Drew Ryder wins wrestling sectional, gains state berth
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TOMAHAWK — Bloomer/Colfax’s Drew Ryder is headed to the Kohl Center for the 2024 WIAA State Individual Wrestling tournament this week.
The Raptor sophomore captured the gold medal and a state berth in 113-pound weight bracket at the WIAA Division 2 Individual Wrestling Sectional held at Tomahawk High School last Saturday, February 17.
Two other Bloomer/Colfax wrestlers came up short in their bids to qualify for this year’s state meet. Senior Kendra Hamman finished second in the girls’ 185-pound weight class while sophomore Zeke Anderson lost his one and only match at 120 pounds.
Ryder opened last Saturday’s sectional tournament with a 6-2 quarterfinal’s victory over Carson Wright (36-15) of Ellsworth. In the semifinal, Ryder put Luck/Frederic/Grantsburg/Siren’s Riley Cummings on his back in 5:22 to gain a spot in the 113-pound sectional championship match. In that final’s bout, Ryder faced Rydge Tibbet of Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal for the second time in as many Saturdays. The Raptor wrestler defeated Tibbet 9-5 for second place at the Medford Regional the week prior and did it again in Tomahawk as he claimed a 7-3 win to earn the 113-pound sectional gold medal.
Ryder, who is seeded sixth in his state tournament weight bracket, will take a 36-9 season record into the Kohl Center where he will face the number 11 seed and fellow sophomore Jacob Allickson (30-14) of Campbellsport in Thursday night’s Division 2 preliminary round. The winner will move on to face third seed Brent Krejcarek (21-3), a junior from Kewaskum, in Friday morning’s quarterfinals.
The 2023-24 season came to an end for the Raptors other two sectional wrestlers in Tomahawk last Saturday.
Zeke Anderson lost his 120-pound quarterfinal’s match to Brady Gesler of Chetek-Weyerhaeuser/Prairie Farm by fall in 3:16 and was eliminated from the competition when Gesler was beaten in his semifinal match. Anderson finished the year 33-12.
Kendra Hamman was just one of two wrestlers competing in the girls’ 185-pound sectional bracket. Hamman and her opponent, Northwestern’s Adeline Pooler, both received byes to the championship match where Pooler pinned Hamman in 2:46 to win the gold and advance to state. In the girls’ sectional competitions, only each weight class winner moves on to state, whereas the top three finishers in each boys’ weight class advances to state. Hamman finished her senior campaign with a 2-2 record.