LA CROSSE — The Aquinas High School boys wrestling team won a WIAA Division 3 regional championship when it hosted the competition at the Reinhart Athletic Complex on Saturday.
The Blugolds beat nine other teams with 322 points and advanced to team sectional at Mineral Point on Tuesday. Aquinas will wrestle Iowa-Grant/Highland in one semifinal, and Mineral Point meets Royall/Wonewoc-Center in the other before the winners match up to close the night.
Team sectional champions compete in the team state tournament at the UW Field House in Madison on March 7-8.
The Blugolds also had 11 qualifiers for next weekend’s individual sectional hosted by Westby. Aquinas had eight regional champions.
Senior Tyson Martin (38-2) blew through the 215-pound bracket with semifinal and championship pins in less than a minute. Martin, ranked first at his weight by Wisconsin Grappler, ended his title match against Hillsboro’s Ryan McCoic (31-8) in 41 seconds.
Freshmen Lincoln Stanek, Martez Sheard and Tyler Paulson started the championship run for the Blugolds by winning at 106, 120 and 126, respectively.
Stanek (33-8) won his semifinal and title matches by technical fall and won the championship with a 17-1 win over Whitehall’s Frank Juresh. Sheard won by pin in the semifinals and beat Whitehall’s Kivin Juresh (29-13) 20-3 to win the bracket.
Paulson (33-9) advanced to the final at 126 with a pin and a technical fall. He then beat Cashton’s Parker Mlsna (42-7) 15-1.
Junior Roger Flege (41-3) followed that with a championship at 132, which he won with two pins and a technical fall. He needed 3:13 to beat Independence/Gilmanton’s Owen Gierok (15-7) by a 15-0 score.
Senior Trevor Paulson and juniors Waylon Hargrove and Will Flottmeyer also won titles for the Blugolds.
Paulson (34-9) won at 150 by finishing both of his matches in the first period. He pinned Royall/Wonewoc-Center’s Garret Dragan (17-1) in 1:02 for the championship.
Hargrove (31-6) won the bracket at 157 and Flottmeyer (15-4) at 285.
Hargrove had a pin and technical fall, and his title match with Royall/Wonewoc-Center’s Turner Calhoun (23-9) was won with a 17-1 score that needed just 3:16. Flottmeyer had two pins and a major decision and pinned Pittsville’s Caden Behselich (46-6) in 3:24 for his championship.
Grady Nicklay (24-19, 144) and Isaac Miller (18-19, 175) added third-place finishes, and Michael Jones (15-14, 138) was fourth for Aquinas.
DIVISION 2
Richland Center Regional
RICHLAND CENTER — The G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro co-op came away with a team championship after scoring 275 points to beat second-place Lodi (228.5). Arcadia was sixth with 115 points.
The Titans walked away with five individual champions and nine qualifiers for next weekend’s sectional hosted by Wisconsin Dells. They will wrestle Belmont/Platteville in a sectional semifinal dual at Prairie du Chien on Tuesday. Lodi meets Fennimore in the other semifinal.
Juniors Koda Purney and Colton Koss posted bracket victories at 113 and 120, respectively.
Purney (42-6) won once by pin and twice by technical fall. He secured his title with a 19-1 win in 2:21 over Mauston/Necedah’s Landynn Miller (35-8).
Koss is headed to the sectional after a technical fall and pin gave him the chance to pin Richland Center’s Ethan Hady (42-7) in 1:55 in the final.
Junior Jayce Stetzer, senior Gunnar Johnson and sophomore Aaron Dunigan also won championships for the Titans.
Stetzer (40-8) was pushed the hardest but won at 138 with a 13-9 decision over Nekoosa’s Gavin Tritz (33-9). He advanced to that match with a pair of technical falls.
Johnson (45-5) pinned his opponents in the quarterfinal and semifinal before earning a 15-0 technical fall over Lodi’s Alex Breunig (35-12) in the final at 157.
Dunigan (45-6) cruised through three opponents with two pins and a technical fall. He pinned Nekoosa’s Joseph Bertling (30-8) in 2:22 to win the 215 bracket.
Gunnar Kremer (24-10, 126) and Layne Fry (30-12, 144) finished second and Brody Banse (31-17, 132) and Braden Peterson (34-14, 175) third for G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro.
Arcadia has four qualifiers for Wisconsin Dells after two third-place and two fourth-place finishes.
Zayden Sanchez won two of three wrestled matches to place third at 106, and David Aguilar (34-15) went 2-2 for third place at 165.
Adalberto Ortiz (25-14) finished fourth at 144, and teammate Angel Garcia (15-14, 190) did the same at 190.
