed Bryce Moen of Iowa-Grant in the quarterfinals.  Next, he wrestled the #7-ranked senior Cody Sorge of Riverdale in the semis, who he had a tougher time turning.  Although Sorge couldn’t manage to score any points off Langkamp, he successfully stayed off his back for the entire match, resulting in a final score of 6-0. 

In the finals Langkamp defeated the #3-ranked Grant Sutter of Dodgeville 8-1 with aggressive shots which he seemed to clench each time he attempted.  Sutter, however, may have another shot at Langkamp next week at their regional in Lancaster.

Sophomore Sutter’s spot in the championship match came from his second period pin over the #3 seed Tyler Tonkin of Mineral Point and his decision of 7-6 over HM Dylan Shaffer of River Valley.  The entire third period with Shaffer, however, Sutter spent stalling - Shaffer was given two stalling points in a matter of thirty seconds.

In the third place match, Shaffer edged Sorge by a score of 4-2.  Sorge again did not give up any back points, but Shaffer remained on top with control throughout the three periods.

112

The #1-ranked, #2 seed Bobby Wunnicke of Dodgeville started off his day with pins; one against the #9-ranked Jeffrey Crooke of River Valley in the semifinals in a mere :37 seconds.  The finals however, would prove to be a different story.  Zach Elliot of Prairie du Chien, ranked #6 and seeded #4, major decisioned #5 seed Bo Doney of Mineral Point 14-1 in the quarterfinals and pinned #10-ranked, #1 seed P.C. Halverson of Darlington in the semifinals in the first period.  Now he was ready to take on Wunnicke. 

In the first period, it appeared Elliot’s strategy was to let Wunnicke come in for the takedowns, defend them by putting his weight on Wunnicke’s head, and trying to use his position to get around back for the two.  It worked.  Elliot got the first takedown, but Wunnicke escaped before the period ended.  It was Elliot’s choice in the second, and his coach told him to go both up.  Elliot shook his head and chose down.  That choice resulted in Elliot fighting to stay off his back the entire third period, which he did successfully, despite Wunnicke’s repeated attempts for a cradle. The third period was action time again.  The match had run down to the final :30, and Wunnicke had pulled away with a lead of 7-3.  But Elliot wasn’t giving up.  He reversed Wunnicke on the edge of the mat to bring him within two points, and Wunnicke was fighting to stay off of his back.  Time ran out before Elliot could get any back points, but he had come close.  Wunnicke claimed his second conference title.

119

#1-ranked, #2 seed T.J. Wunnicke had little trouble in clenching his second conference championship; he pinned the #4 seed Dustin Amenda in the finals.  My surprise at 119 came from the #2-ranked #3 seed Garrett Kite of Iowa-Grant, who was majored by Scott Liegel in the second round.  The match was stopped a few times for Kite; for blood and for his knee which he wore a brace on.  I think the combination of that and frustration caused him to lose his momentum.  Kite finished with fifth place.

125

The newly-ranked #5 Josh Malott of Darlington tech falled his way to finals where he claimed a pin in the third period over the #2 seed Travis Prohaska of Belmont/Platteville. 

130

The #1-ranked #2 seed Travis Droessler decisioned the #1-ranked #1 seed Curtis Fiedler of Mineral Point in a well-wrestled match with a final score of 4-1.  Droessler’s takedown in the first and reversal in the second secured him the win and his third straight conference championship title.

#9-ranked Alex Stormoen of Prairie du Chien was defeated by Fiedler in the semifinals 11-9.  Stormoen turned Fiedler in the first period, but they were off the mat.  Fiedler came back in the second to turn Stormoen, and Stormoen oddly chose down for the third period after he had been on his back.  Stormoen did get a reversal, but Fiedler ended up with the win. 

In the third place match, Stormoen came from behind and put Joey Phelan of Dodgeville to his back in the last :15 of the third period to give him the win of 14-12.

Spencer Moore of Riverdale, the 130 pounder ranked #3 at 119, lost to Phelan in the quarterfinals 8-1.  It looked like he had trouble keeping Phelan down when on top.  Moore wound up with a 6^th place finish after losing to the #5 seed Sean Olson of Iowa-Grant.

135

Cade Sarbacker of Iowa-Grant, the #1-ranked #1 seed, pinned his way to his first conference championship title.  He defeated The #8-ranked #2 seed Craig McKelvey of Lancaster in the finals with a fall in 1:44.

140

#1-ranked #1 seed Greg Burke of Mineral Point defeated HM James Jordan of River Valley in the semifinals with a tech fall of 17-2, although I have to give credit to Jordan;  he kept wrestling and never once looked like he was ready to give up. 

The semifinal between #4-ranked Grant Miller of Dodgeville and HM Tom Donar of Cuba City/Southwestern, however, played out a little differently.  Donar came into the match extremely aggressive, ignoring the higher seed and ranking of his opponent.  The match saw no score going into the third.  Donar scored the first and only three points of the match with an escape and takedown, putting him into the finals with Burke.

Burke seemed to be the aggressor this time, with Donar almost strictly sticking to the defensive role.  Burke claimed the win and title with a 7-1 decision.

In the third place match, Miller looked more focused as he claimed a major decision over Jordan of 10-0.

145

This weight class had to be the most surprising of the tournament.  Two #4-ranked wrestlers in their respective divisions, Tyler Bollant of Iowa-Grant and Casey Bode of Prairie du Chien, were the anticipated favorites.  Maybe not by everyone, but I’ll admit, by me at least. 

In the semifinal between Bollant and #9-ranked #4 seed Jon Friar of Lancaster, Friar had Bollant on his back right away in the first period.  He ended up pinning him in the third period, in 4:31.  The other 145-pound semifinal was between Bode and HM #6 seed Chris Limmex of River Valley.  Bode pulled ahead for most of the match, but as the third period ended the ref awarded Limmex a stalling point to put the match into overtime.  Limmex clenched the first points with a takedown and made his way into the finals with Friar.

The 145-pound final saw Friar once again dominate; he pinned Limmex in 2:53.  The third place bout between Bollant and Bode was a more even match-up.  Bode usually went in for the shots throughout the match with Bollant either stopping them or turning them into points for himself.  The final score was 6-4, Bollant’s win.

152

#4-ranked #1 seed Danny Sullivan of Mineral Point won a close decision over #7-ranked #3 seed Phil Blasco of Cuba City/Southwestern.  Blasco nailed the first takedown, but Sullivan managed to come out ahead.  I couldn’t help but notice Blasco’s tendency to back away from a tie up and remain standing straight up.  I kept waiting for Sullivan, who stayed low in his stance, to shoot in on him while he did this.  Sullivan wound up with the win by a decision of 7-5.

160

The 160-pound final was between the #2-ranked #1 seed Travis Halverson of Iowa-Grant and the #8-ranked #3 seed Joe Hilby of Cuba City/Southwestern.  Hilby made it to the finals after defeating the #1 seed Tyler Landon of Lancaster with a major decision of 10-1.  Halverson, who looked quicker than Hilby, won the conference championship with a decision of 11-4.

171

The competition was great between the four ranked wrestles at this weight class.  The semifinals saw the match-up of the first two: #4-ranked Jacob Sparrgrove of Boscobel and #6-ranked Jamin Seippel of Lancaster.  Seippel looked to be dominating the first period - he stayed lower and quicker on his feet than Sparrgrove, nailing the first points of the match with a takedown.  In the second period Sparrgrove made up for whatever he was lacking in the first.  Once he got control of Seippel, he used his size to his advantage.  Seippel could do nothing on bottom with all of Sparrgrove’s weight on him.  Sparrgrove, however, seemed unsure of what to do with his control.  He was called for stalling twice, and the second time Seippel got a point.  Sparrgrove ended up with the win of 4-1.

The other two ranked wrestlers met in the second semifinal: #3-ranked Andrew Eastlick of Belmont/Platteville and #3-ranked Jason Campbell of Riverdale.  Campbell, the shorter and stockier of the two, wrestled a fairly even match in aggressiveness and ability with Eastlick.  The final score was 3-1 in Eastlick’s favor.

In the finals Eastlick controlled Sparrgrove throughout the whole match.  The final score was 10-1, with the only point earned by Sparrgrove being an escape.

The third place match between Campbell and Seippel was a little more aggressive - blood time was called on Seippel a couple of times.  At one point Campbell caught Seippel in a very tight hold on the edge of the mat; Campbell dragged him back on and then started earning the back points.  The final score for Campbell was 11-3. 

189

A very physical #1-ranked Rory Edge of Iowa-Grant dominated his weight class, major decisioning #7-ranked A.J. Vogt of Cuba City/Southwestern in the finals 9-1.  Edge also major decisioned #5-ranked Andrew Rognholt of Riverdale in the semifinals 11-1.

215

Unranked Micah Schwantes, the #4 seed of the tournament, first upset the #1 seed Drew Hinderman of Iowa-Grant with a fall in 1:19.  He then plowed on to upset the favorite, #4-ranked Lucas Clayton of Belmont/Platteville in the finals by a fall in 3:59.  Schwantes won big team points for Lancaster with his impressive performance.

275

In the finals match between #2-ranked Cody Soderstrom of Iowa-Grant and #3-ranked Joe Vogt of Cuba City/Southwestern, it all came down to the final period.  No points had been scored in the first two periods, and Soderstrom chose neutral for the third.  Vogt scored the first two points of the match with a takedown, putting Soderstrom right to his back.  But Soderstrom wouldn’t stay there for long.  He turned back over before any back points could be awarded and retaliated with a reversal for two points of his own.  With :40 left, Vogt pulled another reversal to put the score at 4-2.  That would remain the final score, giving Vogt the heavyweight conference title.

Team Results

After the second round, the team scores were announced.

“Lancaster in second with 186.5 points…. and Iowa-Grant in first place with 187 points.”  You could sense the crowd was shocked.  Lancaster was putting up an impressive fight for the SWAL/SWC team conference title.  Both teams pushed four wrestlers into the finals.  Iowa-Grant, however, wound up claiming their first conference team championship, according to the program.  The following were final results of team scores (top five only):

1. Iowa-Grant - 283.5
2. Lancaster - 258.5
3. Mineral Point - 216.5
4. Belmont/Platteville - 205
5. Dodgeville - 183.5