Nielson and Hellendrung finish second at sectional, earn state wrestling berths
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BOYCEVILLE freshman Zach Hellendrung had his arm raised after he won a sectional wrestling match at 220 pounds last Saturday in Edgar. Hellendrung finished 4-1 in the tournament with three pins to place second and earn a trip to this week’s individual state wrestling championships in Madison.
—photo by Jacob Maes Photography
EDGAR — Boyceville will once again be represented at the state wrestling championships in Madison this weekend.
Senior Sebastian “Bash” Nielson and freshman Zach Hellendrung, both state-ranked wrestlers, punched their tickets to state after both finished as runners-up in their respective weight classes at the 2023 WIAA Division 3 Individual Wrestling Sectional held at Edgar High School this past Saturday, February 18.
This will be the second straight year that Nielson has qualified for the WIAA Individual State Championships which will be held at the Kohl Center in Madison this Thursday through Saturday, February 23-25. While Hellendrung will experience Wisconsin’s biggest prep wrestling event for the first time.
Nielson earned his state berth by finishing second in the sectional’s 195-pound weight class for the second year in a row while Hellendrung copped the silver medal at 220 pounds in his first-ever sectional competition.
The top three place finishers in each of the 14 weight classes qualify for the state meet.
The Bulldogs three other sectional competitor – junior Parker Coombs, sophomore Rony Ramos and freshman Landyn Leslie – gained valuable experience but did not place in their first sectional competitions.
“We had a really good day Saturday,” said Boyceville head coach Jamie Olson of his quintets’ sectional efforts. “I was happy with how our kids performed and how they represented Boyceville on and off the mat. We had five great kids compete Saturday for a chance to go to Madison, unfortunately, three of them ended their season.”
Although a sectional championship remained elusive for Bash Nielson in his final attempt, he will get to finish his senior season on the floor at the Kohl Center thanks to another outstanding performance at the sectional meet.
Nielson dominated his first first two sectional opponents before dropping a hearting breaking one-point decision in the championship at 195 pounds.
In his quarterfinal match, Nielson, who is ranked fifth in his weight class’s most recent state poll, put Cameron’s Alexzander Williams to the mat in 2:44. Nielson then scored a second straight fall in the semifinal match, sticking Adam Dorshorst of Auburndale with just five second left in that match.
For the second straight week, Nielson meet Cadott’s Levi Lindsay met in the finals. Lindsay won the previous Saturday’s regional title match, which was also held in Edgar, by a 2-1 count in overtime. The sectional championship was also a nail biter with Lindsay earning the match’s only point to sink Nielson’s goal of sectional gold with a 1-0 defeat.
BULLDOG SENIOR Bash Nielson put Cameron’s Alexzander Williams on his back during an 195-pound quarterfinal’s match at the WIAA Division 3 Individual Wrestling Sectional at Edgar February 18. Nielson went on to get the pin and finished as the sectional runner-up to earn a second straight trip to the state championships in Madison this week. —photo by Jacob Maes Photogrraphy
“Bash Nielson lost a tough 1-0 decision in the finals,” noted Olson. “But, it will just motivate Bash for this week. He wrestled a great tournament dominating his first two opponents.”
Nielson will head to the state meet sporting a 40-8 record.
Hellendrung’s road to Madison was paved with a trio of pins as he won four of his five matches last Saturday to claim sectional silver.
After opening with an impressive 59 second pin of Phillips’ Cole Abraham in a 220-pound quarterfinal’s match, Hellendrung went head-to-head with Sloan Welch in the semifinals. The Auburndale wrestler, who sports a 51-2 record and the number two ranking in that weight class, controlled the match eventually scoring the fall at 2:43.
Undaunted by the loss, Hellendrung, who is ranked ninth at 220 pounds, came back and dominated his final three matches avenging previous losses in the process.
In the consolation semifinals, Hellendrung stuck Unity’s Alex Holden in 1:11 to qualify for the bronze-medal match. He then blanked third-ranked Jack Lazar of Ladysmith, who had beaten him at the Northern Badger back in December, 6-0 in the match for third place and a state berth. He then followed that up with a pin of number eight Axel Tegels of Cadott in the wrestleback for second place. Tegels had beaten Hellendrung, 8 to 5, in the regional meet the previous week.
Hellendrung improved to 41-8, an impressive record for a freshman.
“Zach was a beast all day, avenging a couple of earlier losses in the season to Tegels and Lazar, he punched his ticket to Madison with convincing wins over both,” stated Olson.
Nielson and Hellendrung will both compete in Thursday evening’s state preliminaries.
Boyceville had three other first-time sectional qualifiers that fell short in their quest to reach the Kohl Center mats.
Rony Ramos drew a very tough quarterfinal’s match at 113 pounds. He was paired against Ronan Garcia of Bruce, who is ranked fifth in the state at that weight, and went on to finish third in Saturday’s sectional tournament. Ramos was pinned by Garcia in 3:47 and never got another opportunity to wrestle, finishing his sophomore year with a 15-18 mark.
“Rony was an absolute joy to coach this year, he did amazing things with very little experience,” Olson said of Ramos.
Junior Parker Coombs also showed a lot of improvement over the course of the season which is why he earned a spot in the sectional meet. Unfortunately, he lost both of his matches by pin falls. Brandon Sommers of Phillips pinned Coombs in the 285-pound quarterfinal’s bout at 3:06. He was then stuck by fellow Dunn-St. Croix competitor Ethan Bruner of Durand-Arkansaw at the 3:32 mark of their consolation match and eliminated. He finished 24-16.
“Parker Coombs had a tremendous year, being undersized Parker really had to outsmart the big boys and he did that over and over again,” stated Coach Olson. “He lost a battle with Brunner from Durand to end his season. We had that kid on the ropes and we gave it our best shot. Parker will be bigger and stronger next year and a guy to watch out for.”
Boyceville’s final sectional competitor, freshman Landyn Leslie, qualified for last Saturday’s 120-pound fray after Glenwood City senior James Knight had to withdraw from the competition due to a broken hand he suffered during practice. Leslie looked to make the most of his second-chance opportunity but found himself in a loaded bracket against state-ranked competition. In his opening-round match, Leslie was pinned in 40 seconds by fourth-ranked Kayne Johnson of Cameron who went on to win the 120-pound sectional championship. Leslie was afforded a consolation match but was pinned in 1:43 by Auburndale’s Zade Grassel who finished third to also earn a trip to state.
“Landyn lost to the eventual champion and 3rd place finisher. It was a great opportunity and experience for Landyn to compete in the sectional and capping his awesome freshman year wrestling in a big tournament,” said Olson of Leslie who finished 25-18.