Wausau Pilot & Review
MERRILL – D.C. Everest finished second in the team standings and earned a spot in the team sectionals while moving 11 on to the individual sectional after competition at the WIAA Division 1 wrestling regional Saturday at Merrill High School.
Wisconsin Rapids won the team title with 210.5 points, with D.C. Everest (204) holding off Wausau West (193) for second as the top two earned spots in the Division 1 team sectional Tuesday at D.C. Everest High School.
D.C. Everest will take on Green Bay West regional champion Bay Port, while Rapids will face Pulaski in semifinal duals at the team meet Tuesday, which begins at 6 p.m. The winners will face off for a berth in the WIAA State Team Wrestling Tournament in Madison on March 3-4.
Wausau West came up short in the team standings, but will still send 10 to the Division 1 individual sectional, which will be next Saturday, Feb. 18, at Shawano High School. The top two finishes in each weight class qualify for the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament in Madison on Feb. 23-25.
Earning regional championships for D.C. Everest were Easton Cooper (39-5) at 126 pounds, Blake Heal (34-8) at 138 and Daytona Pagel (27-13) at 182.
Cooper pinned Carter Freeman 37 seconds into overtime to win the 126-pound title; Heal shut out Jake Hall of Stevens Point 2-0 in the 138-pound final; and Pagel beat Wausau West’s Evan Roboin (20-19), 8-2, in the 182-pound championship bout.
Earning runner-up finishes for the Evegreens were Deakin Trotzer (21-9) at 132, Cameron Saari (17-11) at 145, Blake Bangtson (29-12) at 152, and Kyle Schmidt (19-10) at 195. Taylor Dillion (24-14) was third at 113, Tanner Rickman (21-20) took third at 170, Oscar Latendresse (18-17) finished third at 285, and Tyler Modjewski (28-9) was fourth at 120 to also earn spots at the individual sectional.
Thai Yang (30-9), Gabriel Galang (36-6), Connor Calmes (32-10) and Cayden Kershaw (32-8) won regional titles for Wausau West.
Yang beat Gavin Jacob of Wisconsin Rapids 8-4 to capture the 106-pound title; Galang pinned Stevens Point’s Riley Seavers in 1:29 to win the 145-pound final; Calmes pinned Kailar Tritz of Wisconsin Rapids in 1:07 in the 170-pound championship; and Kershaw defeated Landon Saglin of Lakeland/Mercer 6-3 to win the 220-pound title.
In addition to Raboin, Henry Ruffi (22-10) also earned a second-place finish at 113 pounds for the Warriors.
West also had four fourth-place finishes – Timothy Gospodarek (14-21) at 152, Henry Galang (24-16) at 160, William Ford (9-5) at 195, and William McCorison (10-5) at 285.
Wausau East’s lone sectional qualifier was Maddox Rye, who won the 132-pound title with a 2-1 win over Trotzer of D.C. Everest. Rye goes into sectionals with a 41-4 record.
WIAA Division 1 Wrestling Regional
Feb. 11, at Merrill High School
Team scores: 1. Wisconsin Rapids 210.5; 2. D.C. Everest 204; 3. Wausau West 193; 4. Merrill 156; 5. Stevens Point 147.5; 6. Lakeland/Mercer 100; 7. Wausau East 57; 8. Rhinelander 55.
Top four in each weight class qualify for individual sectional at Shawano on Feb. 18
106 pounds
Championship: Thai Yang (WW) def. Gavin Jacob (WR), 8-4.
Third place: Jake Roberts (SP) won by technical fall over Logan Gray-Ives (LM), 19-3.
113 pounds
Championship: Landyn Freeman (WR) pinned Henry Ruffi (WW), 4:42.
Third place: Taylor Dillion (DC) pinned Justin Funmaker (LM), 1:58.
Fifth place: Ryan Jaeger (WE) def. Joey Jensen (MER), 6-3.
120 pounds
Championship: Warren Soik (SP) pinned Jon Hart (MER), 1:25.
Third place: Jacob Bender (WR) pinned Aiden Ostermann (RH), 3:45.
Fifth place: Tyler Modjewski (DC) def. Xavier Sengkhammee (WW), 4-2.
Fourth-place wrestleback: Modjewski (DC) def. Ostermann (RH), 8-5.
126 pounds
Championship: Easton Cooper (DC) pinned Carter Freeman (WR), 6:37.
Third place: Ashton Bremer (LM) pinned Brett Suchocki (MER), 1:34.
Fifth place: Camden Fischer (SP) pinned Christian Simmons (WE), 2:51.
Fourth-place wrestleback: Suchocki (MER) pinned Fischer (SP), 4:26.
132 pounds
Championship: Maddox Rye (WE) def. Deakin Trotzer (DC), 2-1.
Third place: Aiden Armagost (WR) def. Brady Norton (MER), injury default.
Fifth place: Dresden Klaver (RH) pinned Caleb Feil (WW), 1:31.
138 pounds
Championship: Blake Heal (DC) def. Jake Hall (SP), 2-0.
Third place: Lucas Bean (WR) won by major dec. over Callum Wheeler (MER), 12-0.
Fifth place: John Knauf (WW).
145 pounds
Championship: Gabriel Galang (WW) pinned Riley Seavers (SP), 1:29.
Third place: Cameron Saari (DC) def. Jerome LaBarge (LM), 7-5.
Second-place wrestleback: Saari (DC) def. Seavers (SP), 5-3.
Fourth-place wrestleback: Mason Tritz (WR) def. LaBarge (LM), 7-1.
152 pounds
Championship: T.J. Schierl (SP) won by major dec. over Blake Bangtson (DC), 12-3.
Third place: Cole Black (WR) pinned Hunter Opper (MER), 1:41.
Fifth place: Timothy Gospodarek (WW) pinned Tyson Skubal (LM), 3:17.
Fourth-place wrestleback: Gospodarek (WW) pinned Opper (MER), 0:35.
160 pounds
Championship: Kale Roth (SP) def. Bennett Weidman (WR), 11-6.
Third place: Zane Grams (LM) won by major dec. over Henry Galang (WW), 13-2.
Fifth place: Gage Lassa (MER) def. Garrison Stockwell (WE), 13-10.
170 pounds
Championship: Connor Calmes (WW) pinned Kailar Tritz (WR), 1:07.
Third place: Tanner Rickman (DC) def. Brian Ball (MER), 8-3.
Fourth-place wrestleback: Ball (MER) pinned Logan Schwinger (RH), 4:15.
182 pounds
Championship: Daytona Pagel (DC) def. Evan Raboin (WW), 8-2.
Third place: Austin Depies (MER) def. Mark Jeske (WR), 8-6.
195 pounds
Championship: Ryder Depies (MER) pinned Kyle Schmidt (DC), 0:57.
Third place: Leonard Chosa (LM) def. William Ford (WW), 6-3.
Fifth place: Elmer Heard (WE) pinned Quintin Brezinski (SP), 2:42.
Fourth-place wrestleback: Ford (WW) pinned Heard (WE), 5:05.
220 pounds
Championship: Cayden Kershaw (WW) def. Landon Saglin (LM), 6-3.
Third place: Noah Klug (MER) def. Aidan Haugen (WE), forfeit.
Fourth-place wrestleback: Josh Woznicki (SP) def. Haugen (WE), forfeit.
285 pounds
Championship: Owen Kurtz (RH) won major dec. over Tanner Gormanson (WR), 2-3.
Third place: Oscar Latendresse (DC) pinned William McCorison (WW), 2:36.
Second-place wrestleback: Gormanson (WR) pinned Latendresse (DC), 5:23.
