Harmon and Olson take fifth at Ladysmith

By Cara L. Dempski

The Bloomer/Colfax cooperative wrestling team has seen plenty of action lately on Saturdays.

On January 7, the team traveled to Osseo-Fairchild High School for the Osseo Duals. The Blackhawks won four of five duals. Colfax wrestlers Tommy Anderson, Mitchel Harmon and Cole Olson participated in matches at Osseo.

Then this past Saturday, Anderson, Harmon and Olson traveled to the Ladysmith invitational with the team on January 14. The Blackhawks took 21st place out of 23 teams with its 92 points. 

The team will wrestle January 17 at Barron and then will host Superior at Bloomer High School on January 20. The team is scheduled to go to Cumberland on January 26.

Ladysmith Invitational

Harmon, Anderson and Olson contributed a total of 75 points to the Blackhawks’ team final of 92 at the Ladysmith Invitational. Harmon and Olson both placed fifth in their respective classes, while Anderson was 13th.

Harmon, a freshman, won the first championship round at 138 pounds with an injury default over Cameron’s Zach Huffman. He was taken down in the quarterfinal by Klay Ellenbecker from Athens with a fall, but bested the host school’s Nic Pearson with a decision in the second consolation round. Harmon bested Prescott’s Cody Atherton in the fifth-place match with a fall at 4:10. His finish earned 33 points for the team.

Tommy Anderson wrestled at 170 pounds again, after starting his season at 182. He bested Adilet Sydykov from Black River Falls with a fall in the preliminary round before falling to Barron’s Derek Wohlk in the opening championship round. Anderson took on Brock Halopka from Abbotsford/Colby in the first consolation round and was pinned at 1:49. He then pinned Elcho’s Daniel Brownell in the second round and won the 13th-place match with a fall over Ben Frey of Shell Lake. Anderson picked up 12 team points.

Olson continued his success at 195 pounds by earning 30 points for the Blackhawks. He won his first championship round on a bye, but then was pinned by Flambeau’s Krishon Williams at 5:48 in the quarterfinal. He took on Cameron Comet Curtis Gifford and pinned him at 1:37 in consolation round 2 for a chance at the fifth-place match. Olson then won his final match with a major decision over Robbie Renken from Chequamegon.

The first place team at the tournament was Athens with 452 points. 

Osseo Duals

Last week’s article indicated only three Colfax wrestlers attended the January 7 Osseo Duals, but did not provide full results. Olson, Anderson and Harmon all had successful matches at the duals. 

Olson, a senior, won four of his five matches at 195 pounds. He got pins on Arcadia’s Ty Schlesser and LaCrosse Logan’s Austin McMahon. Olson won on forfeits against Mondovi and Independence/Gilmanton. 

His one loss for the day came at the hands of Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/Fall Creek’s Jeffrey Breaker, who took three points on an 8-7 decision.

Tommy Anderson won two of his five matches, besting Independence/Gilmanton’s Miranda Stegerwald with a pin at 170 pounds. His other win came on a forfeit from Arcadia. Anderson lost to Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/Fall Creek grappler Jesse Zamora on a fall at 1:43, was beaten by Bryce Johnson of Mondovi with another fall, and lost a 3-2 decision to Nick Mihalovic from LaCrosse Logan.

Freshman Mitchel Harmon wrestled at 145 pounds and picked up four wins out of five matchups. Harmon earned two falls to best Noah Schank from Arcadia and Osseo-Fairchild/August/Fall Creek’s Davis Wilson. He earned six points for a forfeit against Mondovi, and three points for 10-5 decision over Christian Kapanke from LaCross Logan. 

His only loss was from Indee Zach Taylor, who pinned Harmon at the :53 mark.

As a team, the Blackhawks won four of its five duals beating Arcadia 48-26, host Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/Fall Creek 41-33, Mondovi 42-36 and Independence/Gilmanton 53-18. Bloomer/Colfax’s lone loss was a 45-31 setback to LaCrosse Logan.