Seven first-place finishes in Plymouth challenge pave Grafton boys’ road to state swimming and diving meet

You couldn’t have asked for a much bigger splash than the one made by the Grafton boys’ swimming and diving team last Saturday at Plymouth High School.

Winning seven events and turning in state-qualifying performances at nearly every turn, the Black Hawks churned to their first-ever WIAA sectional team championship in a Division 2 meet.
“I’m ecstatic. It was quite the day,” said Grafton coach Mark Minz, who saw his squad score 378 points and hold off Plymouth, which was second with 338.

“I knew we had a chance to do well, and everything fell into place for us. We had great time drops, and everyone stepped up for us.”

When it was all done, Grafton had 10 individual performances and all three of its relay teams qualify for this week’s state meet.

As he has done throughout his career, senior Al Nennig led the Hawks’ charge by winning two races in impressive fashion. Nennig placed first in the 50-yard freestyle (21.61 seconds) and the 100 backstroke (52.55) and will return to state with the top-seeded times in both events.

In the backstroke, Nennig’s time was more than two seconds faster than runner-up Jan Hansen of Beaver Dam (54.69).

The Hawks also got wins from Kieran Paddock in the 200 individual medley (2:10.44); Brad Kempka in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.33); Tyler Kish in the 500 freestyle (5:22.12); the 200 medley relay of Kish, Nennig, Paddock and Bailey Bodart (1:43.53); and the 200 freestyle relay of Ben Gosselin, Bodart, Kempka and Nennig (1:29.63).