Wausau Pilot & Review
MADISON – Two Wausau West girls moved on to the semifinals with a pair of wins on the opening day of the 2023 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament at the Kohl Center on Thursday.
Savannah Danielson (12-1) won two matches at 107 pounds, pinning Elliot Mulloy of Waukesha West in 3:03 and defeating Cailyn Whitier of Mukwanago 6-3, and Christiana Nordstrom (19-6) advanced at 185 pounds with pins of Destiny Duesterbeck of Sheboygan North and Mercedes Kohlman of New Holsein.
Danielson will take on Ava Peters (8-1) of Seymour, and Nordstrom will face Ella Creighton (23-4) of Lake Geneva Badger in semifinal matches Friday night.
The other three West girls wrestlers that qualified for the state tournament were knocked into the consolation bracket. Ashley Danielson (114 pounds) and Madelynn Lee (132) won their preliminary round matches before losing in the quarterfinals.
Danielson (27-4) pinned Kira Engquist of St. Croix Falls in 2:29 before losing to Bopa Quintana of Sun Prairie by pin in 36 seconds, while Lee (21-6) pinned Hailey Firari of Horicon in 1:48 but lost in the quarters to Sophia Galoff of Brillion by pin in 2:20.
Anya Mueller (13-8) dropped her 145-pound preliminary match to Natalie Maceau of Milwaukee Ronald Reagan by pin in 1:01, but earned a spot in the consolation round after Maceau won her quarterfinal.
In the boys tournament, two of the five local wrestlers participating remain alive in the consolation bracket after going 1-1 Thursday.
Wausau West’s Thai Yang (33-11) won his 106-pound Division 1 preliminary by pin over Henry Gaschler of Pewaukee in 1:56 before losing the quarterfinals as he was pinned by Liam Neitzel of Hudson in 3:30.
D.C. Everest’s Easton Cooper (43-7) also won his first-round match, pinning Tristan North of West Allis Hale in 52 seconds before he lost to Lucas Peters of Kaukauna in the 126-pound quarterfinals, 12-4.
Yang and Cooper will wrestle in consolation matches Friday morning.
Wausau West’s Gabriel Galang (145 pounds), D.C. Everest’s Blake Heal (138) and Wausau East’s Maddox Rye (132) were eliminated from the tournament after losing their preliminary matches and their opponents then lost in the quarterfinals.
Galang (39-8) lost by major decision to Cole Sarbacker of Stoughton, 12-2; Heal (36-10) was pinned by Nikita Adamov of Wauwatosa West/East in 3:11; and Rye (44-6) fell to Chand Suddeth of Stoughton, 8-2.
