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Colfax wrestlers bow out in state prelims

MADISON – The state wrestling debuts of Colfax students and Bloomer/Colfax team members Cole Olson and Mitchel Harmon were all too brief.

The pair lost in their respective Division 2 preliminary matches at the 2017 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament held Thursday evening at the Kohl Center in Madison and were eliminated from the 74th annual competition.

Freshman Mitchel Harmon was the first to hit the state mats for the Blackhawks, taking on Abraham Sell of Chilton/Hilbert in a 132-pound bout.

Harmon surrendered a takedown and a pair of near falls – one for two and the other a three-pointer – to trail Sell 8-0 after one period.

It did not get better for the Colfax freshman in the second period. Harmon opted to start the middle frame in the neutral position but quickly found himself on the mat, battling to keep his state run alive. Sell finished off the move with a pin at the 3:09 mark to bring an end to Harmon’s first varsity season with a 26-9 record.

Less than an hour after Harmon’s season was in the books, Cole Anderson-Olson saw his prep wrestling career come to an end on the Kohl Center floor following a heartbreaking 8-6 loss at 182 pounds to Whitewater junior Jimmy DuVal (42-7).

Anderson-Olson, who capped his senior season with his first state appearance and a 37-9 record, fell behind early and trailed DuVal 6-0.

But Anderson-Olson battled off his back and got back into the match but could not fully overcome that early deficit and lost by two.

Unfortunately, a loss in the preliminary round in Division 2 and 3 brings an abrupt end to a wrestlers state experience and season, a feeling that both of Colfax grapplers are now coming to grips with.