MADISON — The motivation for Colton Koss going into his senior season with the G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro co-op wrestling team is building as we speak.
The junior’s upward climb as one of the state’s top lightweight wrestlers continued on Saturday but expect his focus to be razor sharp moving forward after his first taste of competing for a WIAA Division 2 state championship didn’t end in his favor.
Koss, a three-time state qualifier and two-time medalist missed out on his first opportunity at gold when top-ranked Lane Andersen (39-1) handed him a 4-0 loss in their 120-popund title bout at the Kohl Center in Madison on Saturday.
Koss (45-3) didn’t place as a freshman and took home third as a sophomore. The runner-up finish is his best as he enters his senior season with a career record of 138-24. He is the Titans’ first finalist since Hunter Andersen in 2020.
Koss won his first matches by major decision and advanced to the title match with a 16-6 victory over Whitewater’s Jarvis Porcaro (40-8) on Friday night. Two of his losses came to Andersen, who also beat him 1-0 in the finals of the Raider Challenge in Arcadia.
Senior teammate Gunnar Johnson also represented the area in Saturday night’s finals when he matched up with Evansville senior Danny Heiser as Heiser attempted to become a four-time state champion.
Heiser (52-0) prevailed in their 157-pound matchup by technical fall and beat Johnson for the second time this season. Johnson, a two-time state qualifier, had his best postseason finish with the march to the finals.
He advanced with an exciting 6-5 victory over second-ranked Spencer Madsen (53-2) of Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol in the semifinal round and gave the Titans their first season with two state finalists since Julian Purney placed second at 120 and Dakotah Daffinson won at 220 in 2017.
