Boyceville wrestlers secure share of D-SC crown with win over Durand; finish unbeaten in quad
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BULLDOGS’ senior Nate Stuart is shown taking Riley Anderson of Ladysmith to the mat for the fall at 145 pounds during a quad in Durand January 14. Stuart was one of seven Boyceville wrestlers that finished the evening unbeaten. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
DURAND — The title is returning to Boyceville.
After a one-year hiatus, Boyceville can once again call itself the Dunn-St. Croix wrestling champions after defeating Durand handily last Thursday in the opening round of a quadrangular meet hosted by the Panthers.
The 60-21 victory helped the Bulldog grapplers secure at least a share of the 2020-21 conference crown, a title they can claim sole possession of this coming Thursday, January 21, for the third time in four seasons when they compete in the Hudson quad. The quad also includes Mondovi, the only conference squad that Boyceville has not yet wrestled.
That first-round win, however, wasn’t Boyceville’s only one of the evening as it dominated the rest of the competition.
Seven Bulldogs went unbeaten in the competition and another three tallied 2-1 marks to help Boyceville polish off an impressive and perfect night with triumphs over Ladysmith, 48-33, and Bloomer-Colfax, 51-30, to finish 3-0 in the January 14 meet.
“We had a great night of wrestling going 27-7 in the matches,” stated Boyceville’s head coach Jamie Olson.
“This team continues to get better each match out,” he added.
Turning in unblemished performances in Durand was freshman Noah Evenson (106), juniors Ira Bialzik (152), Tyler Dormanen (170), Kyle Lipke (182), and Keegan Plemon, and seniors Nate Stuart (145) and Trett Joles (195). All but Plemon, who was 2-0, finished the quad with 3-0 marks despite empty weights at 132 and 138 pounds.
Stuart, Bialzik and Dormanen each had a pair of pin falls among their victories.
COUNTDOWN TO FALL — Boyceville junior Tyler Dormanen turned Durand’s Ethan Weiss to his back and scored the pin a mere 33 seconds into their match at 170 pounds. Dormanen, who is ranked eighth in the recent state coaches poll, finished last Thursday’s Durand quad with a perfect 3-0 record.
—photo by Shawn DeWitt
Dormanen also turned in what was arguably the best match of the evening when he faced off against Bloomer-Colfax’s Bowen Rothbauer at 170 pounds in the final dual of the evening. Both wrestlers are ranked in the state polls at 160 pounds – Rothbauer at number 2 in Division 2 and Dormanen eighth in Division 3.
Dormanen prevailed 8-5 in a highly competitive match to keep his meet record perfect.
“That was the match of he night,” said Olson of Dormanen’s three-point win over Rothbauer.
Contributing a pair of wins in three bouts were sophomore Emma Gruenhagen (126), and juniors Brice Evenson (120) and John Klefstad (220). All three registered a pin and forfeit among their victories.
Top-ranked and two-time defending state champion Trett Joles remained undefeated on the season. The senior, who has been given several forfeits this season, received two more in Durand. His other win that night was a 54-second pin of Durand’s Connor Voth.
As previously mentioned, Boyceville, still listed as an honorable mention in the state’s Division 3 coaches poll, will participate in a quad at Hudson High School this Thursday to close out the regular season with duals against Mondovi, Eau Claire North and host Hudson. Wrestling will begin at 4:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs, now 6-1 overall and 3-0 in conference, will return to Durand on Saturday, January 30 for the WIAA Division 3 regional tournament.
“I’m happy where we’re at,” concluded Olson. “The next two weeks will be important to stay healthy and continue to have fun while improving each day.”
Pounce on Panthers
Boyceville built an early advantage against host Durand and just kept adding to it in the first of three duals at the Panthers’ lair last Thursday, January 14.
The Bulldogs won ten of the duals 14 matches including six by pins and four others via forfeits to claim the 60-21 victory.
All half dozen of Boyceville’s pin-fall victories came in the first period with credit going to Brice Evenson (120), Emma Gruenhagen (126), Nate Stuart (145), Ira Bialzik (152), Tyler Dormanen (170), and Trett Joles (195).
Dormanen had the fastest pin of the dual with a 33-second fall of the Panthers’ Ethan Weiss but Gruenhagen, Bialzik, and Joles also had sub-one-minute pins of 55, 55, and 54 seconds, respectively.
Keegan Plemon (285), Noah Evenson (106), Peyton Ponath (160) and Kyle Lipke (182) received the forfeits.
Boyceville 60, Durand 21
285-Keegan Plemon (B) received a forfeit; 106-Noah Evenson (B) received a forfeit; 113-Michael Strasser (D) dec. Brady Mast (B), 6-2; 120-Brice Evenson (B) pinned Lance Lange (D), 1:59; 126-Emma Gruenhagen (B) pinned Lexus Carmody (D), :55; 132-Lucas Traun (D) received a forfeit; 138-Dawson Hartung (D) received a forfeit; 145-Nathan Stuart (B) pinned Roy Cooper (D), 1:20; 152-Ira Bialzik (B) pinned Brett Baker (D), :55; 160-Peyton Ponath (B) received a forfeit; 170-Tyler Dormanen (B) pinned Ethan Weiss (D), :33; 182-Kyle Lipke (B) received a forfeit; 195-Trett Joles (B) pinned Connor Voth (D), :54; 220-Ethan Brunner (D) pinned John Klefstad (B), 3:51.
Cut down Lumberjacks
UP IN THE AIR — Boyceville freshman Noah Evenson scored some back points on Bloomer-Colfax’s Ayden Anderson in a 106-pound match during the Durand quad on January 14. Evenson scored the pin to finish the meet with a 3-0 mark. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
The Ladysmith Lumberjacks, a team that has often appeared in the team sectionals throughout the years alongside the Bulldogs, gave Boyceville a solid test when they met up in the middle round of action Thursday in Durand.
After Noah Evenson gave Boyceville a 6-0 lead on a forfeit at 106 pounds, the Lumberjacks won five of the next seven matches to pull ahead 27-18. Another forfeit to Emma Gruenhagen at 126 pounds and a pin by Nate Stuart at 145 account for the locals other 12 points.
But the match began to swing back in the Bulldogs favor at 160 pounds where Ira Bialzik received the team’s third forfeit of the dual.
Boyceville’s Kyle Lipke (182) and Trett Joles (194) also registered forfeit victories while Tyler Dormanen (170) and John Klefstad (220) won by fall to propel the Bulldogs to a 48-33 win.
Boyceville 48, Ladysmith 33
106-Noah Evenson (B) received a forfeit; 113-Marc Zeches (L) dec. Brady Mast (B), 6-0; 120-Clayton Roscoe (L) pinned Brice Evenson (B), 5:47; 126-Emma Gruenhagen (B) received a forfeit; 132-Derick Vollendorf (L) received a forfeit; 138-Zach Kostka received a forfeit; 145-Nathan Stuart (B) pinned Riely Anderson (L), 1:36; 152-Logan Poradish (L) pinned Peyton Ponath (B), 3:15; 160-Ira Bialzik (B) received a forfeit; 170-Tyler Dormanen (B) pinned Matthew Roach (L), 2:40; 182-Kyle Lipke (B) received a forfeit; 195-Trett Joles (B) received a forfeit; 220-John Klefstad (B) pinned Nic Bratina (L), :48; 285-Wade Stanger (L) received a forfeit.
Raptors wrapped up
In their final dual of the quad, the Bulldogs once again found themselves trailing early.
The Bloomer-Colfax Raptors pulled out to a 24-6 lead after just five matches thanks in large part to three forfeits and a first-period pin by Julio Hernandez at 126 pounds.
A forfeit to Nate Stuart at 145 pounds and pin by Ira Bialzik (152) cut the Bulldogs’ deficit to six at 24-18 only to see Bloomer-Colfax secure a pin at 160 to push its lead back to a dozen at 30-18.
But Boyceville went on a run, winning the final six matches to take the dual by a 51-30 score.
That decisive sequence was jumped started by Tyler Dormanen’s 8-5 victory over fellow state-ranked opponent Bowen Rothbauer.
Kyle Lipke followed with a first-period pin at 182 and Joles (195), Klefstad (220), and Plemon (285) each received forfeits before Noach Evenson capped the 51-30 come-from-behind win with a fall at 106 pounds.
Boyceville 51, Bloomer-Colfax 30
113-Brison Tuschl (B-C) received a forfeit; 120-Brice Evenson (B) received a forfeit; 126-Julio Hernandez (B-C) pinned Emma Gruenhagen (B), 1:35; 132-Isaac LaGesse (B-C) received a forfeit; 138-Alex Poirier (B-C) received a forfeit; 145-Nathan Stuart (B) received a forfeit; 152-Ira Bialzik (B) pinned Ethan Rubenzer (B-C), :59; 160-Tytain Clements (B-C) pinned Peyton Ponath (B), :48; 170-Tyler Dormanen (B) dec. Bowen Rothbauer (B-C), 8-5; 182-Kyle Lipke (B) pinned Kaedyn Peterson (B-C), 1:29; 195-Trett Joles (B) received a forfeit; 220-John Klefstad (B) received a forfeit; 285-Keegan Plemon (B) received a forfeit; 106-Noah Evenson (B) pinned Ayden Anderson (B-C), 3:34.