A pfantastic pfinish:

Ellis Pfleger said he understood what happened after the medal ceremony that crowned him the second wrestling champion in Grafton High School history.

His coach Mike Dodge said he hadn’t grasped the gravity of the situation yet.

“My phone’s blowing up right now,” Pfleger said with a laugh. “It’s at 1% (battery).”

That’s where Pfleger is going to rank in his program for years to come after winning the 160-pound Division 2 championship Saturday night at the Kohl Center in Madison. Pfleger is the winningest wrestler in Grafton history with 152 victories and is its only four-time state qualifier.

In the title match, Pfleger (47-3) dominated Devin Wasley (44-2) of St. Croix Central in a 21-9 major decision.

Pfleger took a 6-2 lead in the first period and led, 15-8, heading into the third. He scored takedowns and near falls throughout the match.

Pfleger calmly let the official raise his arm in victory after the match, then walked over to the outstretched arms of Dodge and exchanged a hug four years in the making.

“He’s my favorite. He’s awesome. He’s been there for me. He’s done everything he can for me the last four years, and I love him for it,” Pfleger said.

“I don’t think it’s quite hit me yet. Just speechless right now. We knew he was capable. He puts in a lot of work,” Dodge said of his first state champion in 20 years coaching at Grafton. “To see a kid like Ellis work so hard, wrestling almost every day, whether it’s the offseason or regular season, it’s great for him and his family.”

It was redemption for Pfleger, whose highest finish at state was sixth last season. He lost his first matches in his freshman and sophomore years.

“I just needed to prove that I was better than everyone,” Pfleger said.

In the quarterfinal, Pfleger won a 5-0 decision over Patrick Rielle (32-3) of Monroe. A late reversal and near fall sealed the victory.

“I had the nerves going. It was my first match. I feel like I wrestle really soft my first match sometimes,” Pfleger said.

In the semifinal, he beat Traeton Saint (51-5) of Prairie du Chien in a 19-4 technical fall.

The final two matches of Pfleger’s high school career were never in question.

“I got the bad one out of the way and felt great. Going into those two matches I had no nerves going,” he said.

“He just decided to go out there — ‘This is mine, and I want it,’” Dodge said.

Dodge had been apprehensive in singing too many praises of his star throughout the season, even after he broke the school’s all-time wins record, since the two had a bigger goal in mind. On Saturday, that mountain has was climbed and Dodge gushed.

“Just so much hard work. It’s so awesome to see him develop in the last four years,” Dodge said.

“It’s an awesome feeling. It’s awesome for our program to have kids understand that hey, if you work hard and you put your mind to it and you just grind every day, you can do that.”

Pfleger confirmed he had committed himself to his passion. He had been wrestling since first grade.

“I put in the work, man,” he said. “I’m trying to set an example for the young kids.”

Jeremy Fischer in 1997 at 130 pounds in 1997 won the first state title for Grafton. He finished 35-3 and went on to wrestle at Concordia University Wisconsin.

Pfleger plans to wrestle at the University of Missouri.