Tuttle suffers defeat in prelims

MADISON – Isaac Tuttle did not trail in his state wrestling debut Thursday night at the Kohl Center until he gave up a third-period reversal that not only ended the match but his season.

The Glenwood City junior had just taken a 7-6 lead on a second-period escape against Shiocton senior Zech Riehl in a Division 3 preliminary match at 170 pounds February 21. But Riehl took his first lead of the match just eight seconds into the third period and parlayed it into a pin 34 seconds later to end Tuttle’s participation in the 70th annual WIAA State Wrestling Championships in Madison.

Tuttle, who missed the first half of the season while recovering from a broken hand, was the aggressor through much of the first four minutes of the contest. He scored the match’s initial points on a nice takedown with 36 second left in the first period.

Riehl was quick to turn a reversal to tie the score but Tuttle responded with a reversal of his own and tacked on a two-point near fall to lead 6-2. But the Shiocton wrestler would return the favor and scored both a reversal and a two-point near fall in the final six second of the opening frame to knot the score at six.

The score remained tied until Tuttle took a one-point lead with an escape at the 2:38 mark.

The match would stay unchanged until Riehl reversed Tuttle’s fortunes in the final frame with the fall at 4:42.

Isaac Tuttle finished his abbreviated junior season with a 14-5 record.