Colfax grapplers grab two second-place finishes at regionals

By Cara L. Dempski

ELLSWORTH — The Bloomer/Colfax wrestling team was the first to journey into the WIAA state tournament series for winter sports at both schools as it participated in regional competition this past Saturday. 

The Bloomer/Colfax Blackhawks competed in the WIAA Division 2 Regional meet held at Ellsworth High School on February 11.  The Blackhawks placed fourth out of six teams with 141 points, and are sending three wrestlers to individual sectionals at Amery this Saturday, February 18.

Colfax wrestlers Mitchel Harmon and Cole Anderson-Olson earned berths in the WIAA Division 2 Individual Sectional tournament after both wrestlers finished second in their respective weight classes. Bloomer’s Collin Bungartz took first place at 152 pounds to garner the other sectional spot.

The host Panthers, who have won five D2 State titles since 2007 including last year’s championship and are again the top-ranked team in the state’s middle division,  won the regional championship with 336 points to move on to team sectionals which was held at St. Croix Central last evening (February 14). Ellsworth qualified all 14 of its wrestlers for the individual sectional with 11 champs and three runners-up.

For Bloomer/Colfax, Harmon earned a bye in his 132-pound quarterfinal match, but wrestled Baldwin-Woodville’s Carter Newton in semifinals. He pinned Newton at 5:00 to go on to the first-place match. Ellsworth’s Sam Stuhl was next for Harmon, and pinned the Colfax freshman for the win at 3:58. Harmon won the second-place match by rule over Newton to pick up 20 points for the team.

Blackhawk wrestler Tommy Anderson, also from Colfax, again wrestled at 170 pounds. He won his quarterfinal match on a major decision over TshaJ-Luag Lee of Baldwin-Woodville, but then was bested by Ellsworth’s Dalton George in the semifinal. Anderson was pinned by Jesse Zamora from Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/Fall Creek in the third-place match. He took fourth place and earned 10 team points.

Colfax’s Cole Anderson-Olson took second place in the 182-pound division for a second straight year. Following a bye in the quarterfinal, Anderson-Olson won a major decision over Prescott’s Joe Schulte in the semifinal. He lost to Jacob Sigler of Ellsworth after being pinned at 3:58 in the first-place match. He won the second-place match by rule over Joe Schulte.

Ellsworth was scheduled to face Barron at St. Croix Central on February 14, and the winner of that match would face either Osceola or Melrose-Mindoro/Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau in the sectional final at St. Croix Central that same evening. The top sectional team will advance to the state team tournament in Madison on March 4.

In the Amery Sectional quarterfinals, Harmon (23-7) will open against Somerset’s Jared Grahovac (25-14), senior Cole Anderson-Olson will take on fellow senior Dakota Schultz (29-2) of Luck/Frederic/Grantsburg/Siren and senior Collin Bungartz (30-13) will wrestle Logan Johnson (14-11) of Osceola.

The top three wrestlers in each weight class at the individual sectional will earn berths to the state wrestling championships to be held February 23-25 in the Kohl Center at Madison.