LA CROSSE — There was really only one thing for Holmen High School junior Brock Needham to do when brackets for the Bi-State Classic were released on Sunday evening.
Seeing the No. 16 next to his name near the top of the 126-pound offering might have been a little startling at first, but it became something to embrace.
Soon, he was focused on becoming the best 16 seed the tournament has ever seen.
“Yeah, that was definitely part of the thought process,” said Needham, who is one of nine local semifinalists after winning all of his matches at the La Crosse Center on Monday. “I took it as a bit of a challenge to prove to the area who I really am and that seeds don’t mean anything.”
Needham’s exclamation points was a come-from-behind 7-6 victory over West Salem/Bangor senior and top-seeded Teghan Moore (19-3) in the third round. Needham (17-2) recovered from a five-point deficit and turned a Moor shot in the closing seconds into a winning takedown of his own just before time expired.
“He took some really good attacks on me and took advantage of where I was unbalanced,” Needham said of Moore’s early lead. “I knew because my training that I wasn’t out of it and worked my way back in.
“I knew I was in a good position when he attacked. He shot a single, and I was able to look for the reattack on his opposite leg. I hooked his ankle as I was going around, sprawled my legs and got behind to secure as time expired.”
Needham followed that up with a 5-1 victory over Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson’s ninth-seeded Christian Zibrowski (18-2). That gives him a semifinal match Tuesday morning against fourth-seeded Logan Pearson (14-1) of Chatfield.
Aquinas and G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro have the most semifinalists among area teams with three each. Holmen has two and West Salem/Bangor one.
The Blugolds will be represented by sophomore Martez Sheard (16-1) at 126, senior Roger Flege (12-2) at 144 and senior Tyson Martin (17-1) at 285.
The Titans received quarterfinal victories from junior Brody Banse (14-2) at 144, senior Jayce Stetzer (14-2) at 157 and junior Aaron Dunigan (15-1) at 190.
Senior Mason Chambers (19-2) won all of his first-day matches at 157 for the Catbirds.
Martin, seeded third, was dominant in moving into position to challenge Prairie du Chien senior Jack Simmons (20-1), the second seed, in Tuesday morning’s session.
Martin pinned his first opponent in 11 seconds, his next in 1:38 and his third in 1:23. He then handed Verona’s Ethan McIntosh (21-2) a 17-2 technical fall that took 4:09 in the quarterfinals.
“I always like to try incorporating some new stuff,” Martin said of a first day that he said simply went according to plan. “I’m trying to hit some more misdirection shots and go low to the ankles.”
That helped — and worked — against a taller McIntosh, but Martin was focused on ending his earlier matches as soon as possible rather than using them as training time.
Sheard maneuvered his path to what could be a second straight championship with a pin and three technical falls. He finished the 18th seed 15-0 in the first period and wiped out seventh-seeded Miles Alters (18-1), a sophomore from Hudson, 16-1 in the second.
Second-seeded Sheard meets Auburndale sophomore Carson Weiler (19-1), the third seed, in his semifinal.
Flege, who is seeded third, runs into second-seeded Dylan Weigel (22-0) of Belmont/Platteville in his semifinal after a 4-0 win over Chatfield’s Hunter Polikowsky (13-3)in the quarterfinals. Flege won his previous two matches by pin and technical fall.
Banse moves to the second day in similar fashion to Needham. Banse is still alive as the 12th seed after beating fifth-seeded Aaron Netter (16-4) of Stratford in the third round and fourth-seeded Nathan Johnson (20-3) of Dodgeville in a quarterfinal.
The challenges will continue, however, with top-seeded Brody Miess (19-1) up next on Banse’s schedule.
Stetzer is seeded seventh and matches up with 14th-seeded Carter Malichar (13-3)of Port Washington after Melichar beat the third and sixth seeds. Stetzer also posted a big 9-8 victory over second-seeded Casey Kempf (13-2) of D.C. Everest in the quarterfinal round.
Dunigan advanced through an all-local quarterfinal against West Salem/Bangor senior Caden Anderson (18-3). Dunigan won that match 11-4 and meets top-seeded Eli Leonard (18-0) of Mount Horeb/Barneveld in the semifinals.
Dunigan set up his quarterfinal with a pair of technical falls in his previous two matches.
Lancaster attacks his semifinal match as the sixth seed and after squeaking out a 2-1 win over the 19th seed in the quarterfinals. New Richmond’s Walker Waidelich advanced to that match after beating the third seed and pushed Lancaster to the end.
Lancaster is matched up with second-seeded Beckett Edstrom (12-1) of Hastings in the semifinal round.
Chambers, a fourth seed, pinned his way through his first two opponents before collecting decisions in the next two. He beat fifth-seeded Emmett Collins (18-2) of Mineral Point 14-11 in the quarterfinals to get a semifinal matchup against top-seeded Gabriel Metzler (21-1) of Waunakee.
CONSOLATION
The list of local entrants still alive for a third-place finish in the consolation bracket is extensive.
Holmen has the most qualifiers with seven — freshman Brady Needham (13-6, 106), freshman Brendan Henderson (17-1, 113), sophomore Olie Strasser (13-6, 132), sophomore Nathan Henderson (17-1, 138), senior Noah Henderson (11-6, 150), senior AJ Alesch (14-5, 157) and senior Jagger Jepson (14-5, 285).
G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro has five still alive in the consolation bracket in senior Koda Purney (12-4,120), senior Gunner Kremer (9-3, 126), senior Colton Koss (14-2, 132), sophomore Merek Windsor (10-7, 165) and sophomore Brock Kaz (13-3, 285).
Aquinas also has five still going with freshman Peter White (12-5, 106), sophomore Tyler Paulson (18-2, 138), freshman Jacob Penzkover (16-5,150), senior Waylon Hargrove (16-3, 165) and senior Marcus Klar (14-5, 175).
West Salem/Bangor has five, Caledonia/Houston four consolation wrestlers and Logan/Central three.
Senior Teghan Moore (15-3, 126), junior Jarett Plomedahl (15-5, 150), junior Justice Elam (18-5, 175), senior Caden Anderson (18-3, 190) and senior Kaiden Stello (19-6, 285) represent the Catbirds, and eighth-grader Kiplyn Meiners (10-4, 106), senior Aiden Burns (10-2, 120), senior Will Allen (12-2, 165) and sophomore Cooper Allen (19-3, 215) advanced for the Warriors.
Junior Onesimus West (14-9, 144), junior Nicholas Wanner-Holinka (8-4, 157) and junior Calvin Arentz (19-3, 175) are in for Logan/Central.
