Bulldog wrestling trio wins regional championships, six advance

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CADOTT — Although Boyceville’s three-year reign as regional wrestling champions came to an end here last Saturday, the day was still filled with success on the individual level.

Three Bulldogs won championships at the WIAA Division 3 Regional Wrestling tournament held at Cadott High School February 12. Boyceville also had a trio of second-place finishes as it will send a half dozen competitors to this Saturday’s individual sectional meet in St. Croix Falls.

“We had a good day,” stated Boyceville head coach Jamie Olson who is in his 22nd year. “I was happy with our effort, and toughness. We had some guys wrestling with some injuries and they stepped up.”

Seniors Ira Bialzik and Tyler Dormanen added to their collection of regional gold while junior Sebastian “Bash” Nielson celebrated his first-ever regional championship and sectional berth.

Bialzik laid claim to his fourth and final regional crown when he won the 160-pound championship in Cadott Saturday while Dormanen’s win at 170 pounds gave him  a third straight first-place finish in regional competitions.

“Our three champions have been wrestling great,” said Olson. “I’m very excited about next weekend with these three.”

Those gold-medal victories coupled with second-place finishes, which include sectional berths, by sophomore Noah Evenson (106) and seniors John Klefstad (220) and Keegan Plemon (285), along with a third from freshman Jack Gruenhagen (182),  a pair of fourth-place showings by sophomore Wyatt Sell (113) and freshman Jake Bialzik (132) and a trio of fifths from freshman Ryker Benitz (120), senior Kyle Lipke (145) and junior Brayan Vasquez (152) helped the Bulldogs take third in the seven-team regional meet with 192.5 points.

Host Cadott, who was ranked fifth in the most recent online state poll, dominated the competition. The Hornets finished with six champions, four runners-up and 271 points to win the regional championship and team sectional berth by 54 points overall second-place Glenwood City who had five sectional qualifiers and 217 points. Following Boyceville were Stanley-Boyd with 91 points and three sectional qualifiers, Spring Valley/Elmwood tallied 76 points and will send one to St. Croix Falls, Thorp/Owen-Withee scored 72 and had a pair move on and Cornell/Gilman/Lake Holcombe finished with 42 points and will have a single sectional wrestlers.

Ira Bialzik was the first Bulldog to win regional gold last Saturday in Cadott. The senior’s journey to a fourth and final regional crown began with a bye in the 4-man, 160-pound bracket. In the semifinal, Bialzik, who is listed as a state honorable mention, was paired with sophomore Joel Anderson of Spring Valley/Elmwood. Bialzik made quick work of Anderson, winning by pin in 1:24.

Awaiting Bialzik in the championship bout was tenth-ranked and top seed Cole Pfeiffer, a junior from Cadott. It was a close battle throughout but Bialzik took an early lead and held on to it for a 12-10 win as he improved to 20-6 on the year.

“Ira beat a very good kid to win his fourth regional title,” said Olson.

Not to be outdone, teammate and classmate Tyler Dormanen, who finished third in last year’s state tournament at 160 pounds, showed why he is the top-ranked wrestler in this year’s Division 3, 170-pound class. Dormanen stormed through the competition  with a 3-0 record registering a pair of first-period pins en route to the championship and 40-4 season mark. After a first-round bye, Dormanen polished off his semifinal opponent, Brody Bleskacek of Spring Valley/Elmwood,  with a 52 second pin. In the finals, Dormanen need just 1:02 to pin Cadott sophomore Caden Kingston to the mat and claim his third regional title.

Junior Bash Nielson was also mighty impressive in earning his first regional title along with a sectional berth at 195 pounds. A top seed like Dormanen, Nielson received a quarterfinal bye before beginning his wrestling in the semifinals where he took on Glenwood City senior Carter Clemens. Ranked eighth in state, Nielson scored a 1:47 pin over Clemens to gain a berth in the title match against yet another Hornet wrestlers, junior Levi Lindsay. As it turned out, the battle for gold was not much of one at all as Nielson put Lindsay on his back in a mere 38 seconds to take the title.

The Bulldogs had three other opportunities to earn first-place finishes but ended up settling for silver.

Sophomore Noah Evenson earned his second consecutive sectional berth at 106 pounds with a runner-up finish. In the three-wrestler bracket, Evenson nipped Kaleb Lodahl of Cadott 10-9 in the semifinal to earn a championship showdown with Glenwood City’s Wyatt Unser. The Topper freshman, who sports a 29-4 record and a state ranking of number four, had pinned Evenson during the teams’ dual a few weeks earlier. Unfortunately, Unser would repeat that feat putting Evenson on the mat in 1:13 to take the regional gold medal.

“I was happy with Noah’s tough battle and exciting win against a very good Cadott wrestler,” noted  Coach Olson.

Seniors John Klefstad and Keegan Plemon made the finals in the heaviest two weight classes but had to settle for second. And both had to defend their silver medals in wrestlebacks.

Competing at 220 pounds, Klefstad received a bye before moving on to the semifinals to take on Spring Valley/Elmwood junior Trace Anderson. Klefstad recorded one of the tournament’s quickest pins, needing just 24 seconds to earn the fall over Anderson. With the win, Klefstad earned a spot in the first-place match opposite the state’s top-rated, 220-pound Division 3 wrestler – Cadott senior Gavin Tegels. But instead of risking further injury to an already ailing ankle, Klefstad and his coaches opted to give Tegels the forfeit victory. That meant the Bulldog wrestler would have to win a wrestleback to retain his second-place finish. It took a well-rested Klefstad all of 44 seconds to do just that when he stuck Wyatt Wulff, a Thorp/Owen-Withee sophomore.

Fellow senior Keegan Plemon would take a similar route to earn his second straight regional silver medal at 285 pounds. The top seed, Plemon drew Glenwood senior Marcis DeSmith in the semifinals as both wrestlers enjoyed byes in the first round. Plemon pinned DeSmith for the second time in as many weeks to earn a shot at the championship. The Bulldog heavyweight, who is ranked 11th in the state, took on junior Nathan Zarins of Thorp/Owen-Withee in the first-place match. Zarins was able to score a takedown and an escape to win 3-0. Plemon then had to take on Cadott junior Kane Mengel in a wrestleback for second. Plemon earned a 4-0 shutout to keep his second-place finish and sectional berth.

“John and Keegan won very important wrestleback matches and those aren’t always easy coming off a loss,” Olson said.

Freshman Jack Gruenhagen went 2-2 at 182 pounds but just missed a sectional berth as he finished third. Gruenhagen lost on a second-period fall to the Hilltoppers’ Noah Brite in the semifinals. He then scored a 3:08 pin over Keegan Merth of Spring Valley/Elmwood in the third-place match but was unable to garner a wrestleback when Brite was pinned by Cadott’s Dawson Webster in the championship match.

“I thought Jack Gruenhagen wrestled a nice tournament,” Olson commented. “I would like to of had the semifinal match back, but I’m happy with where Jack ended up and his improvement as the year went on. He has a great work ethic and I can’t wait to see how big and strong he is going to be next year.”

Sophomore Wyatt Sell and freshman Jake Bialzik copped fourth-place finishes at 113 and 132 pounds, respectively. Both won quarterfinal matches, Sell scored a 21-4 technical fall against Lukas Simenson of Cadott while Bialzik pinned Spring Valley/Elmwood’s Aiden O’Meara in 1:14. That momentum, however, was short lived as they each lost their next two matches.

Sell was pinned in the semifinals by state runner-up Ian Radintz of Glenwood City and again in the third-place match by Dale Sayles of Stanley-Boyd. Both falls came in less than 40 seconds.

Jake Bialzik also lost on a pair of pins, falling to eventually champion Gabe Knops of Glenwood City in the semifinals and to Cadott’s Nick Fasbender for third place.

After losing their quarterfinal matches, senior Kyle Lipke (152), junior Brayan Vasquez (152) and freshman Ryker Benitz (120) received a pair of byes to finish fifth at their respective weight classes.

“I will miss coaching Kyle Lipke,” said Olson. “He wrestled all year with a bad shoulder and couldn’t do a lot with it but just kept showing up and competing. What a great kid!”

Olson also had praise for the other place finishers as well.

“I thought Brayan, Ryker, Jake and Wyatt all did a nice job,” added Olson. “Those guys all turned into tough wrestlers at the end of the season. They worked extremely hard and I appreciate them staying dedicated even though they weren’t winning many matches. Their improvements showed today.”

Boyceville’s sectional qualifiers will be vying for medals and state berths in this coming Saturday’s WIAA Division 3 Individual Sectional at St. Croix Falls. The top three place winners at each weight class will advance to the state championship which will return to the Kohl Center in Madison February 24-26.