Joeshinners.com State Team Preview

Team of the week

Week 11: West Allis Central. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 5 in the area, upset No. 1-ranked Arrowhead, 34-27, at the Homestead team sectional to earn their first berth to the state team tournament since 2001, the only time Central has qualified for the team tournament. Central also won the Greater Metro Conference dual and tournament titles, a regional title to go a long with the team sectional title this year.

Wrestler of the Week

Shane Hughes, Arrowhead. The junior knocked off the top two area wrestlers at 171 pounds in a four-day span to inject himself into the fray in the state’s toughest weight class this year. Hughes defeated Milwaukee Custer senior Davion Willis, 13-12, to win the 171 title at the Sussex Hamilton Regional. It was Willis’ first loss of the year. Hughes wasn’t done, however, for the week. During the Homstead teams sectional final, Hughes defeated West Allis Central senior Dan Diebitz, 6-5. It was Diebitz’ second loss of the year.

Joe’s Week 10 Team Rankings

Team Rankings Area (Final)
1, Arrowhead, 10-2 2, Muskego, 14-3 3, Burlington, 15-0 4, Pewaukee, 17-2 5, West Allis Central, 25-5 6, Hartford, 24-3 7, Franklin, 16-4 8, Kenosha Tremper, 33-4 9, Mukwonago, 14-3 10, Kewaskum, 13-5

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WiWrestling.com Rankings
Click for Complete List
(Final) Individual Division 1
103  1 Joe Umlauf Wausau West 9 2 Bobby Nachreiner Hartford 9 3 Zach Bruley Oshkosh North 11 4 Austin Hietpas Kaukauna 11 5 Wyatt Booth Merrill 11 6 Tyler Rice Kenosha Tremper 9 7 John Wells Milton 10 8 Alex Blaney Bay Port 9 9 Quinn Miracle Chippewa Falls 9 10 Gabriel Grahek Milwaukee Marquette 9 11 Jason Munoz Wisconsin Rapids 11 12 Kris Neumann Madison Edgewood 12  HM Mitchel Gundrum West Bend East 11 HM Austin Gonzalez Janesville Parker 9 HM Jordan Baumgartner Hudson 12 HM Alex Valentine LaCrosse Central 12 HM Tanner Dworak Tomah 10 HM Kameron Bourgeois Whitnall 11 HM Matt Ehlen Burlington 10 HM Ezekial Torres Milwaukee Bradley Tech 12 HM Daulton Vallesky Kettle Moraine 10 HM Casey Dentino Brookfield East 10 112  1 Ryan McQuade Appleton West 11 2 Tony Perl Sheboygan North 11 3 Justin Scherkenbach Muskego 10 4 Izzy Balsiger Chippewa Falls 10 5 Sam Kortes Franklin 11 6 Nate Hettinga Wausau West 10 7 James Bennett Holmen 10 8 Gordon Johnson Hudson 11 9 Steve Van Wychen Kaukauna 12 10 Nick Urso Stoughton 10 11 Austin Christenson Waterford 10 12 Derek Gill Burlington 10  HM Mason Bohm Shawano 11 HM Jake Jaborek Wisconsin Rapids 11 HM Skyler Pederson West Allis Central 10 HM Garrett Guttenberger Mukwonago 11 HM Jacob Syndergaard Pulaski 10 HM Ian Johnson Deforest 12 HM Logan Scheel Oshkosh West 10 HM Zurik Adler Tomah 12 HM Peter Wolff River Falls 12 HM Luc Stewart Ashwaubenon 11 HM Ferriez Johnson Milwaukee Bradley Tech 11 119  1 Justin Enderby Pulaski 12 2 Logan Cudd River Falls 11 3 Dominic Garcia Kenosha Tremper 10 4 Josiah Bobier Kaukauna 12 5 Jake Cain Middleton 9 6 Keegan Einerson Wisconsin Rapids 10 7 Jared Kust Shawano 11 8 Brennan Casey-Schmidt Janesville Parker 11 9 Rickie Pody Wausau West 12 10 Tyler Semrad Waukesha West 12 11 Nate Hennes Hartford 10 12 Adam Yde Hartland Arrowhead 10  HM Andrew Moyle West Allis Hale 10 HM Blake Koch Reedsburg 11 HM Hank Mattson Mukwonago 9 HM Landon Shea Milton 10 HM Jaron Cashaw Appleton West 11 HM Alex Kueck Neenah 10 HM Matt Natzke Merrill 12 HM Cody Szohr Germantown 11 HM Mike Miller Sauk Prairie 10 HM Danny Laurent Waukesha North 11

125 1 Jesse Thielke Germantown 11 2 Garrett Whitehead Milton 10 3 Justin Meins Port Washington 11 4 Zach Mommaerts Oconomowoc 12 5 Chad Stuiber Ashwaubenon 12 6 Ben Westover Wisconsin Rapids 11 7 Steven Fisher Greenfield 12 8 Peter Buchholz Racine Horlick 12 9 David Cabral Franklin 11 10 Justin Wolfenden Brookfield East 12 11 Cameron Kleven Oshkosh West 10 12 Tanner Owens Hudson 10

Click for Complete WiWrestling.com Rankings
State Rankings
Crossface Team
(Final)
Division 1: 1, Wisconsin Rapids; 2, Kaukauna; 3, Milton; 4, Wausau West; 5, Arrowhead; 6, Hudson; 7, Pulaski; 8, Muskego. Honorable mention – Marshfield, Hartford, Mukwonago, Stoughton, Merrill, West Allis Central, Hortonville, Green Bay Preble/East, Ashhwaubenon.
Division 2: 1, Luxemburg-Casco; 2, Oconto Falls; 3, Ellsworth; 4, Lodi; 5, Pewaukee; 6, Tomahawk; 7, Sparta; 8, Kewaskum. Honorable mention: Freedom, River Valley, Wrightstown; Marshall, Delavan-Darien, Campellsport, Amery, Sheboygan Falls, Seymour, Marshall, Valders, Nekoosa/Port Edwards.
Division 3: 1, Coleman; 2, Mineral Point; 3, Boyceville; 4, Edgar; 5, Cadott; 6, Reedsville; 7, DeSotoa; 8, (tie) Clear Lake and Glenwood City. Honorable mention: New Lisbon, Westby, Brillion, Oostburg, Random Lake, Iowa-Grant, Arcadia, Lomira Shiocton.

Crossface Individual
(Note: Rankings of all three divisions combined, top five individuals in state; area wrestlers ranked, through Thursday.)

Crossface All-State Team

Division 1  103 pounds 1. Joe Umlauf, Wausau West 2. John Wells, Milton 3. Wyatt Booth, Merrill 4. Jason Munoz, Wisconsin Rapids 5. Quinn Miracle Chippewa Falls 6. Austin Heitpas, Kaukauna 7. Zach Bruley, Oshkosh North 8. Bobby Nachreiner, Hartford  Honorable mention: Kris Neumann, Madison Edgewood; Tanner Dworak, Tomah; Tyler Rice, Tenosha Tremper; Alex Valentine, Lacrosse Central; Mitchell Gundrum, West Bend East  112 1. Justin Scherkenbach, Muskego 2. Izzy Balsiger, Chippewa Falls 3. Tony Perl, Sheboygan North 4. Jon Schuster, Wausau West 5. Derek Gil, Burlington 6. James Bennett, Holmen 7. Gordan Johnson, Hudson 8. Steve VanWychen, Kaukauna  Honorable mention: Jake Jaborek, Wisconsin Rapids; Nick Urso, Stoughton; Ian Johnson, DeForest Austin Christensen, Waterford 
Click for Complete All-State Crossface Rankings

Dieringer Finds Proper Perspective
By Joe Shinners Perspective is what Port Washington junior wrestler Alex Dieringer is all about. He’s been at the top of the podium almost everywhere he goes. Yet he’s experienced frustrating losses in the public eye, and still understands that for him wresting is about one thing: having some fun out there on the mat. Thankfully for Dieringer, he’s had many more good days than bad days as he embarks on his third trip to the individual state wrestling tournament as one of the top five wrestlers overall in the state. The individual state wrestling tournament runs from Thursday through Saturday at the Kohl Center in Madison. As usual, Dieringer will be the favorite to win a state title, this year in Division 1 at 140 pounds after Port shifted up to Division 1 after a one-year stint in D2 a year ago. His main competitors are expected to be Wisconsin Rapids sophomore Rylan Lubeck (45-3) and River Falls senior Cam Loomis (39-2).

Dieringer, the state D1 state champion at 103 pounds two years ago as a powerful lightweight, is looking to regain his state championship form after a frustrating loss in the D2 finals at 125 a year ago. That’s when Dieringer lost to Tomahawk’s Zach Zehner, now a senior, by a 7-6 decision in the 125 D2 final after a poorly timed headthrow was perfectly countered by Zehner. That loss has been gnawing at Dieringer ever since. More

Photo by Patrick Granger

Dieringer celebrates his 140-pound title by pointing to his fans in the crowd.

State Titles Fuel Thielke’s Drive
By Joe Shinners This is the time that drives Jesse Thielke. Talk to him after a match when it matters. The kid is focused, driven and not in a mood to discuss pleasantries. There’s still work to do. Sure, he’s got the national ranking (top 10 in his weight class in several national polls), national age group titles (too many to list), USA wrestling national team experience last summer in his age group and two individual Division 1 state tournament titles to his credit already.

Make no mistake about it,
however. This is a time when Thielke wants to win big. He wants to win in front of a big crowd in his state. He wants to win in front of those who have always had high expectations of him. It’s been that way since he was only a youth wrestler who won almost every tournament and then burst on the high school scene as many young kids do with high expectations. The only difference between the other young kids and Thielke is that Thiekle delivers when it matters.
More

Willis’ Road to Redemption
Began on Mat, Classroom

By Joe Shinners It’s been a long and trying road that Milwaukee Custer senior wrestler Davion Willis has walked. At times, he’s stumbled. But as he enters the stretch run of his final wrestling campaign, Willis can say he has straightened up and regained a steady footing in life over four years of effort. He’s excelled on the mat, in the classroom and in the community thanks to his determination and drive. He can thank wrestling, a saving grace for the young man who once never thought of goals or following a path to success that he is now on. It wasn’t always rosy for Willis, one of the top 171-pound wrestlers in the state. Life can be and was cruel to him early on. His mother died when he was only 7 years old. His relationship with his father has been distant, to say the least. It was tough sledding when he was growing up in Chicago. Nothing came easy.

Davion Willis Photograph by Patrick Granger

Central All Smiles With Team State Draw

By Joe Shinners After a 10-year hiatus, West Allis Central coach Jason Stromberg can thank the luck of the draw for his hopes that the Bulldogs can have a strong showing at the team state wrestling tournament this year. The tournament begins with Division 1 quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Friday at the Fieldhouse in Madison. Stromberg is happy his team was placed in the opposite half of the rotating draw from state power Wisconsin Rapids, the No. 1-ranked team in Division 1 and the top team overall in the state. Rapids’ sophomore class is so strong that the team is considered loaded for the next two years and is heavily favored to win its 19th overall team title and 14th since the inception of the state team tournament. Any team opposite Rapids in the draw has a good shot at reaching the D1 team final. The last time that Central qualified for the tournament, Central met Rapids in the first round and was routed by Rapids, 43-12. This year, Central (26-5) will face Franklin (16-4) in the quarterfinals. The other quarterfinal in that half of the bracket features state No. 3-ranked Milton (19-1) and area No. 2-ranked Muskego (14-3). Rapids (23-3) has already soundly defeated Milton, Muskego and state No. 4-ranked Wausau West, three D1 team qualifiers, earlier this year. Rapids opens against West. Stromberg hopes for a matchup with Rapids in the final. “This year, we have a nice matchup in the first round,” said Stromberg. “It’s not Rapids. That’s a big difference. I think the kids are fired up. They’re fired up about this tournament. They’re seniors and they’re back to win.” Central, with a core of six seniors who have carried the team all year, enters the tournament strong as a dual meet team but one that only qualified two wrestlers for the individual state wrestling tournament a week ago. More

Denied Access As many as three Per Mar Security employees refused to allow female reporters from several state newspapers access to areas where interviews were being conducted by male members of the media for the first two full days of the tournament and almost all of the morning and afternoon sessions of the tournament.
According to all of the female reporters interviewed, several guards would not allow them to follow wrestlers underneath the stands where athletes and coaches have always been interviewed since the Kohl Center began hosting the event in 1998.

When two of the guards were questioned, one said, “I have no comment. You’ll have to talk to our supervisor.”
Todd Clark, communications director for the WIAA, confirmed the guards acted alone and the direction of the WIAA or Per Mar officials. Clark confirmed that one man made the decision, and informed the others of the erroneous policy. Clark said a supervisor, apparently a woman, was brought in to tell the guards to allow female members of the media access to all areas male members of the media are allowed midway through the wrestlebacks for fifth and third place and into the championship round in the evening.

Per Mar Security

Photo By Patrick Granger

Alex Dieringer Photo by Patrick Granger

2010 State Photos by Patrick Granger:

Click on name to view

Jesse Thielke Davion Willis

Jake Sueflohn Alex Dieringer

Justin Mudlaff Al Yde

Dominic Garcia John Wells

Justin Scherkenbach Zach Noel

Kameron Bourgeois Bobby Nachreiner

Izzy Balsiger Austin Christenson

Kyle Welzen Taylor Mommaerts

Zach Mommaerts Jordan Lau

Casey Kenealy Ian Hackett

Weston Klink Jake Stilling

Chris Alexander James Miller

Siven Furseth Scott VanDeLoo

Tyler Quartullo Jarid Baumgartner

Jackson Urso Nick Jazdzewski

MATSIDE

Team State Notes

Division 1: Wisconsin Rapids will be in a foul mood after failing to win a state title a week ago at the individual state tournament. Rapids should rack up huge victories after its three finalists were booed at the individual state tournament after tough finals losses in highly competitive finals. Only a shocking upset could prevent Rapids, the state’s premiere wrestling program, from winning another state team title…Wausau West, the state champion two years ago, will be lucky to win three matches against Rapids in the quarterfinals after qualifying for the sixth time overall and fourth consecutive year…Kaukauna just doesn’t have the depth to challenge for the title, although the Galloping Ghosts do feature two-time state champion Noah Budi (189), who is considered one of the top seniors in the state. Kaukauna qualified for the 10th time overall and finished second in 2008…Muskego, wrestling without injured senior Derek Olson (152), qualified for the ninth time overall and third consecutive time. Muskego won the state title in 1994, but may not have the depth to move past Milton in the quarterfinals…Milton is making its ninth appearance and won the state title in 2002. Milton also finished second in 1995, and is considered the favorite to reach the final…Franklin qualified for the fifth time in six years and seventh overall…Holmen is making its fourth trip to the state tournament…West Allis Central is making its first trip to the state meet in 10 years.

Division 2: All four teams from a year ago return to the field. Defending champion Ellsworth qualified for the fifth straight year and ninth overall…Lodi returns for the ninth straight year and 13th overall…Oconto Falls returns to the tournament for the second time…Pewaukee is making its third straight tournament appearance.
Division 3: Mineral Point is the three-time defending champion, but is ranked No. 2 in the state. The Pointers area making their ninth trip to the team tournament…Oostburg is making its first trip to the state tournament…Boyceville is making its 8th overall trip to the state meet and won a team title in 1996… Coleman returns for the third consecutive year and is seeking its seventh overall title. Coleman has finished second six times overall.
 Results: The quickest way to get results will be to access the TrackWrestling.com Web site or the WIAA Web site at: www.wiaawi.org/index.php?id=440.

Pewaukee Pirates Team Photo The Pirates will be making their third consecutive State Team appearance in Madison this weekend. Photo by Ed Kurth Sr.