Joles earns fourth sectional crown, Dormanen first – both advance to state tournament

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ST. CROIX FALLS — Having a dozen wrestlers competing in the sectional tournament was a singular and proud achievement even for a storied program such as Boyceville’s but one that also presented new challenges for those same participants and their coaches.

“The sectional tournament always provides a mix of emotions, from career-ending losses to exciting wins over highly ranked wrestlers. We had it all Saturday,” said an exhausted and drained Boyceville head coach Jamie Olson following this past weekend’s sectional tournament.

One that held both highs and lows for the 12 Boyceville wrestlers that competed in it.

The 2021 WIAA Division 3 Individual Sectional Wrestling Championship held at St. Croix Falls High School under pandemic policies and precautions last Saturday, February 6 saw decorated Boyceville senior Trett Joles capture the fourth and final sectional crown of his prep career and his talented teammate and upstart, junior Tyler Dormanen, win his first.

But while that pair celebrated gold-medal winning performances and berths to this Saturday’s WIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships in Wausau, ten other Bulldogs were left to lick their wounds and contemplate their seasons’ end.

Which made a difficult day for the coaches even more so.

“As a coach, it was very difficult to keep track of 12 wrestlers in two different gyms,” bemoaned Olson. “It was tough trying to keep up with who was coming up at times, I like to talk to each wrestler before each match, it’s important to prepare them mentally before they go out.  I wasn’t able to do that with some of the boys and I feel bad about that.”

Two-time state participants, senior Nate Stuart and junior Ira Bialzik, who placed fifth and third in their respective weight classes of 138 and 145 pounds, were two of those that saw their season came to abrupt and unexpected finishes as only the top two placewinners in each weight this year, thanks to COVID restrictions, advanced to the state meet instead of the usual three.

Bialzik had an opportunity to rescue his day and season with a wrestle back for second but fell a point short.

It was doubly sobering for Stuart, who not only wrapped up his senior season but an excellent high school mat career that was capped by his 100th wrestling victory last Saturday.

Unfortunately, most of Boyceville’s other sectional participants suffered similar fates.

Much like Bialzik, the Bulldogs’ junior heavyweight Keegan Plemon won his third-place match and was afforded a wrestle back only to end his season on a fall to a defending state runner-up at 285 pounds.

Saturday also marked the season finales for brothers Noah (a freshman) and Brice (a junior) Evenson, who both copped fourth-place finished at 106 and 120 pounds, respectively; freshman 113-pounder Brady Mast, who placed sixth as did sophomore Emma Gruenhagen at 126 and juniors Kyle Lipke and John Klefstad at their respective weights of 170 and 220 pounds; and junior Preston Coombs, who lost both of his matches at 182, did not place.

Boyceville, as a team, finished fourth in the 22-school sectional field ladened with state-ranked teams. The Bulldogs, an honorable mention in the D3 rankings most of the season, tallied 138.5 points. Fifth-ranked Cadott rallied in the final round and wrestle backs to beat host and tenth ranked St. Croix Falls 170 to 161 for the team sectional title and berth in the Division 3 state team tournament, which is set to be held Saturday, February 20 at Wausau West High. Stratford, last year’s team sectional champion and this year’s seventh-ranked D3 team, came in third with 152 points.

In a sectional meet that featured several outstanding individual exhibitions, two of the more impressive ones were turned in by Boyceville’s sectional championship duo.

After winning three straight sectional titles at 182 pounds to go along with a pair of state championships at the same weight, Trett Joles moved up a weight class and simply dominated once more to win the 195-pound championship for his fourth and final sectional gold medal.

Three, first-period pins including two over state-ranked opponents paved the way for yet another triumphant-sectional run for the Boyceville senior, who improved to 16-0 in this pandemic-shortened season.

Joles, a two-sport stand out who will be attending Indiana State this fall on a Division 1 collegiate baseball scholarship, opened his sectional meet on Saturday with a 1:45 fall of Cumberland freshman Ryker Allen.

The two-time defending state titlist then disposed of his strongest competitor – fourth-ranked Raif Smart, a junior from Stratford – via a 1:59 pin fall in the semifinal’s round.

Joles’ quickest work of the day came in the gold-medal match against a familiar foe – fellow senior and Spring Valley/Elmwood grappler Paul Schwebach. Joles pinned Schwebach just 34 seconds into the previous week’s regional title match. This time, Joles would need a tad more than twice that time to deliver the coup de grace, putting Schwebach, a state honorable mention, to his back 1:12 into the bout.

“Trett showed that he is one of the best in the state in any weight class,” said Olson of the senior’s Saturday performance. “He dominated all three opponents, picking up his 100th career pin, fourth sectional championship, and will now go for his third state title.”

As eye-popping as Joles’ accomplishments are, the performance put forth by junior Tyler Dormanen may have been even more impressive, considering he had to beat a pair of state-rated wrestlers including a defending state runner-up to win his gold.

Ranked ninth in the 160-pound state poll, Dormanen was a grappler possessed, with a mission to not only earn his first-ever state berth but a sectional championship as well.

Back-to-back, second-period pins in the his first two matches put Dormanen in the finals and within reach of his goal. The junior opened the tournament with a 2:49 fall of Cumberland sophomore Edward Chafer. He then scored the upset, if one could call it that, of the tournament when he stuck state runner-up Nelson Wahl, a Cadott senior at the 3:04 mark of their semifinal match.

Dormanen then went on to control his final’s match against St. Croix Falls’ senior and state honorable mention Grady Guffisberg, winning on a 6-0 shutout for the gold and state berth.

“Tyler Dormanen continued his great season with a sectional championship in dominant fashion,” said his coach Jamie Olson. “Pinning state runner up Nelson Wahl was the highlight of the day. Tyler’s passion for the sport and all his hard work paid off today.”

Dormanen will enter this Saturday’s WIAA Division 3 Individual State Wrestling Championships at Wausau East High School sporting a 14-2 record.

Juniors Keegan Plemon and Ira Bialzik came close to joining their two teammates in Wausau as both finished third, just one spot out of the running for the automatic state berths at their respective weights.

After back-to-back state trips, Bialzik was left heartbroken after he came up a single point short in his bid to take second place from Cadott’s Tristan Drier in the 145-pound wrestle back and earn a third state berth. The Hornets’ sophomore held off Bialzik’s challenge for a 4-3 win that had a bit of controversy.

“I thought Ira scored a few more points than his opponent did in the wrestle back, but the referee saw it otherwise,” stated Olson.

To get there, Bialzik won a quarterfinal match over Ladysmith’s Marcus Hanson via a first-period pin before dropping an 8-3 decision to sixth-ranked and eventual champion Elijah Lucio of Stratford in the semis. He recovered to score consecutive pins on the consolation side of the bracket including a 3:33 pin over Matt Anderson of Clear Lake for third place.   

285-pound junior Keegan Plemon also lost his late-day wrestle back for second place to defending state heavyweight runner-up Wade Stanger, a senior from Ladysmith, to finish third.

After a dominating 13-2 win against Marathon sophomore Logan Werner in the quarterfinals, Plemon had to wrestle the other heavyweight behemoth, state championship Tanner Gaffey of St. Croix Falls in the semis and fell in 34 seconds on a pin. But like Bialzik, Plemon won his next two matches via falls including his third-place match with rival Trenton McNamara of Glenwood City, who had beaten him the previous week’s regionals tournament.

“Keegan ended his season on top and did the best he could with the two best heavyweights in the state in his bracket,” noted Olson.

Brothers Noah and Brice Olson both finished the day 2-2 and in fourth place at 106 and 120 pounds respectively.

“The Evenson boys both wrestled tough placing fourth,” Olson stated. “These two have improved greatly through the season and gave themselves a shot at a state berth.”

Senior Nate Stuart, who came into the sectional meet ranked tenth, also finished 2-2 and in fifth place at 138 pounds, a heartbreaking finish to a great career that included two trips to state. After an initial win to open Saturday’s action, Stuart had to wrestle Stratford junior and defending state champ Gavin Drexler in the semifinals and lost on a second-period pin. In a consolation final, Stuart was beaten 5-3 by fellow senior Zach Clark and settled for fifth after winning a no contest decision as he had already beaten Cameron’s Cayden Gifford 17-2 in the quarterfinals, his 100th career win.

“Nate Stuart has had a great career,” stated Olson. “It wasn’t what Nate wanted at the end, but I’m proud of what he accomplished in the four years. Nate was very instrumental in our success the last four years.”

Five other Bulldogs also finishing their seasons in St. Croix Falls.

Brady Mast (113), Emma Gruenhagen (126), Kyle Lipke (170) and John Klefstad (220) all went 1-3 at their respective weights to finish in sixth place. The final Boyceville sectional competitor, junior Preston Coombs, lost both of his 182-pound matches.

“Kyle Lipke, Brady Mast and John Klefstad, these three had very little experience coming into the season and they found themselves placing in a sectional tournament,” Olson said. “These guys really solidified our team and were the difference in winning a conference and regional title. All three have great work ethics and are just plain great kids.”

“And how about Emma Gruenhagen!” added Olson. “Very few girls ever in the state have competed in a sectional tournament. She is doing amazing things and is so passionate about the sport and getting better each and every day.”

For Joles and Dormanen, there is one more day left in the season and that will get underway this Saturday at 9 a.m. as both vie for state titles in Wausau.