The area’s best chance at a WIAA or MSHSL individual boys state wrestling championship went out the window when a freak injury knocked Aquinas High School junior Tyson Martin out of the Division 3 215-pound bracket in the semifinal round.
A dislocated elbow during the opening seconds of that bout at the Kohl Center in Madison put Martin on the sideline after two straight runner-up finishes and left the goal of a title for next season.
G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro junior Colton Koss and senior Gunnar Johnson did get the chance to wrestle for titles — and were denied — but their timely performances and memorable celebration the night of semifinal victories also highlighted another strong wrestling season for the Coulee Region.
All three have earned spots on the inaugural All-Couleesports.com first team after combining to win 137 matches and lose just 14 during dominant seasons that should set up monster season seasons for Martin and Koss.
We weren’t going to dabble in all-area teams with this website but have changed our minds. The wrestling team — consisting one of wrestler at each weight for a first team and 14 honorable mention choices — is the first to be released.
Qualified wrestlers come from featured schools at couleesports.com, and those are Aquinas, Central, Logan, Holmen, Onalaska, Luther, West Salem, Arcadia and Caledonia. The Titans are also part of our network for wrestling only.
Coaches were not involved in the decisions this season but that will likely change moving forward. We just didn’t want a season to pass without recognition for accomplishments. Some wrestlers aren’t at their primary weight but at a secondary weight. That was done to get the best wrestlers on the first team.
Not every school is represented because there are only so many spots available and many very talented teams around. Head-to-head matchups carry plenty of weight in the selection process, but so do postseason success and competition.
The latter is a perfect reason to include Holmen sophomore Brock Needham after a 30-14 campaign. Eleven of those losses came to state place-winners as he faced off with some of the best competition that could be found.
Nine local wrestlers made podiums, and freshmen like Martez Sheard (Aquinas), Nathan Henderson (Holmen), Rex Lancaster (Holmen), Lincoln Stanek (Aquinas) and Cooper Allen (Caledonia/Houston) give us plenty of reasons to be excited about the future.
The same goes for expected championship pushes for Martin, Koss, Roger Flege (Aquinas) and more next season.
FIRST TEAM
106: TEGHAN MOORE, jr., West Salem/Bangor was a fourth-place state finisher in Division 1 with a 51-4 record. … He beat Aquinas’ Lincoln Stanek and went 2-1 vs. Holmen’s Rex Lancaster.
113: KODA PURNEY, jr., G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro was a Division 2 state qualifier with a 47-10 record. … He beat Caledonia/Houston’s Aiden Burns and went 3-0 vs. Arcadia’s Ony Zaragoza.
120: MARTEZ SHEARD, fr., Aquinas was a fifth-place state finisher in Division 3 with a 42-5 record. … Posted victories over Holmen’s Nathan Henderson and Brock Needham.
126: COLTON KOSS, jr., G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro was Division 2 state runner-up at 120 after dropping from 126. … A 45-3 season included two losses to the Division 2 state champ and another to a fifth-place finisher.
132: TURNER CAMPBELL, sr., Holmen was a third-place Division 1 sectional finisher with a 35-4 record. … Beat Aquinas’ Tyler Paulson, G-E-T/Mel.-Min.’s Brody Banse and West Salem/Bangor’s Jackson Roesler.
138: ROGER FLEGE, jr., Aquinas was a third-place state finisher in Division 3 at 132 with a 46-4 record. … Only area wrestler to beat Holmen’s Camden Thiele and beat G-E-T-Mel.-Min’s Brody Banse.
144: CAMDEN THIELE, sr., Holmen wrestled his way to a 28-11 record and came back from missing out on the regional to record two pins for the Vikings at the team sectional. … Beat G-E-T/Mel.-Min.’s Layne Fry.
150: TREVOR PAULSON, sr., Aquinas was a third-place state finisher in Division 3 and won 16 of final 18 matches to finish with a 41-11 record. … Beat Tomah’s Cam Finch after losing to him early in the season.
157: GUNNAR JOHNSON, sr., G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro was a Division 2 state runner-up with a 50-8 record after big semifinal win over 53-win opponent. … Beat Aquinas’ Waylon Hargrove by pin.
165: JONATHON LAMPRICH, sr., Holmen was a Division 1 state qualifier with a 41-10 record. … Beat PdC’s Bryce Lenzendorf and won two of three matches against Logan/Central’s Calvin Arentz.
175: ABRAHAM HENDERSON, sr., Holmen was a Division 1 regional runner-up and sectional qualifier with a 21-10 record. … Beat West Salem/Bangor’s Caden Peterson twice and G-E-T/Mel.-Min.’s Braden Peterson once.
190: JAYDEN DELAO, sr., Logan/Central was a fourth-place finisher in Division 4 after a 35-6 season. … Had early-season quality wins over G-E-T/Mel.-Min.’s Aaron Dunigan and West Salem/Bangor’s Trevor Arentz, who combined for 97 wins.
215: TYSON MARTIN, jr., Aquinas had to settle for fourth place in Division 3 after a dislocated elbow in the opening seconds of his semifinal match. … His 42-3 record included 25 pins and a win over D2 state champ Blake Thiry of PdC.
285: AARON DUNIGAN, so., G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro was primarily a 215-pounder but did bump up five times and beat Aquinas’ Will Flottmeyer in one of those matches. … Division 2 state qualifier who split four matches to finish 50-9.
HONORABLE MENTION
(Alphabetical by weight)
106: Rex Lancaster, fr., Holmen (45-5); Lincoln Stanek, fr., Aquinas (37-11)
113/114: Aiden Burns, jr., Caledonia/Houston (31-11)
120: Nathan Henderson, fr., Holmen (45-5)
126: Tyler Paulson, fr., Aquinas (37-12); Jackson Roesler, sr., West Salem/Bangor (34-10)
132/133: Braxton Lange, sr., Caledonia/Houston (20-4); Brock Needham, so., Holmen (30-14)
138: Jayce Stetzer, jr., G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro (40-9)
157: Waylon Hargrove, jr., Aquinas (37-9)
175: Caden Anderson, jr., West Salem/Bangor (37-15)
190: Cooper Allen, fr., Caledonia/Houston (28-8); Trevor Arentz, sr., West Salem/Bangor (47-10)
285: Will Flottmeyer, so., Aquinas (20-7)
