Hellendrung wins regional wrestling title, two Bulldogs advance to sectional meet
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BOYCEVILLE senior Zach Kersten battled Auburndale’s Russell Teska in a consolation semifinal match at 165 pounds at the February 10 super regional meet in Auburndale. Kersten lost by fall and finished his senior season with a 14-13 record. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
AUBURNDALE — To say it has been a frustrating and difficult season for Boyceville wrestling may be a bit of an understatement.
It became even more exasperating for the Bulldogs and their veteran head coach Jamie Olson when just four of the dozen Boyceville wrestlers that competed actually placed at the 2024 WIAA Division 3 Super Regional Wrestling tournament held last Saturday, February 10 at Auburndale High School and only two of those were able to advance to this Saturday’s individual wrestling sectional in Edgar by placing fourth or higher.
“It was disappointing, it’s been a tough year,” admitted Olson, who is in his 24th year.
This year’s super regional in Auburndale was once again packed with state-ranked wrestlers and quality teams, but its the continued disparity in talent between this regional and the other super regional that was held in Ladysmith that drew Olson’s ire.
“The (Auburndale) tournament was loaded with talent and when Glenwood City (last year’s team sectional runner-up and three-time D-SC champ) took third, I saw Shell Lake take second and advance to team sectional from the northern regional. That is disappointing,” Olson plainly stated.
“Not only are the wrong teams in the team sectional, but we also have many individuals who should be wrestling on Saturday who will be watching kids in Edgar whom they have beaten throughout the year. This is something that needs to be addressed,” he added.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom, however, as sophomore Zach Hellendrung gave Coaches Olson and Corey Day something to smile about when he won his first super regional gold medal when he claimed the 215-pound championship in Auburndale’s Tim Anderson Gymnasium and earned a second straight trip to the sectional meet. A year ago, Hellendrung copped third at 220 pounds.
BULLDOG senior Paul Kurschner put Durand-Arkansaw’s Devin Wahlberg on his back during a 150-pound consolation match at the February 10 super regional in Auburndale. Kurschner scored the pin in 58 seconds. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
Joining Hellendrung this weekend in Edgar while being junior Rony Ramos who qualified for his second consecutive sectional meet as well after placing fourth at 120 pounds. Just missing a berth was freshman Isaiah Romero who placed fifth at 190 pounds. A sectional qualifier a year ago, senior Parker Coombs took sixth at 285 pounds.
Those four accounted for 63 of the Bulldogs’ 92 team points which placed them eighth out of the 13 teams in the Auburndale Super Regional.
Perennial power and defending team sectional champion Stratford finished atop the team standings with a tournament-leading 12 sectional qualifiers and 274 points. Marathon edged last year’s regional runner-up Glenwood City 221.5 to 217 for second place. The thirdplace Hilltoppers will be sending a school record ten wrestlers to the sectional while Marathon has eight. Stratford and Marathon, the top two teams in the Marawood Conference, both earned berths in last evening’s team sectional meet in Cadott. Stratford faced Shell Lake (second place in the Ladysmith regional) in one semifinal while Ladysmith regional champ, Cumberland, a repeat team sectional qualifier, took on Marathon in the other. The winners clashed in the finals with a berth in the March 2 state team tourney at stake.
Clear Lake finished fourth with 160 points and had six sectional qualifiers, host Auburndale also had six qualify for the sectional meet and finished fifth with 158 points, Cadott copped sixth with its tally of 124 and four sectional qualifiers, Edgar posted a score of 197 and will also have four wrestling this Saturday, Boyceville finished with 92 points and two sectional qualifiers, Spring Valley/Elmwood had 61 points and will send one to Edgar, Cornell/Gilman/Lake Holcombe scored 54 points and had two wrestlers move on, Athens tallied 35 points and had one qualify for the sectional meet and Durand-Arkansaw with 30.5 points and Thorp/Owen-Withee, who did not score a point, did not have anyone make the sectional cut.
BOYCEVILLE sophomore Zach Hellendrung prepared to pin Edgar’s Dakota Ellenbecker during the first period of the pair’s regional quarterfinals match at 215 pounds held Saturday, February 10 at Auburndale High School. Hellendrung got the pin in 1:28 and went on to win the gold medal and advance to his second straight individual sectional tournament. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
Zach Hellendrung, who is ranked seventh in his weight’s D3 state poll, beat a pair of state-ranked grapplers on the way to his first regional gold. Following an opening round bye, Hellendrung pinned Edgar’s Dakota Ellenbecker just 1:28 into their quarterfinal’s match. He then faced tenth-ranked freshman Taydyn Angell from Cornell/Gilman/Lake Holcombe in the semifinals and won a 4-2 decision to qualify for the finals against Cadott senior Axel Tegels, who is ranked ninth. Hellendrung earned a hard-fought 4-3 victory.
With a perfect day in Auburndale, Hellendrung upped his season mark to 22-4.
“Zach continues to wrestle tough, beating Tegels was a big win for him,” said Olson.
“We need to stay offensive and if he does that he will be in good shape on Saturday. When you put the extra training in and have goals, good things will happen in this sport. Zach does all the little things right and his success is so well deserved,” he added.
The Bulldogs’ other sectional qualifier, Rony Ramos (22-12), finished the regional tournament 2-2 to place fourth at 120 pounds. After a first-round bye, Ramos pinned Cadott’s Evan Lallemont just 43 seconds into their quarterfinal match. In the semifinals, Ramos came up against fourth-ranked Trenton Cournoyer of Stratford and was pinned at the end of the opening period. Ramos then lost 4-0 to Glenwood City junior Logan McVeigh in the third-place match.
“I’m so happy for Rony Ramos too, the second year he has now qualified for the sectionals,” Olson stated. “We moved him up to 120, with the absence of Zane Pierce and it worked out. Rony is a great kid and he only gets to practice twice a week with his work schedule. He is a competitor, he likes the fight.”
Freshman Isaiah Romero finished his day with four wins including pins in the consolation semifinals and fifth-place match at 190 pounds. He finished 19-20 in his first year of varsity wrestling.
Parker Coombs finished his senior year of wrestling with a 19-16 record and a sixth-plac showing in the regional heavyweight competition.
Eight other Boyceville wrestlers also finished their season in Auburndale. Victor Pattermann (126), Jack Kurschner (132), Landyn Leslie (138), Alex Obermueller (144), Paul Kurschner (150), Jack Gruenhagen (157), Zach Kersten (165), and Mark Knopps (175) competed but did not place in the super regional.
Boyceville’s sectional duo will be vying for medals and state berths at this coming Saturday’s WIAA Division 3 Individual Sectional which will be held for a second straight year at Edgar High School. The top three place winners in each class will advance to the state championship which will be held in the Kohl Center in Madison February 22-24.