Hovde one of two Raptor wrestlers to advance to sectional tournament
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HOVDE ADVANCES TO SECTIONAL — Colfax sophomore Theo Hovde punched his ticket to the sectional wrestling tournament in Amery after finishing third at 120 pounds in the WIAA Division 2 super regional meet held at Neillsville High School this past Saturday, February 11. In the photo above, Hovde (third from the left) stands atop the awards podium after winning the 120-pound championship at the Cloverbelt Conference Tournament held February 4 in Abbotsford. —photo submitted
NEILLSVILLE — Only two Bloomer/Colfax wrestlers were able to extend their seasons another week following the conclusion of last Saturday’s super regional competition at Neillsville High School.
Bloomer senior Ethan Rubenzer finished second at 170 pounds while Colfax sophomore Theo Hovde placed third in the 120-pound weight bracket at the WIAA Division 2 Wrestling Super Regional hosted by Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal Saturday, February 11.
Those finishes earned both grapplers a berth in the WIAA Division 2 Individual Sectional tournament which will be held this Saturday, February 18 at Amery High School where berths to the 2023 state wrestling championships, slated for February 23-25 in Madison, will be up for grabs.
Under the new super regional format which combined two regional competitions from previous years into one, the top four place winners in each weight bracket advance to the individual sectional tournament while the first and second-place teams qualify for the team sectional.
Rubenzer opened last Saturday’s super regional tournament with a first-round bye and pin falls in his quarterfinal and semifinal bouts at 170 pounds. He pinned Somerset’s Matheo Ngbemeneh at the 5:37 mark of their quarterfinal match and then stuck Hayden Buckel of St. Croix Central just 1:31 into the semifinal contest. Rubenzer was the victim of a fall in the championship match where he was pinned by Ellsworth’s Louis Jahnke at 2:37. Rubenzer received a medical forfeit in his wrestleback from Baldwin-Woodville’s Elliott Anderson to finish with the silver medal.
Rubenzer heads into the sectional meet with 47-6 season record.
Going 3-2 on the day, Theo Hovde finished with the bronze medal and a sectional berth at 120 pounds. Following an open-round bye, Hovde scored a 19-5 major decision over his quarterfinal’s opponent, Brayden Kunze of Regis/Altoona. The win moved Hovde into the semifinal round where he was shut out 12-0 by J.D. Minder-Broeckaert of Ellsworth. The Colfax sophomore bounced back to win his third-place match against Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/Fall Creek’s Bryce Armstrong-Baglien with a 9-2 decision. When Minder-Broeckaert lost in the championship match, Hovde was denied a wrestleback opportunity for second place because he had lost to the Ellsworth wrestler in the semis.
Hovde will take a 35-11 record into the sectional meet.
Colfax’s other two varsity competitors – Ayden Anderson and Brison Tuschl – saw their seasons come to an end as both finished 2-2 in the super regional tournament and did not place.
Both of Ayden Anderson’s wins last Saturday came via byes. He lost by pin to Drake Gartmann of Baldwin-Woodville in the 113-pound quarterfinals and fell one point short, 9-8, in his consolation semifinal match against Gavin Ricke of Ellsworth. Anderson finished his junior season with a 31-20 record.
Like teammate Ayden Anderson, Colfax senior Brison Tuschl picked up both his victories in Neillsville thanks to byes. In what was the final tournament of his prep career, Tuschl lost on a pair of pin falls while competing at 126 pounds. He fell to Teague Holzer of St. Croix Central at the 2:43 mark of their quarterfinal match and was pinned again in a consolation semifinal at 1:20 by Mason Wolf of Spencer/Columbus Catholic. Tuschl finished 16-18 in his senior campaign.
Raptor wrestlers Drew Ryder (106) and Samy Espinal (195) just missed out on qualifying for the Amery Sectional after both finished in fifth place.
Baldwin-Woodville won the super regional championship as it scored 250 points and had 11 sectional qualifiers. Fellow Middle Border combatant St. Croix Central finished with 10 sectional qualifiers and 242.5 points to claim second. Both teams qualified for the team sectional which was held last evening (Tuesday, February 14) at St. Croix Central. The Blackhawks took on Medford in one semifinal while the host Panthers grappled St. Croix Falls in the other. The winners faced off for the sectional crown and a state team berth that same evening.
Bloomer/Colfax finished in a tie for tenth place with Somerset at the 13-team super regional after both squads scored 64 points.
Regis/Altoona was third with 190.5, Ellsworth tallied 171 to take fourth and host Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal finished fifth with 164.5 points. All three had a half dozen sectional qualifiers.
Abbotsford/Colby, who had five qualifiers, was sixth with 115 followed by Stanley-Boyd with 110 points and two sectional qualifiers, Mondovi/Eleva-Strum also had a pair of qualifiers and finished with 75 points, Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/Fall Creek tallied 67 points and three sectional qualifiers, Bloomer/Colfax and Somerset with 64 points each had two and one qualifier, respectively, Prescott finished two qualifiers and 44 points and Spencer/Columbus Catholic, who scored just 28 points, did not have a wrestler move on.