WESTBY — The Aquinas High School wrestling team will be all over the Kohl Center floor next weekend after eight boys qualified for the WIAA Division 3 individual state tournament by placing among the top three in their brackets at the Westby Sectional on Saturday.
The Blugolds, who also had Sophia Paulson qualify out of a girls sectional on Friday, will have nine competitors in Madison, and two of them leave as sectional champions.
Juniors Roger Flege and Tyson Martin both won brackets on Saturday, and teammates Lincoln Stanek, Tyler Paulson and Trevor Paulson all placed second.
Martez Sheard, Waylon Hargrove and Will Flottmeyer all finished third and will also represent Aquinas at the state tournament.
Martin (41-2), a two-time state runner-up, swept through the 215-pound bracket with three pins to become a three-time state qualifier. Martin, ranked first in Division 3 by Wisconsin Grappler, easily took care of third-ranked and previously unbeaten Wesley Egan of Orfordville Parkview/Albany (52-1) by pinning him in 1 minute, 25 seconds of the championship bout.
Martin finished his first two matches in 32 seconds and 1:02.
Flege, who has two fourth-place state finishes under his belt, dominated the 132-pound bracket with a pair of technical falls that put him in the title match. That’s where he met fourth-ranked Lakota Brewer of Riverdale (44-7), and the top-ranked Flege (44-3) prevailed 4-0.
Stanek (36-9), a freshman, won three of four matches and earned his state spot at 106 by pinning Lancaster’s William Kratochvill (36-16) in 2:58 during the second-place match. He won his first two matches by major decision and decision before Mineral Point’s Memphis Burkhalter beat him 9-4 in the championship bout.
Freshman Tyler Paulson (36-10) is a qualifier at 126 after pinning three opponents and getting pinned by one. Paulson advanced when he finished off Cashton’s Parker Mlsna (45-9) in 59 second of the second-place match. Paulson was sent to the second-place match when Pecatonica/Argyle’s second-ranked Lukas Orloff (54-2) pinned him in the finals.
Trevor Paulson, a senior, takes a 38-10 record to Madison after advancing at 150. Paulson had to wrestle five times, and he came out of that with a pin, a technical fall and two decisions. He was knocked out of the title picture Jacob Dannenberg (38-11) in the semifinals, but he came back to beat Ithaca/Weston’s Ashtin Bennett 33-10) by technical fall and Iowa-Grant/Highland’s Brock Hinderman (28-5) 11-8 in third- and second-place matches, respectively. Hinderman is ranked second in the state.
Sheard (38-4, 120), Hargrove (34-7, 157) and Flottmeyer (18-5) also advanced, and each of them won three of four matches.
Sheard lost in the semifinals and claimed third place with a technical fall over Boscobel’s Ashton Udelhoven. Hargrove also lost in the semifinals and advanced with an 8-5 sudden victory over Mineral Point’s Sawyer Dannenberg (30-13). Flottmeyer followed a semifinal loss by pinning Pittsville’s Caden Behselich (48-8) in 1:40 for third place.
