Cal/Hou, Chatfield, and LARP Take on Bi-State

Prep wrestling has its massive tournaments.  The Bi-State Invite at the La Crosse Center over the holiday break is one such event.   At least 70 teams from Minnesota and Wisconsin convened for the grueling two-day event, including Journal 11 programs Caledonia/Houston, Chatfield, and Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson.   The Warriors and Gophers combined for nine (top 12) placers.  Cal/Hou had five guys do so: Brandon Ross (126), Owen Denstad (132), Isaac Blocker (138), Ayden Goetzinger (195), and Simon Seymour (120).  Ross, ranked #1 at 126 in Minnesota, was seeded highly.  He started with three straight pins to make the quarters.  He then beat Portage Wisconsin’s D-II #1 Chase Beckett (18-3) by 7-5 decision and then Hasting’s AAA #10 Jack Bainbridge (15-4) by 9-6 decision to make the finals.  There, Ross suffered his first loss (pin) to Stoughton’s Nicolar Rivera (22-0).  Rivera is ranked #1 in D-I at 132.  Last year’s state champ Ross (15-1) went 5-1 to take second place (of 52 wrestlers).  Up one weight, Owen Denstad (#9 at 132) wrestled nine matches over two days.  He won his first two (pin, 15-6 major decision), only to fall by 7-4 decision.  Denstad then won four straight in the consolation bracket (8-0 MD, pin, 7-2 decision, 15-4 MD).   He then lost to Stoughton’s D-I #3 Cole Sarbacker (15-2) by 10-2 major decision.  Sarbacker wound up taking third.  Denstad then beat Luxemburg-Casco’s D-II #6 Caleb Delebreau (20-8) by 3-2 decision.  Going 6-2, Denstad (15-2) took fifth place (of 60).  Up one more weight, Isaac Blocker (#3 at 138) received a bye and then won a 7-4 decision before falling by 13-7 decision.  Blocker then won four straight in the wrestlebacks (6-4 decision, 12-4 MD, 4-3 decision, 4-3 decision).  He ended by losing to Luxemburg-Casco’s D-II #2 Max Ronsman (25-3) by fall and then Mineral Point’s D-III #3 Tarrin Riley (15-2) by 6-3 decision.   Blocker (17-3) went 5-3 and took sixth place (of 51).  At 195, Ayden Goetzinger won five of his first six matches, only dropping a quarterfinal bout to Waunakee’s D-I #7 Kaden Hooker (22-3) by fall.  In those five wins, Goetzinger posted four decision victories (6-1, 7-3, 8-3, and 9-2).  He then ended the tourney losing two by decision, 5-2 to Wausau-West’s Joseph Barens (18-1) and 8-7 to Ithaca/Weston’s D-III #7 Jed Scallion (19-4).  Goetzinger (13-5), going 5-3, took sixth place (of 46).  Both Denstad and Goetzinger lost to guys who took third, fourth, and fifth.  Finally, Simon Seymour went 5-4 over nine matches.  Seymour won four straight in the wrestlebacks at one point, three by fall.  He fell to Chatfield’s Gage Bartels by 7-5 decision in the 11th place match.  Seymour (12-7) took 12th place (of 53).  Other Warriors to post plus-500 records (but not place) were Braxton Lange (113 > 3-2) and Eric Mauss (182 > 4-2).  Chatfield had four guys place: Grady Schott (182), Javier Berg (106), Kail Schott (170), Gage Bartels (120).  G-Schott (#1 at 182) started with two pinfall wins but was felled in the Round of 16 by Pulaski’s Trent Gibbons (17-3) by 4-2 decision.  Gibbons went on to take second.  Schott then won six straight, two by pin and four by decision (9-2, 5-2, 4-1, and 4-3).  He took third place (of 52).  He bested Aquinas D-III #10 at 195 Riley Klar (11-4), Auburndale’s D-III #2 Sloan Welch (14-3), and Ithaca-Weston’s D-III #9 Jacob Manning (20-3) in his final three matches.  Schott (13-1) went 8-1 for the tournament including notching his 100th career win.  Javier Berg (#8 at 106) won four straight (two pins, 9-2 decision, 13-3 major decision) to make the semifinals.   He fell to Aquinas D-III #1 Jake Fitzpatrick by 21-6 tech fall.  Fitzpatrick wound up taking first.  Berg then beat Bay Port’s D-I #7 Owen Wathke (20-6) by 11-0 major decision before falling to Dodgeville’s D-II #1 Charlie Meudt (8-1) by 12-9 decision.  Going 5-2 on the tourney, Berg (10-3) took fourth (of 46).  Kail Schott (#4 at 170) received a bye and then won two (fall, 15-0 tech fall) to make the quarters.  He was then pinned by Evansville’s D-II #1 Owen Heiser (20-0), who wound up taking first.  Schott then won three of four in the wrestlebacks, by 10-4 decision, 9-0 major decision, and forfeit.  His consolation loss was to Marshfield’s D-I #4 at 182 Cameron Denee (22-1), who took third.  Going 5-2, K-Schott (11-3) took fifth place (of 51).  Finally, Gage Bartels (#5 at 113) went 5-3 over eight matches at 120 pounds.  He won two (18-2 tech fall, 9-4 decision), lost one (6-1 decision by TB-1), then won two more (14-8 decision, 10-5 decision), lost two (pin, 8-2 decision) before winning his last (7-5 decision over Cal/Hou’s Seymour).  Bartels (11-4) took 11th place (of 53).  Ben Carrier (126), Carson Rowland (138), Luke Carrier (152), Sulley Ferguson (160), and Ethan Ruskell (195) all went 3-2 (didn’t place).  LARP also competed but had no one place.  Brennan Corcoran (170 > 4-2), Tyler Kryzer (182 > 4-2), and Jordan Zibrowksi (126 > 3-2) each won more than they lost.  Corcoran and Kryzer were each one win away from wrestling for placement.  Team-wise, Caledonia/Houston took fourth (165) behind Luxemburg-Casco (227), Lodi (216), and Z-M (206.5) amongst D-II teams.  LARP was 15th of 26.  Chatfield (168.5) took fifth behind La Crosse-Aquinas (247.5), Grant/Highland (186), Stratford (175), and Goodhue (173) of 22 D-III teams.  The event also had a girls’ component, where LARP’s Lauren Honken (109-111) won a 7-0 decision before forfeiting two medically.