MADISON — The Aquinas High School boys wrestling team finished off the WIAA state tournament with two third-place finishers in Division 3 brackets at the Kohl Center in Madison on Saturday.
Senior Trevor Paulson and junior Roger Flege finished off the three-day competition with victories after losing semifinal matches on Friday night.
Paulson (41-11) bounced back from his loss in the 150-pound bracket with a 5-4 decision over Lomira’s Marek Lisiecki (48-7) in the placement match. Paulson won three of four matches over the weekend and advanced to the quarterfinal round by opening with a major decision.
Flege (46-4) came back from a tough semifinal loss at 132 — he was trying to score the winning points as time expired — with a 13-7 decision over Shiocton’s Izaiah Sanchez (45-10). Flege finished fourth during his first two seasons with the Blugolds, won two of the three matches he wrestled and takes a 122-22 record into his senior season.
FOURTH PLACE: Logan/Central senior Jayden Delao (35-6) brought home fourth place in Division 1 at 190 pounds. Delao won twice and lost twice, and he was taken down late during his 4-2 loss in the semifinal round on Friday. Wisconsin Rapids’ Kailar Tritz (30-5) handed him a 7-0 defeat in the third-place match on Saturday.
Two local wrestlers didn’t get to wrestle for third place and settled for fourth due to injuries sustained in semifinal bouts.
West Salem/Bangor junior Teghan Moore (51-4) had to take a medical forfeit in his Division 1 match at 106 after an apparent knee injury at the end of his semifinal loss to Pulaski’s Jack Falk (43-6) on Friday night. Aquinas junior Tyson Martin (42-3), a two-time state runner-up, dislocated his elbow in a Division 3 215-pound semifinal on Friday and could not compete on Saturday.
FIFTH PLACE: Aquinas freshman Martez Sheard and Holmen freshman Nathan Henderson both won twice on Saturday and earned fifth-place finishes.
Sheard (42-5) was fifth in the Division 3 120 bracket. He closed out his tournament with a technical fall over Wabeno’s Ryker Schingeck (47-8) in the consolation semifinal round, then beat Mineral Point’s Liam Carey (44-12) by technical fall for fifth place.
Henderson (44-5) was just as dominant as a Division 1 120-pounder. He blanked Germantown’s Owen Becker (45-8) via technical fall in the consolation semifinals before pinning River Falls’ Oliver Larson (40-11) in 2:25 for fifth place.
SIXTH PLACE: Holmen freshman Rex Lancaster and Aquinas junior Waylon Hargrove both split two matches on Saturday and finished in sixth place.
Lancaster (46-7), who battled illness all weekend, advanced to the placement match with a 4-3 victory over Hortonville’s Evan Lesselyong (17-8) before West Bend West’s August Lubinski (50-6) beat him 1-0 for fifth.
Hargrove (37-9) beat Oostburg’s Connor Mentink (50-6) 8-5 in their consolation semifinal at Division 3 157, but Valders’ Brayden Lenz (53-6) beat Hargrove by pin in 2:56 for fifth place.
Five other local wrestlers had their seasons ended in the consolation semifinals Saturday morning.
Holmen’s Jonathon Lamprich (D1, 40-9, 165), G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro’s Koda Purney (D2, 47-10, 113) and Aaron Dunigan (D2, 50-9,215) and Aquinas’ Tyler Paulson (D3, 37-12, 126) and Will Flottmeyer (D3, 20-7, 285) all lost their first matches on Saturday.
MSHSL: Caledonia/Houston junior Aiden Burns advanced to the fifth-place match and won it at the MSHSL state tournament at the Xcel Energy Center.
Burns (31-11) was knocked out of the championship bracket at Class AA 114 pounds in the quarterfinal round, but he won three of four matches to close out the competition.
Burns beat Mound-Westonka’s Deacon Ramthun (42-13) 6-3 in the second consolation round before a 4-3 loss to Oronos’s Brett Kieker (39-6) in the consolation semifinals.
He completed his day with a 7-2 decision over Detroit Lakes’ Gage Weber (31-11) to grab the fifth spot on the podium.
