McGee bows out of state tourney after prelims loss
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HILLTOPPERS sophomore Mitchell McGee (left) wrestled Ashton Meister of Poynette in a 138-pound state preliminary match Thursday night, February 23 in the Kohl Center. McGee was eliminated following a 5-2 loss. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
MADISON – Mitchell McGee’s first state wrestling tournament which was held at the Kohl Center in Madison February 23-25, was all too brief.
The Glenwood City sophomore, competing in the Division 3, 138-pound weight class at the 2023 WIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships lost a close 5-2 decision during last Thursday night’s preliminaries.The match pitted second- and third-place finishers from the previous Saturday’s sectional meets against one another. McGee was eliminated from further competition.
“I told Mitchell that I was super proud of him because we have had kids come down to state before and not bring it, not wrestle to their ability because they were just happy to be here or maybe they let the nerves get to them,” said Glenwood City head coach Shane Strong.
“He didn’t. Mitchell wrestled really hard against a high-level kid,” he added.
Neither McGee nor his opponent, fellow sophomore Ashton Meister (41-7) of Poynette, was able to score on the other in the first period.
Winning the flip to start the second period, Meister chose to go down to the mat. He quickly escaped McGee’s grasp for a 1-0 lead which grew to 3-0 thanks to a takedown by Meister midway through the middle stanza. McGee would draw a stall warning with just second left in that period but the score stayed unchanged heading into the third.
McGee chose to start that final frame with both wrestlers in neutral positions as he looked for a takedown to narrow his deficit. Instead, the Poynette grappler took McGee to the mat for a 5-0 advantage with over 80 seconds still on the clock. McGee worked hard to free himself of Meister’s grip which did not come until there was just 11 second left when he finally scored a reversal. But, time ran out on McGee’s comeback attempt and season as his lost 5-2.
“This will be a great experience for him going into his junior year. He is already eager to get after it,” concluded Strong.
McGee finished his season with a 32-16 mark and promises of a bright mat future to come.