LA CROSSE — G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro wrestling coach Pete Peterson felt fortunate to find out that his team’s WIAA Division 2 state quarterfinal dual against seventh-seeded Denmark was going to start at 132 pounds on Friday.
It gave Peterson a chance to get the team state tournament started with four-time state qualifier Colton Koss first on the mat for his second-seeded Titans.
What Peterson didn’t anticipate was sophomore Jace Anderson to supply the back end of a one-two punch that sent G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro on the first steps of what became a 51-22 victory at the La Crosse Center.
Koss (44-9) pinning Denmark freshman Aaron Wessley in just 4 seconds was hardly a surprise, but Anderson (33-12) sticking freshman state qualifier Rhett Welsing at 3:08 in an unanticipated matchup sent early celebration to another level.
“They had a state qualifier (Welsing) that they bumped away from Koss and up to Anderson, and Anderson pinned him,” Peterson said. “What a great statement for him. They bump up a state qualifier, and we pin him anyway.”
The Titans won the first six matches to take away any potential suspense.
The Vikings did win the next five matches but only won one of them by pin. Cullen Zellner’s technical fall at 106 had Denmark within 34-22, but G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro freshman Ayden Stetzer (4-4) slammed the door shut on his opponent’s hope by winning by pin in just 31 seconds at 113 to put the dual victory away.
That moves the Titans into a semifinal dual against third-seeded Coleman (20-0) on Saturday morning. The Cougars are making their 19th team state appearance and have finished either first or second in Division 3 or 2 every year since 2020.
Coleman has won the Division 3 championship six times before bumping up to Division 2 last year and placing second. The Cougars sent nine qualifiers to last week’s individual state tournament at the Kohl Center.
“We know we’re going to have to go out there and win good matches,” Peterson said. “We’re going to have to win state qualifier vs. state qualifier and figure it out.”
Peterson also got through the quarterfinal round without having to use state qualifiers Merek Windsor (165) and Braden Peterson (175).
Coleman had three medalists at individual state in Hunter Seefeldt (sixth at 106), Bently Nowak (third at 113) and Devin Otto (fourth at 285).
The Titans had four medalists in Kody Purney (fifth at 120), Koss (fourth at 132), Jayce Stetzer (fifth at 157) and Aaron Dunigan (fourth at 190), so there would have to be some bumps to see matches between place-winners.
