Area wrestlers compete in state meet
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RAPTORS’ wrestler Drew Ryder used this single leg to take his opponent Jacob Allickson of Campbellsport to the mat in Thursday night’s Division 2 preliminary round at 113 pounds. The Bloomer/Colfax sophomore won the match 5-3 but lost his next two matches at the 2024 WIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships in Madison last week. Ryder finished his season with a 37-11 record.
—photo by Shawn DeWitt
MADISON — Three area wrestlers competed in this past weekend’s 2024 WIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships, but were unable to secure medals in the 81st annual event held February 22-24 at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Bloomer/Colfax sophomore Drew Ryder went 1-2 in the Division 2, 113-pound weight class while Chippewa Falls McDonell Catholic/Elk Mound girls McKenzie Simonson, wrestling at 100 pounds, and Isabella Giza, who competed at 165 pounds, also finished their state tournaments with 1-2 records.
The Raptors’ Drew Ryder, seeded sixth in his weight bracket, picked up his lone win of the tournament in Thursday night’s preliminary round on a 5-3 decision over the 11th seed, Campbellsport sophomore Jacob Allickson (30-15), In his Friday morning quarterfinal, Ryder lost 6-1 to Kewaskum junior Brent Krejcarek (22-6), the third seed. Krejcarek went to finish sixth. Later Friday, Ryder dropped a 4-2 decision in the consolation quarterfinals to Wisconsin Dells’ senior NIck Ersland (41-7), who went on to defeat Krejcarek for fifth, and was eliminated from the competition.
Ryder finished the season with a 37-11 record.
In the girls’ state competition, McKenzie Simonson was pinned by eventual 100-pound state champion Ava Gardner (27-1), a junior from Marshfield, in Thursday afternoon’s round of 16. Simonson defeated Holmen freshman Aini Anderson (24-10) 8-4 in a consolation quarterfinal’s bout. Simonson’s state journey, however, came to an end when she was beaten by a slim 2-0 margin by Katherine Cook (45-4), a freshman form Freedom, in the consolation semifinals. Simonson finished her sophomore season with a 21-13 mark.
Freshman Isabella Giza, ranked 11th in the 165-pound weight class, scored an upset with a third-period pin against sixth-seeded Holmen senior Maddie Hall (28-10). Giza lost her next two matches to state medalists via falls to exit the tournament. Sun Prairie East/West senior Sophia Bassino (37-1), who wound up taking third place, stuck Giza just 57 seconds into their quarterfinal’s match. Giza was then pinned 3:50 into her consolation quarterfinal by Shoreland Lutheran junior Amerasian Kayon, who placed sixth. Giza completed her year with a record of 19-5.
MCDONELL/ELK MOUND freshman wrestler Isabella Giza tried to lock up a cradle on Holmen’s Maddie Hall during a 165-pound girls’ match at the WIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships last Thursday, February 22. Giza won the match by fall, but lost her next two matches. —photo by Shawn DeWitt