HUDSON — The Holmen High School boys wrestling team is headed back to the WIAA team state tournament after a dominant performance during two Division 1 sectional duals on Tuesday night.
The Vikings, ranked third by Wisconsin Grappler, beat New Richmond 49-19 in a semifinal and Menomonie 58-16 in the championship to win the Hudson Sectional and earn their first trip to state since 2022.
Holmen is now a 13-time state qualifier and will await its seed for the tournament, which takes place March 7-8 at the UW Field House in Madison.
Junior Jagger Jepson, freshmen Rex Lancaster and Nathan Henderson and seniors Turner Campbell and Camden Thiele all won twice for Holmen, and all of them earned bonus points in the dual victory over the Mustangs — a team the Vikings also beat during The Clash National Duals at the La Crosse Center in January.
Jepson (8-5) won twice by pin and was able to overcome a late takedown by Menomonie’s Bryce Shepard that turned a slim lead into a slim deficit at 285 pounds in the championship dual. Jepson also pinned New Richmond’s Matthew Fouks in 2:42.
Lancaster (38-4) won by pin and technical fall at 106. He pinned Menomonie’s Breckan Babl in 2:33 and won a 23-8 technical fall from New Richmond’s Jaxson Lorentz.
Campbell won by technical fall and pin at 132 and 126, respectfully, and Thiele had one pin at 144 and a technical fall at 138.
Campbell (29-2) picked up his tech fall over New Richmond’s Ben Wilhelm and pinned Menomonie’s Carter Goodman in 43 seconds. That pin gave Holmen a 28-5 lead over the Mustangs.
Thiele (28-11) beat New Richmond’s Landon Cook 18-3 at 144 and pinned Menomonie’s Easton Anderson in 3:29 at 138.
Henderson (34-4) won by pin and major decision at 120. He pinned New Richmond’s Eden Henning in 3:50 and handed Menomonie’s Bailey Casey a 14-2 defeat.
Holmen showed off its depth with a varied lineup and had 14 wrestlers win at least one match for the sectional sweep.
Menomonie 39, West Salem/Bangor 34
HUDSON — The Mustangs advanced to the championship dual by beating the Catbirds.
West Salem/Bangor won three of the first four matches — all by pin or injury default — for an 18-6 lead before the Mustangs won the next five.
Seniors Trevor Arentz (45-8) and Miles Olson (39-14) won by injury default at 215 and by pin at 285, respectively, to kick off the dual.
Junior Teghan Moore (46-3) followed a loss with another pin for the 18-6 advantage.
Junior Mason Chambers (37-11, 144) and sophomore Justice Elam (31-13, 150) also won matches for the Catbirds. Chambers won by technical fall and Elam by pin.
DIVISION 2
Prairie du Chien Sectional
Belmont/Platteville 43, G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro 32
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN — The 12th-ranked Titans came up short in a semifinal against ninth-ranked Belmont/Platteville.
G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro was within 26=-20 after Jayce Stetzer (41-8) won a 7-2 decision from Oliver Harcus at 144, but Belmont/Platteville won four of the final six matches.
Koda Purney (43-6, 113), Colton Koss (41-2, 120), Brody Banse (32-17, 132), Gunnar Johnson (46-5, 165) and Cale Pickering (30-18, 215) all won matches for the Titans. Purney, Koss, Johnson and Pickering won by pin, and Banse won by technical fall.
DIVISION 3
Mineral Point Sectional
Iowa-Grant 42, Aquinas 33
MINERAL POINT — Fourth-ranked Iowa-Grant beat third-ranked Aquinas in a semifinal between elite teams.
Aquinas junior Tyson Martin (35-2), ranked first at 215, pinned Iowa-Grant’s Bode Brokopp, ranked second at 285, in 4:36 when they matched up at 215.
Iowa-Grant’s Jaxon Busse, ranked first at 157, also bumped down to meet Aquinas junior Waylon Hargrove (28-6), who is ranked 11th at 157, and pinned Hargrove in 3:33.
Trevor Paulson (29-8, 150) and Lincoln Stanek (30-8, 106) also picked up wins in wrestled matches for the Blugolds.
