Raptor wrestlers finish first in dual invitational hosted by Colfax
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BLOOMER-COLFAX wrestler Blake Sparrgrove is shown earning back points against his Arcadia opponent at 132 pounds. The action was part of the Bloomer-Colfax wrestling duals tournament held at Colfax High School on Friday, Janaury 3. Sparrgrove finished the meet with a perfect 4-0 record which included a pair of pins. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
COLFAX — The Bloomer-Colfax wrestling team opened the new year by placing first at its own dual meet invitational hosted at Colfax High School.
Bloomer-Colfax finished 3-1 in the five-team, dual-meet format invitational held Friday, January 3. It was Colfax’s only home wrestling event of the season.
The Raptor wrestling squad defeated Bruce 66 to 10, nipped Arcadia 40 to 39 and thrashed Thorp/Owen-Withee 72 to 6. The team’s lone loss was to Boyceville who prevailed 46 to 36.
All six Colfax wrestlers participated with four competing in varsity matches.
Blake Sparrgrove represented Colfax well as he finished the invitational with an unblemished record of 4-0. He scored a pair of pins and two forfeits while wrestling at 132 pounds.
Colfax’s Veronika Leavens and Mason Smith both won three of their four varsity matches. Leavens registered three forfeits at 113 pounds and Smith earned two pins and a forfeit at 138 pounds.
Jayden Morgan went 1-3 while wrestling at 175 pounds.
Three other Raptor wrestlers, all from Bloomer, also compiled 4-0 records in last Friday’s meet. They were Aiden Poirer (157), Drew Ryder (120) and Zeke Anderson (126). James McElroy posted a 3-1 record at 150 pounds.
In their opening-round dual versus Bruce, the Raptors received all 11 of its wins via forfeits. Bruce won two matches, a pin by Kyle Whitcomb over Bloomer’s Dyllon Zwiefelhofer at 144 pounds and a technical fall by Levi Nyhagen against Colfax’s Jayden Morgan at 175 pounds.
In round two, Bloomer-Colfax held on for a one-point win. 40-39, over Arcadia. The Raptors scored on pins by James McElroy (150), Aiden Poirer (157), Kolten Burgess (215), Zeke Anderson (126), Blake Sparrgrove (132) and Mason Smith (138) and a 16-3 technical fall by Drew Ryder (120).
Bloomer-Colfax was matched against Boyceville in round three. The Bulldogs pinned six Raptors, won via technical fall major decision at 144 pounds and received a forfeit at 190 pounds to claim a 46-36 win. Bloomer-Colfax’s points came via pins by Lowvin Hladilek (106), Zeke Anderson (126) and Blake Sparrgrove (132) and three forfeits.
After a bye in round four, the Raptors took on Thorp/Owen-Withee in fifth and final round of duals. Thorp had just three wrestlers, so Bloomer-Colfax received 10 forfeits and earned pins from Mason Smith (138) and Aiden Poirer (157). Thorp/Owen-Withee’s only points came via a pin by Jordan Wolff over Bloomer’s Ryan Frelk at 285 pounds.
New Richmond Invite
The morning after competing in its own dual tournament, the Bloomer-Colfax team headed to New Richmond for an individual tournament.
Eleven Raptors wrestlers competed in the varsity event. All earned a place in the invite.
Drew Ryder was the top finisher for Bloomer-Colfax. He was the runner-up at 120 pounds. Zeke Anderson finished 5th at 126, Blake Sparrgrove took sixth at 138, James McElroy and Aiden Poirer both earned seventh at their respective weight classes of 150 and 157, Kolten Burgess finished eighth at 215, Brock Hanson was ninth at 165, Dyllon Zwiefelhofer copped 11th place at 144, Jacob LaGesse was 13th at 138 and 14th place finishes went to Mason Smith at 138 and Cole Parzyck at 144.
Northern Badger Classic
Bloomer-Colfax scored 61.5 points to finish in 11th place in Division 1 (large school) competition at the 2024 Northern Badger Wrestling Classic held Friday and Saturday, December 27 and 28 at River Falls High School.
Overall, the Raptors placed 28th in the 44-team tournament that was won by St. Croix Falls with 341.5 points.
Just two Bloomer-Colfax grapplers qualified for the second day of competition and earned a medal. Drew Ryder finished in third place at 120 pounds and Zeke Anderson took eighth at 126 pounds for 45 of the team’s points.