WISCONSIN DELLS — Junior Colton Koss stepped onto the mat as the state third-ranked Division 2 wrestler at 120 pounds, and he stared across at fourth-ranked Ethan Hady of Richland Center as they prepared to battle for championship at the Wisconsin Dells Sectional on Saturday.
One minute and 8 seconds later, Koss had his hand raised in victory as the highlight of a big day for the G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro program.
Koss won the 120-pound title as the top finisher of four Titans who will compete in the WIAA state tournament next week at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Koss, junior Koda Purney, senior Gunnar Johnson and sophomore Aaron Dunigan all had qualifying performances at Wisconsin Dells and will represent the Titans in Madison for the three-day competition that begins Thursday.
Koss (43-2), a third-place finisher at 106 last year, began his day with a technical fall and followed that with a 15-9 semifinal decision over Lodi’s Bryer Caves (41-14).
Purney (45-8) won three of five matches and was a third-place finisher at 113. He was sent into wrestlebacks by Dodgeville’s Shane Rochon (53-2) via major decision in the semifinals. Purney responded with a 14-9 win over Prairie du Chien’s Hunter Reid (370-18) but lost the second-place match by technical fall to Evansville’s Kolten Bollig (46-3).
Johnson (47-7) was third at 157 and advanced to the championship bout with a technical fall in the quarterfinal round and major decision in the semifinals. A loss to Evansville’s Danny Heiser (49-0) sent him to a second-place that won 13-10 in sudden victory by Prairie du Chien’s Bryce Lenzendorf (43-11).
Dunigan (48-7) gave the Titans their third third-place finisher with three wins in four matches at 215. A technical fall in the quarterfinals was followed by an 11-9 loss to Darlington/Black Hawk’s Ross Crist (45-7). Dunigan then won by pin in his consolation semifinal and beat Belmont/Platteville’s Mason Mandurano (43-17) 7-6 in the third-place match.
