Ozaukee qualifies six, C-G-Belgium four in bids for Div. 3 state honors

What Ozaukee and Cedar Grove-Belgium’s wrestling teams lacked in depth this season they made up for with quality.

That quality shined in a WIAA Division 3 individual sectional tournament at Random Lake last Saturday, when Ozaukee qualified six of its seven wrestlers to this week’s state meet in Madison, and the Rockets advanced all four of theirs.

The top three finishers in each weight class earned state berths.

Ozaukee was led by junior Brady Watry, who won the 125-pound title. Among the Warriors’ other state qualifiers, senior Pat Leonard (140), junior Vince Cardarelle (152) and freshman Ethan Brouillette (119) placed second, and freshman Ian Hughes (103) and senior Scott Watry (145) finished third.

Cedar Grove-Belgium was paced by  championships from senior Wayne Paulus (215) and junior Tyler Garcia (160). The Rockets also got second-place finishes from sophomores Zach Schulz (112) and Matt Mueller (285).

Ozaukee co-coach Luke Gundrum said this year’s team stands apart from many others he has worked with.

“It’s a unique group. I have not coached a team like this before,” Gundrum said.

“They get along really well. They have fun, but everybody has a lot invested in wrestling. They want to succeed and work.”

That determination, Gundrum said, is the biggest reason Ozaukee is sending six wrestlers to Madison, the Warriors’ largest contingent since 2003.

Brady Watry, who improved his season record to 35-11, secured his state trip by winning all of his sectional matches. In the title match, he pinned Jared Francois of Kenosha St. Joseph in 1 minute, 19 seconds.

Cedar Grove-Belgium’s Paulus and Garcia were equally impressive in advancing to the state tournament for the second straight year. Paulus lost his first match at state last season, while Garcia placed third.

At the sectional meet, Paulus (16-1) won twice by pin before edging longtime rival Mason Anklam of Random Lake, 4-2, in double overtime to win the title match.

Garcia (29-2) stormed through his weight class, winning twice on pins and then defeating Horicon’s Mike Butterbrodt, 9-3, in the first-place final.

Leonard is the only Ozaukee wrestler making a return trip to state. He improved to 34-9 by winning three of four matches.

After losing by decision in the semifinals, Leonard won three times, including a 1:10 pin of St. Joseph’s Spencer Lemens in a second-place wrestleback match.

Cardarelle (39-7) advanced to the first-place match with a pair of wins. He lost to Oostburg’s Lucas Copp, 3-0, but rebounded to pinned Johnson Creek’s Nick Bruley in 38 seconds in the second-place match.

Brouillette (29-15) reached the first-place match by winning twice by pin. In the final, he lost to Random Lake’s undefeated Justin Mudlaff by technical fall, 17-2.

Hughes (39-11) had a busy day, winning three of five matches. He defeated Lomira’s Tyler Scharschmidt, 6-0, in the third-place final before losing to Random Lake’s Mark Meyer, 4-2, in a second-place wrestleback.

Scott Watry (36-11) lost in the first round before winning twice, including a  9-5 victory over Oostburg’s Lance Hacker in the third-place final.

Ozaukee’s other sectional qualifier was Logan Smith (112), who was eliminated by a first-round loss.

Cedar Grove-Belgium’s Schulz and Mueller both won their first two matches.

Schulz (32-8) then lost to Oshkosh Lourdes’ Dylan Loos, 9-3, in the title match.

Mueller (29-12) was pinned in the first-place final by Oostburg’s Sam VanTatenhove but bounced back to defeat Heritage Christian’s Dylan Lange, 5-2, in a wrestleback.  

Regardless, the Kohl Center is by far the biggest venue these students will wrestle in.

Rockets coach Trevor Peterson was pleased with all four of his wrestlers.

“Zach Schulz wrestled very well in his semifinal match. He really wanted a taste of the state tournament, and it showed in that match,” Peterson said.

Mueller gives up “60 to 70 pounds to some of these guys,” Peterson added. “He’s wrestling really well.”

The sectional team scores looked like a Central Lakeshore Conference contest. Random Lake topped the field with 93.5 points, followed by Ozaukee (82) and Oostburg (76). Cedar Grove-Belgium tied Oshkosh Lourdes for fourth place with 60
points each.

“Our conference really dominated the whole sectional,” Gundrum said.

Paulus beat Anklam for the third time this year. The two have wrestled the past two seasons, as well.

“We know each other’s moves so well,” Paulus said.

This time, strategy came into play, and Paulus and Peterson had it covered. In the first period, the two battled for position and nobody scored.

In the second period, Paulus chose to be down on the mat and scored a reversal for two points. In the third period, Anklam got a reversal for a 2-2 tie to force overtime.

Nobody scored in the one-minute overtime, a sudden-death format in which wrestlers start in neutral positions. Nobody scored in two 30-second periods in which wrestlers trade who starts on top.

Since Paulus scored first in the match, he had the choice of being up or down in the next 30-second period. He chose down and scored a reversal in about 15 seconds.

“We actually talked about that with my coaches,” Paulus said. “I like to wrestle on the mat a little more.”

The Division 3 state individual tournament at the Kohl Center will begin with preliminary matches at 7:15 p.m. Thursday and continue through Saturday.

First-round pairings follow:

103 — Hughes (Ozaukee) vs. Glenwood City’s Riley Knops (33-8).

112 — Schulz (Cedar Grove-Belgium) vs. Mineral Point’s Cody Bertram (40-4).

119 — Brouillette (Ozaukee) vs. Edgar’s Jake Frane (23-11).

125 — Brady Watry (Ozaukee) received a first-round bye. He will face the winner of a match between Weston/Ithaca’s Nate Duren (30-4) and Brillion‘s Jackson Brice (28-10) at 11:15 a.m. Friday.

140 — Leonard (Ozaukee) vs. Cadott’s Cory Matott (26-11).

145 — Scott Watry (Ozaukee) vs. Cashton’s Dominic Flock (35-8).

152 — Cardarelle (Ozaukee) vs. Reedsville’s Alex Spatchek (32-6).

160 — Garcia (Cedar Grove-Belgium) received a first-round bye. He will face the winner of a match between New Lisbon’s Cobretti Forsythe (15-3) and Manawa’s Tyler Williams (42-7) at 11:15 a.m. Friday.

215 — Paulus (Cedar Grove-Belgium) received a first-round bye. He will face the winner of a match between Iowa-Grant’s Bryant Edge (32-6) and Lena’s Mike Rozier (32-10) at 11:15 a.m. Friday.

285 — Mueller (Cedar Grove-Belgium) vs. De Soto’s Frank Ames (31-5). 

Port’s Dieringer, Meins secure sectional titles in advancing to Div. 1 finale

Members of the Port Washington wrestling team saw their number of potential state qualifiers quickly fade at last Saturday’s Sheboygan North Sectional.

But in the end, the Pirates still have their top two individuals vying for honors at this week’s WIAA Division 1 state individual tournament in Madison.

Juniors Alex Dieringer (140 pounds) and Justin Meins (125) will represent Port on the mats at the Kohl Center after winning sectional championships.

“We got two guys through, and we were hoping for more, but it was a tough meet,” said Port coach Angelo LaRosa, whose squad had advanced 11 wrestlers out of the regional level.

“Alex and Justin are certainly deserving. They both really dominated their weight classes.”

Dieringer, who improved his season record to 41-1, continued to wrestle like a man on a mission. He won his first two matches by pin, including a 2-minute, 32-second fall over Slinger’s Mitch Kramoris in the semifinals.

In the final, Dieringer scored an 8-0 decision over Oshkosh West’s Jeremy Schumann, who entered the match with a 43-1 record.

Dieringer, who won the Division 1 state title at 103 pounds as a sophomore and finished second at 125 pounds in Division 2 last year, will be a strong favorite to take top honors this year.

He will take a 124-4 career record into  his first match at 3 p.m. Thursday, when he faces Hortonville’s Kegan Gennrich (36-6).

“Alex is determined to come home with a championship,” LaRosa said. “He’s going to be very focused.” 

Meins (38-6) had a tougher time but showed his mettle with three impressive wins, including a 7-3 decision over Oshkosh West’s Cameron Kleven in the title match.

In the semifinals, Meins defeated Oshkosh North’s Cory Kalbus, 17-9.

Meins, who is making his first trip to Madison, will face Middleton’s Nate Misenheimer (38-11) in a first-round state match at 3 p.m. Thursday.

The title favorite in Meins’ weight class is Germantown’s Jesse Thielke (43-1).

At the Division 1 level, only the top two finishers in each sectional weight class qualify for state. Two other Port wrestlers — senior Ryan Wischer (152) and junior Trevor Schumacher (145) — had near-misses.

Wischer, who posted a 2-1 sectional record, opened with a 15-4 win over West Bend East’s P.J. Dupor but was edged, 2-1, by Neenah’s Sam McGinnis in the semifinals.

Wischer then defeated Beaver Dam’s Justin Adams, 12-5, in the third-place match to keep his wrestleback hopes for runner-up honors alive. However, McGinnis lost in the first-place final, and his win over Wischer ended the Port wrestler’s last
chance to advance.

Schumacher finished fourth. He opened with a 9-7 overtime win over Slinger’s Owen Ciriacks but lost to Kaukauna’s Brandon Van Schyndel, 7-6, in the semifinals and was pinned by Cedarburg’s Cody Sigler in 3:30 in the third-place match.

“We were hoping to get Wischer and Schumacher through,” LaRosa said. “They had a chance, but there were some really tough wrestlers in their weight classes.”

Each of Port’s other sectional qualifiers were eliminated by first-round losses. They included Jermaine Will (103), Eli Rosado (119), Nate Schnell (130), Jake Maechtle (130), Josh Meins (160), Nate Hilton (215) and Tyler Griswald (285).

Maechtle lost by injury default when he sustained a concussion, La Rosa said.

Among the 16 teams in the Sheboygan North Sectional, Port finished fourth with 54 points.

Kaukauna topped the field with 144 points, and Neenah was second with 95.5.

Season ends for Grafton wrestlers

Alex Studelska’s fourth-place finish led a trio of Grafton wrestlers who saw their seasons end in a WIAA Division 2 individual sectional at Milwaukee Lutheran last Saturday.

Studelska, a senior, won his first match by pinning East Troy’s Adam Kehl in 54 seconds but was pinned by New Holstein’s Spencer Peterson in 4:58 in the semifinals.

Studelska then pinned Bryce Wenzel of Winneconne in 1:02 of a consolation semifinal to advance to the third-place final. A win there would have advanced Studelska to state as one of the top three finishers in his weight class, but he was pinned
by Campbellsport’s Payden Salm in 3:53.

Studelska finished the season 18-14.

Grafton’s other two sectional qualifiers — Michael Van Langen (112) and Cody Bobholz (140) — were both eliminated by first-round losses.