Colfax wrestlers go 1-2 against Hayward, earn placings in Heart O’ North Tourney

By Cara L. Dempski

Colfax grapplers finished their regular and conference season with a home match against the Hayward Hurricanes last Tuesday before competing in the 2017 Heart O’ North conference meet at Barron on Saturday.

The Blackhawks edged out the Hurricanes in a series of matches held January 31 at Bloomer High School. While the Hawks slid past the Hurricanes, 39-36, Colfax wrestlers went 1-2 in the dual with Mitchel Harmon and Tommy Anderson coming up short in their matches while Cole Anderson-Olson claimed victory.

Harmon duked out a full three periods before his Hayward opponent Tim Coyne took three points for the Hurricanes for an 8-4 decision. Anderson was pinned by Kyle Sorenson a the 1:25 mark, giving another six points to Hayward. Anderson-Olson won the 195-pound match on a forfeit to give the Blackhawks six.

The entire Bloomer/Colfax team traveled to Barron on February 4 for the Heart O’ North Conference Tournament. Harmon, Anderson and Anderson-Olson all wrestled for the Blackhawks. 

Harmon picked up third place in the 132-pound class after earning a major decision over Barron’s Dawson Adams in his quarterfinal match. He was bested by Calen Kirkpatrick of Northwestern in the semifinal with a fall at 3:35, but won on a technical fall over Cody Paul in the consolation semifinal to wrestle Superior’s Logan Stone in the third-place match.

Anderson won his preliminary match against Ladysmith’s Kyle Nelson, but then lost to Jameson Pflug of Northwestern in the quarterfinal and Cumberland’s Trystan Neitzel in the first consolation round.

Anderson-Olson finished second at 182 pounds. He pinned Superior’s Mark Treakle at the 1:48 mark in the quarterfinal. He won an 8-1 decision over Spooner’s Sam Melton in the semifinal before falling to Chetek/Weyerhaeuser/Prairie Farm’s Daniel Chuchwar.

As a team, Bloomer/Colfax finished sixth in the nine-team conference meet with 106.5 points. Barron copped the tournament title with 181 points while Cumberland was second with 161 and Northwestern had 148. With its tournament victory, Barron’s Golden Bears tied the Beavers of Cumberland for the 2016-17 HON wrestling championship.

The Blackhawks have a week of practice to prepare for the WIAA Division 2 regional meet at Ellsworth High School this Saturday, February 11. Team sectionals will be held next Tuesday, February 14 at St. Croix Central and will feature the winning teams from all four regional meets (Hayward, St. Croix Central, Abbotsford/Colby and Ellsworth). The top two individual finishers in each weight class at regional competition will then move on to the individual sectional tournament in Amery on February 18. The state individual tournament will be held February 23 – 25 at UW – Madison’s Kohl Center, and state team tournament is scheduled for March 3 and 4 at the UW – Madison Fieldhouse.