BLACK RIVER FALLS — The anticipated matchup materialized, but the G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro co-op boys wrestling team was ready for it.
The Titans beat West Salem/Bangor in a regular-season dual meet, then outpointed it at the Coulee Conference meet prior to the postseason.
The two were on a collision course against Saturday, and sixth-ranked G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro took care of seventh-ranked West Salem/Bangor 55-20 during a WIAA Division 2 team sectional championship dual at the Lunda Center.
Some matchups were the same, and others changed, but the Titan kept the upper hand as soon as they gained it and used another big performance to qualify for the WIAA team state tournament at the La Crosse Center for the fourth time and first since 2020.
“I’ve been very happy with the past couple of weeks of practices,” Titans coach Pete Peterson said. “They executed our plan well, and we made some adjustments did some bumping with out lineup (against the Catbirds).”
G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro beat Ellsworth 57-20 in its semifinal, and West Salem/Bangor took care of Mauston/Necedah 46-30 in its semifinal.
The Catbirds lost out on second place when Ellsworth won a 41-29 dual for the placement. The WIAA team state tournament bracket includes all seven sectional champions and one wild card to be selected form the second-place finishers.
The Titans started their bump with junior Brody Banse (37-7) from 144 pounds up to 150, and he responded by pinning West Salem/Bangor junior Jarett Plomedahl (32-12) in 2 minutes, 49 seconds.
Senior Mason Chambers (38-4) followed that with a pin of Layne Fry (12-3) at 157 to get the Catbirds within 29-20, but the Titans won the final five bouts with at least one bonus point in each of them.
Fourth-ranked junior Aaron Dunigan (40-4) pinned sixth-ranked Caden Anderson (40-7) in 4:43 at 190, and seventh-ranked sophomore Brock Kaz (33-8) won by technical fall — a 16-0 score — over sixth-ranked senior Kaiden Stello (40-12) at 285 in two of those matches.
The Titans won 10 of 14 matches against the Panthers in the semifinal, and senior Koda Purney (35-10, 120), senior Gunnar Kremer (31-9, 132), senior Colton Koss (37-7, 138), sophomore Jace Anderson (29-10, 138, 144), senior Jayce Stetzer (41-6, 165), sophomore Merek Windsor (31-15, 175) and junior Braden Peterson (24-4, 190, 215) — along with Dunigan and Kaz — all won twice for the Titans.
Senior Cayson Anderson (15-8, 113), senior Teghan Moore (44-5) and Chambers all won twice for the Catbirds.
G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro joins Holmen (Division 1) and Aquinas (Division 3) as local teams for the team state tournament at the La Crosse Center on March 6-7.
Once the wild card is selected, teams will be seeded for brackets.
“Let’s be honest, Holmen, us and Aquinas — three teams there — is great for local wrestling,” Peterson said. “We can bring a lot of fans. It’s great for fan groups and youth groups because it’s easy for them to come.”
