Bloomer/Colfax duo advances to sectional; McDonell/Elk Mound wrestling season ends
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MEDFORD — Just two area wrestlers were able to extend their seasons by garnering sectional berths following the conclusion of last Saturday’s super regional tournament.
Bloomer/Colfax’s Zeke Anderson and Drew Ryder finished in the top four of their respective weight classes at the WIAA Division 2 super regional held in Medford Saturday, February 10 to advance to this coming Saturday’s individual sectional tournament which will be held at Tomahawk High School.
As a team, Bloomer/Colfax finished tenth in the 13-school super regional with 61 points.
The Chippewa Falls McDonell/Elk Mound cooperative saw its inaugural season come to an end in Medford after none of its four wrestlers were able to advance to the next level of competition. McDonell/Elk Mound posted just eight points in the tournament and finished in last place.
Host Medford captured the super regional team championship after scoring 259 points with Cloverbelt champion Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal taking second with 191 points. Those two squads moved on to the team sectional which was hosted last evening (Tuesday, February 13) in Somerset. Medford faced St. Croix Central, the runner-up in the other super regional, while Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal wrestled St. Croix Falls in the other semifinal. The winners advanced to the championship with the victor claiming the team sectional crown and a berth in the state team tournament slated for Saturday, March 2 at the UW-Fieldhouse in Madison.
Meanwhile, the top four individual place winners in each of the 14 weight classes from the Medford super regional earned berths in this Saturday’s WIAA Division 2 Tomahawk Individual Sectional tournament. From there, the top three finishers in each weight will advance to the state championships to be held February 22-24 in the Kohl Center on the UW-Madison campus.
Bloomer/Colfax
Zeke Anderson had the highest finish among the Raptor wrestlers competing in the Division 2 Medford super regional last Saturday, February 10 as he placed second in the 120-pound weight bracket to punch his ticket to the sectional tournament.
Following a pair of byes to open his super regional tournament, Anderson pinned Medford’s Jordan Lavin a 5:55 of their semifinal match. For the second time in as many Saturday’s, Anderson lost via pin in the championship to Tristen Smazal of Abbotsford/Colby. Anderson held on to second place when he defeated Tomahawk’s Walter Hrobic with a third-period fall in the 120-pound wrestleback. Anderson will head in to the sectional with a 33-11 mark.
Also advancing to the sectional tournament for the Raptors was Drew Ryder following a third-place finish at 113 pounds. Ryder went 3-1 on the day which included an opening round bye, a second-period fall against Gavin Andrew of Spencer/Columbus Catholic/Granton in the quarterfinals and a 9-5 victory over Rydge Tibbett in the third-place match. Ryder’s lone setback of the tournament came in the semifinal where he lost by fall to Mosinee’s Jackson Nechuta, who went on to take second. Ryder takes a 33-9 record into the Tomahawk Sectional.
Bloomer/Colfax also had a pair of sixth-place finishers. James McElroy (26-18) and Dyllon Zwiefelhofer (19-25) both went 3-2 in Medford to take sixth at their respective weights of 150 and 157 pounds.
The season for five other Raptor wrestlers also came to an end including Colfax senior Ayden Anderson who went 2-2 at 126 pounds but did not place. Ayden Anderson finished his final prep mat season with a 14-22 mark. Also seeing their final action of the year were Jacob LaGesse (132), Aiden Poirer (138), Miles Lueck (144) and Kolten Burgess (190).
McDonell/Elk Mound
Jonah Christopherson had the best finish of the four McDonell/Elk Mound wrestlers that competed in the WIAA Division 2 super regional in Medford February 10.
Christopherson copped sixth in the 175-pound weight class.
The team’s other three grapplers, which included Elk Mound’s Ford Hay and Brody Mathison, did not place.
Hay finished his sophomore season with a 5-34 record after going 1-2 at 138 pounds.
Mathison was also 1-2 at 190 pounds which put his season-ending mark at 5-21.
At 144 pounds, Nicola Chessa gave up a pair of pins.