By Joe Shinners Even Ed Kurth had reason to smile. Kurth, notorious for being critical of his team no matter how it does, was happy as could be after the Pewaukee Pirates qualified eight wrestlers for the state individual wrestling tournament Saturday with a solid showing at the Division 2 Milwaukee Lutheran Sectional. The top three wrestlers in all 14 weight classes at Division 2 and Division 3 sectionals advanced to the state meet, scheduled to be held Thursday through Saturday at the Kohl Center in Madison. The top two wrestlers in Division 1 sectionals advanced to state. Kewaskum had the second-most qualifiers with six, followed by Campbellsport (5) and Valders (4) among the 22 teams at the sectional. “I’m amazed with got eight through,” said Kurth. “I thought five (qualifiers) would be regular, six would be good and seven would be great. I never thought we’d get eight.” Pewaukee sent a tournament-high five wrestlers to the finals and came away with two champions in seniors Max Nonnamaker and Mitch Teeters. Nonnamaker improved his record to 34-16 with a 4-1 victory over Campbellsport senior Parker Peterson (31-9) in the 112-pound final. Nonnamaker needed a takedown with 41 seconds to go to seal the victory. Teeters (40-10) used a reversal early in the third period and a solid ride to defeat Kewaskum junior Jared Koffke (30-10) by a 6-2 decision in the final at 119. The biggest upset for Pewaukee came when senior Travis Decker (36-12) got caught going for a slick takedown and was put to his back and pinned in 1 minute 15 seconds in the final at 171. Pewaukee, and Decker, rebounded to go 4-1 in the second-place wrestlebacks to close out its day on a positive note. “Travis tried to roll through on a takedown and got caught,” said Kurth. “He tried to get funky. Other than that, all the surprises were good surprises today.” No one was more relieved to qualify for the state tournament than Kewaskum senior Cody Seibel. A year ago, Seibel came to the sectional as one of the top two ranked wrestlers at 189 pounds, lost in the semifinals, reinjured his shoulder and lost in the wrestlebacks as he failed to qualify for state. That didn’t happen this year. Seibel injured the same shoulder during football season, but this year he took his time recovering. The patience paid off in the 215-pound title this year and his second berth to state. Seibel came out bruised and battered with a bloodied nose and an egg-sized lump above his right eye, but Seibel was fine with those small injuries as long as he left with the title and a state berth. “I just wrestled crappy (last year),” said Seibel. “I’ve been looking at this the whole season. I overcame everything this year.” Seibel (30-1) outlasted Pewaukee senior Kent Grimscheid (43-8) by a 1-0 decision in the semifinals, and then pinned Chilton junior Ross Groeschl (34-9) in 4:22 in the final. Grimscheid wrestled back to take second. “I just want to go to state, get in the final and wrestle my butt off and see what happens,” said Seibel. Kewaskum sent three wrestlers to the finals, and Seibel’s brother was the team’s other champion. Bo Seibel, a junior, qualified for his third straight state tournament by pinning Valders junior Caynen Klessig (33-10) in 2:56 to win the 160 title. Kewaskum went 9-1 in the wrestlebacks to secure its six state qualifiers. “We got six through,” said Kewaskum coach Dennis Aupperle. “So overall it was a solid day. It was a good day.” East Troy senior Jake Zess (43-3), a fifth-place finisher at state a year ago, defeated Valders senior Brandon Schisel (36-7) by a 7-1 decision to win the 140 title. Milwaukee Lutheran senior Taylor Witty (37-2) entered the tournament with only one loss, but his quarterfinal loss at 285 ended his season. Witty was pinned by Kiel senior Jose Sandoval in 5:24. Sandoval then lost in the semifinals and Witty did not get a wrestleback. Valders senior Logan Figueroa (42-0 at 285) was the only wrestler to emerge undefeated. The toughest weight class was 189 pounds. It featured five wrestlers with a combined 11 losses, including Union Grove senior Guy Keeku and East Troy senior Brennan Price. Keeku entered 34-1 and Price entered 39-3. Campbellsport senior Zach Wetzel (37-3) defeated Berlin senior Josh Ferron (39-3) by a 12-5 decision to win the 189 title. Keeku (37-2) defeated Valders senior Brock Binversie (35-4) by a 6-4 decision in the third-place wrestle back to join Wetzel and Ferron as state qualifiers. Go Back to the Home Page Read More Articles by Joe../../../08-09_Articles.htmlshapeimage_3_link_0shapeimage_3_link_1