MADISON — As Holmen High School senior AJ Alesch walked through the tunnel of the Kohl Center, the sweat poured off of him, and coaches celebrated.
He sat against a wall and started to cool down after winning a 150-pound quarterfinal match during the WIAA individual state wrestling tournament at the Kohl Center in Madison.
The Vikings wrestled well during Thursday’s first two sessions, and Alesch’s 15-5 major decision over fourth-seeded Alex Martinez of Westosha Central on Thursday evening put an exclamation point on the performance.
Holmen has five qualifiers for Friday night’s semifinal round after its seven entrants posted a 10-2 record in first-round and quarterfinal bouts.
“We’re winning as a group, and that’s what we came here to do,” said Alesch (47-7), a fifth seed in his bracket. “We’re not here to lose, and I think we’re doing a pretty good job of that.”
Freshman Brendan Henderson, sophomore Rex Lancaster, junior Brock Needham and sophomore Nathan Henderson will all join Alesch in the semifinals after matching his unbeaten day.
Holmen has been wrestling for this weekend and next weekend all season. The Vikings have already qualified for the WIAA team state tournament at the La Crosse Center next weekend, so they are trying to set that up with a big weekend in Madison.
Alesch fed off the early success and scored four takedowns in the first period of his quarterfinal and contributed to that early success by pinning 12th-seeded Dylan Sardina of West Allis Hale in 14 seconds.
He meets three-time champion and Oconomowoc senior Kellen Wolbert (50-0) in the semifinal round. Alesch said he did no specific research on Wolbert prior to Thursday’s sessions, but that will likely change before Friday night.
“I’ll just do what I can and go as hard as I can,” Alesch said of the matchup. “It doesn’t matter who he is, I’m going to give all my effort, go on the attack and enjoy the moment.”
The Vikings had their first semifinalist when third-seeded Brendan Henderson (51-2) recorded his second pin of the day at 113. Henderson’s first match against Whitefish Bay freshman Miguel Potter last just 1 minute, 22 seconds, and his second — against sixth-seeded Waukesha West sophomore Kyler Van Keuren (33-10) — was over in 1:10.
Even though it is his first state tournament, Henderson said he was comfortable from the start.
“I think a lot of people overthink it with the big stadium and all the fans,” he said. “You just have to go in there and wrestle your match. But I am new to the three-day weigh-in, so we’ll see how that goes.
Brendan Henderson is matched up with second-seeded Jack Falk (38-4), a junior from Pulaski, in the semifinal round. He said he sought advice from teammate Rex Lancaster on Van Keuren and will do the same with Falk after Lancaster encountered both in previous matches.
Lancaster (47-4), seeded third, enjoyed a dominant Thursday with a pair of technical falls to win his matches at 120. He continued to add to his team record of takedowns in a season, which stands at 199 after he had seven during a 21-6 win over Nicolet sophomore Logan Stratton (20-15) in the first round and four in a 17-2 victory over 11th-seeded Cooper Herzig (37-12) of Muskego in the quarterfinal.
“It helps me to stay in matches when I work to score and score and score,” said Lancaster, who held the previous record for takedowns in a season with 188 and placed sixth at 106 a year ago. “Takedowns help with that and are something familiar that can do to keep going.”
His semifinal opponent is Oconomowoc freshman Lincoln Swick (44-5), who knocked off second-seeded Andrew DiPiazza (41-10) of Kaukauna 5-2 in the quarterfinals.
Needham (50-5), seeded third at 126, opened with a pin at 3:20 against Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights freshman Samuel Strutz (38-17) and followed it up with a 9-5 win over sixth-seeded Bryan Rivera (37-6) of Waukesha West.
Needham pulled away from a one-score match with a takedown in the second period and controlled the action until Rivera reversed him in the closing seconds of the third.
“I’m focused on the key things that I can do to move through the tournament,” said Needham, who pushed his career total to 123 victories.
Needham was successful at getting to Rivera’s legs, and while he didn’t score, he was able to burn a lot of time in the third period by not letting go when he grabbed one on a shot.
“That’s right where I want to be,” Needham said. “I can get to a lot of my offense there, and it took a lot of energy out of him.”
Nathan Henderson (40-2), seeded second at 138, followed up a first-round bye with a 1-0 victory over 10th-seeded Wyatt Sandoval (37-11) of Hartland Arrowhead.
Henderson scored the escape 7 seconds into the third period and held on for the win and semifinal matchup with Menomonie’s third-seeded Aidan Aure (35-4) on Friday.
“I didn’t get a (first-round) match, and he did, so I knew I had to come out ready,” Henderson said. “He was a good wrestler, but I dominated on top and just needed to get to my feet.
“Once I got (the escape), I just didn’t want to do anything stupid since I had the lead.”
Justin Lancaster said Henderson’s quarterfinal victory can be the kind of match that’s tough to navigate.
“It’s a scary situation, right?” he said. “It’s one move away from winning or losing. You have to stay composed in that, and Nathan did a great job.”
The coach said he would let his wrestlers be kids on Thursday night and enjoy the experience of Thursday. Early Friday will be for game-planning to continue what the team started.
“They can play poker or video games and just hang out,” he said. “We will come up with a plan on Friday, and they will get a good workout in, so we are ready for (Friday) night.”
BOYS
DIVISION 1
Thursday's quarterfinal results
113: (3) Brendan Henderson, fr., Holmen (51-2) pinned (6) Kyler Van Keuren, so., Waukesha West (33-10) 1:10
120: (3) Rex Lancaster, so., Holmen (47-4) tech. fall (11) Cooper Herzig, jr., Muskego (37-12) 17-2, 4:28
126: (3) Brock Needham, jr., Holmen (50-5) dec. (6) Bryan Rivera, sr., Waukesha West (37-6) 9-5
138: (2) Nathan Henderson, so., Holmen (39-2) dec. Wyatt Sandoval, sr., Hartland Arrowhead (37-11) 1-0
150: (5) AJ Alesch, sr., Holmen (47-7) maj. dec. (4) Alex Martinez, so., Westosha Central (41-4) 15-5
Thursday's first-round results
106: (3) Jackson Freeman, jr., Wisconsin Rapids (31-1) maj. dec. (14) Brady Needham, fr., Holmen (36-18) 8-0
113: (3) Brendan Henderson, fr., Holmen (50-2) pinned (14) Miguel Potter, fr., Whitefish Bay (9-10) 1:22
120: (3) Rex Lancaster, so., Holmen (46-4) tech. fall (14) Logan Stratton, so., Nicolet (20-15) 21-6, 1:17
126: (3) Brock Needham, jr., Holmen (49-5) pinned (14) Samuel Strutz, fr., Sauk Prairie/Wis. Heights (38-17) 3:20
132: (3) Oliver Larson, jr., River Falls (46-7) tech. fall (14) Rock West, so., Logan/Central (17-18) 16-0, 1:40
150: (5) AJ Alesch, sr., Holmen (46-7) pinned (12) Dylan Sardina, fr., West Allis Hale (35-9) :14
190: (7) Brady Stammer, sr., Homestead (28-3) tech. fall (10) Maximus Todd, sr., Onalaska/Luther (41-5) 17-2, 3:54
285: (9) London Hadley, jr., Racine Case (25-3) maj. dec. (8) Jagger Jepson, sr., Holmen (37-13) 12-4
