Wrestling (1/6)

Girls Wrestling: Christenson’s Title Highlights Area Girls at Bi-State

A year ago, at the first ever girls Bi-State wrestling tournament, GMLOS had five placers and Chatfield two. Bulldog Diann Smith’s third place finish was the best finish. This year’s large event had the two squads back in action in La Crosse. Each had five girls’ place. GMLOS’ Brandy Christenson broke new ground. She grabbed her program’s first ever Bi-State girl’s title. At 114-pounds, the sophomore went 4-0 with three pins. Her closest match was a 9-8 quarterfinal decision win over Lodi’s Zoe Licht (13-3). There were only two ranked girls in the 30-gal field at Christenson’s weight, but five gals who finished top five at last year’s Bi-State. Christenson (12-2) beat three of them, including Licht, and Gabbi VonBerge (12-3) of Hutchinson/BLH for the title. Licht (114) and VonBerge (120) took fourth a year ago. Bulldog Kloe Meyer (235) rattled off three straight pins to also make the semis. She then lost to eventual champ, Belmont/Platteville’s #2 at 185 Kalie Davis (12-0), and then to Nekoosa/Assumption/Port Edwards’ Lexie Stoflet (8-2), each by fall. Meyer (8-6) finished with a 10-2 major decision win to take fifth (of 22), repeating her place from last year. Taking eighth (of 31), ninth (of 19), and tenth (of 34) respectively for GMLOS were Paisley Schlee (107), Chloe Hubbard (100), and Zoe Steinkamp (132). Schlee (9-5) went 3-3, winning three of her first four matches (each by fall) while losing by 6-1 decision to Westby’s #3 at 114 Kylie Klum (11-2). Schlee’s last two matches were each first period losses by fall. Two of her three losses were to ranked Wisconsin girls. Hubbard (11-3) went 3-2, winning twice by tech fall (16-0, 19-2), and once by decision (11-5), losing both times by fall. Hubbard took seventh last year. Steinkamp (11-6) went 5-3, winning or losing her first seven matches by fall before dropping the ninth-place match by 14-8 decision. Steinkamp placed seventh at 114 last year. With nine girls participating, GMLOS (140) took eighth as a team (of 75). Bay Port (198) won the girls team crown.

Chatfield had five girls place, all in the seventh to 12th range. Emily Bova (100) and Kendyl Nolte (152) each took seventh (of 19 and 29 respectively). Bova went 3-2 with wins by fall, 21-4 tech fall, and 18-8 major decision (over Bonduel’s #10 at 107 Kailyn Kroenig). Her losses were by 15-0 tech fall to eventual champion Brynn Engel (14-1) of Badger and by fall to Holmen’s #8 at 107 Aini Anderson (11-2). Bova (12-2) took fourth at last year’s Bi-State. Nolte (ranked #9 at 148) went 4-2, all matches decided by fall. The two losses were to Wausau West’s #8 at 152 Lana Borchardt (12-2) and to Bloomington Kennedy’s #5 at 136 Noelia Fierro (7-5). Nolte is 7-3. Brynn Horsman (120) went 4-2 to take ninth place (of 35). All six of her finishes were by fall, as she won two, lost two, and won two. One of her losses was to the 120-pound champ Emjay Neumann (10-1) of Manitowoc-Lincoln. Horsman is 14-4. Elle Eickhoff (145) went 3-3 to take tenth place (of 30). All her matches also were fall finishes. One of her losses was to the 145-pound champion, Spencer/Columbus Catholic/Granton’s Azariah Hoffman (15-1). Eickhoff is 14-6. Kinley Manahan (126) started the tourney with three straight wins (8-7 decision, two falls) before dropping four straight (15-0 tech fall, 7-5 decision, fall, 15-0 tech fall). Manahan (13-6) took 12th place (of 36). Chatfield had eight girls participate and the team (108.5) took 12th place (of 75).

Boys Wrestling: #1 Chatfield Grabs Second Straight Bi-State Title

Chatfield, LARP, and Caledonia/Houston wrestling programs took on the Bi-State tournament. Impressively, the #1 in Class A Gophers defended their team crown with another two days of gritty wrestling. For a second straight year, they scored more team points than all 69 teams involved. The Gophers (257) topped nearest foes La Crosse Aquinas (213.5) and Iowa-Grant/Highland (203) for the Division III title. The hosts from Holmen (214.5) won the D-I title, Evansville (214.5) the D-II title. Thirteen Gophers competed and 12 notched at least two wins. Nine made Day 2, and eight placed. And unlike last year, Chatfield brought home an individual title. At 106-pounds, Jameson Priebe (Class A #2 at 107) impressively won his most prestigious tourney yet. The frosh went fall, 17-7 major, 11-2 major, 7-6 decision, and 11-1 major to grab his title. He beat three ranked opponents, Z-M’s #8 in AA Carl Murray (17-5), Evansville’s D-II #1 Collin Frey (20-1) in the semis, and West Salem/Bangor’s D-I #1 Teghan Moore (19-2) in the finals. The decision over Frey came by ultimate tiebreaker, an escape with 0:01 in double overtime. Priebe’s last four foes sport a combined 76-13 record. Priebe (13-0) took tenth at last year’s Bi-State. Teammates Carson Rowland (150) and Ayden Miner (165) also made the semis. Rowland (A #1 at 152) went fall, 12-0 major, 7-1 decision, and 5-2 decision to make the 157-pound finals before falling by 18-0 tech fall to Evansville’s D-II #1 at 157 Danny Heiser (17-0). Heiser claimed his third Bi-State title. He is a reigning three-time Wisconsin state champ. Rowland topped ranked foes D-I #9 Carson Kempf (16-3) of DC Everest and D-III #1 Tyson Imhoff (17-5) of Iowa/Grant-Highland in the quarters and semis. With the runner-up place, Rowland (13-1) improved on a fifth finish a year ago. Miner (A #2 at 160) notched 19-4, 17-2, and 22-6 tech falls, plus a 7-3 decision, to make the semis before dropping back-to-back matches by 4-3 and 4-1 decisions. The losses were to Hutchinson/BLH’s AA #4 at 172 Luke Hoag (14-1) and Iowa-G/H’s D-III #1 Jaxon Busse (20-2). Miner (13-2) finished with a 4-2 decision win over Prairie du Chien’s D-II #4 at 165 Bryce Lenzendorf (18-6). The senior took fifth place after taking fourth last year. Not making the semis but posting the Gophers third best finish was Javier Berg (A #4 at 120). Berg posted fall and 15-0 tech fall wins before falling by 17-7 major to Holmen’s D-I #8 Nathan Henderson (14-2) in the quarters. Berg rallied with four straight wins; fall, 14-2 major, 7-6 decision, and 5-4 decision to take third place. All four wrestle-back wins were over ranked foes; Lodi’s D-II #9 Bryer Caves (14-4), Z-M’s Class AA #6 at 121 Jent Beyer (14-7), Bay Port’s D-I #2 Owen Wathke (23-2), and Stratford’s D-III #3 Trenton Cournoyer (24-2). Versus Wathke and Cournoyer, Berg built 5-0 leads before holding on. The six guys Berg beat combined for 98 wins. Berg (15-1) recorded his fourth top four finish at Bi-State (runner-up 2022 and 2023, fourth in 2021). Alden Pearson (A #7 at 145) had Chatfield’s next highest finish. He went 5-2 overall with five decision matches (won two falls, won 7-6, lost 5-0, won 9-7, lost 8-1, won 4-2). Pearson took seventh place at 144-pounds. His losses were to New Richmond’s D-I #3 at 150 Luke Kamish (16-2) and PDC’s D-II #10 Mason Hird (20-5). Pearson (11-5) took 11th place last year (at 138). Unranked guys Hunter Polikowsky (138) and Will Boelter (215) each went 5-3 to take 11th place. Each won two bouts, lost a bout, won two bouts, lost two bouts, then ended with win. Polikowsky finished with an 11-5 decision over Holmen’s D-I #9 Noah Henderson (13-5). One of his consolation losses was by 17-16 decision. Boelter (13-5) ended with a win over Belmont/Platteville’s D-II #9 Mason Mandurano by fall. All five of his wins were by fall. Ben Carrier (175) used a forfeit and two pins to make the quarters, only to fall by fall and then medically forfeit his next three matches. Carrier (7-2) finished in 12th place. Logan Pearson (113 > 9-2) also made Day 2, going 3-2 overall, but he was one win away from placing. Kaisen Johnson (132 > 11-3) also went 3-2, but did not make Day Two. With their eight placers, the Gophers came one short of last year’s total of nine placers. The lowest number of competitors in a weight was 42 (at 106), the highest was 61 (at 138).

LARP and Caledonia/Houston also competed in the tourney. The Screamin’ Eagles (81.5) took 11th of the 25 D-II teams while the Warriors (56) took 15th. Ten LARP guys competed with Zach Plank (190) and Owen Lange (126) each placing. Plank (16-5) notched three falls to make the quarters. He then lost three of four matches. The first two losses were by 21-6 tech fall to D-II #2 Ben Kienbaum (23-0) of Kiel and by fall to D-II #4 at 215 Hayden Gyllin (13-2) of Mauston/Necedah. Plank (16-5) fell to Beaver Dam’s Gavin Vitense (22-4) by 17-10 decision in the seventh-place match, thus taking eighth. All four of his wins were by fall. Lange went 5-3 for the tourney to take 10th place. He won two (16-0 tech fall, fall), lost (17-1 tech fall), won two (10-1 major, fall), lost (11-4 decision), won (no contest), and lost (6-2 decision). Lange (18-3) suffered his first three defeats of the year, all to highly ranked guys; Marshfield’s D-I #6 at 132 Jon Sternweis (20-3), Auburndale’s D-III #4 Zade Grassel (15-5), and Richland Center’s D-II #1 Ethan Hady (14-3) respectively. Quintin Betthauser (150 > 15-4) also made Day 2 of the tourney. He went 3-2 overall but missed the placement by one match. His two losses were by 9-5 and 5-0 decision. For Caledonia/Houston, nine guys competed. Aiden Burns was the only Warrior to place. One of three wrestlers with two opening round byes at 113, Burns went 2-3 in actual matches. He won a 6-4 decision, lost a 5-0 decision, won by fall, then lost by 11-3 major, and lost a 6-0 decision. Burns (6-3) took eighth place. All three of his losses were to Minnesota guys. Will Allen (157 > 4-3) also made Day 2, going 2-2 for the tourney. His two wins were by fall, his losses by tech fall (to eventual 157-pound champ, D-II #1 at 165 Danny Heiser of Evansville) and 4-2 decision to Holmen’s Colin Griffin (14-4). Cooper Allen (190 > 5-2) went 3-2 but did not make Day 2.