Simpson wins sectional title; Schmidt, Neu, Downs make state

Monday, February 18, 2008 12:26 PM CST

Maranatha sophomore Donny Simpson won his weight class at 135 pounds at the Cedar Grove-Belgium sectional Saturday. Simpson, the area’s lone sectional champion, takes a 30-0 record to the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament this week. (Photo by Bob Sweeney)

CEDAR GROVE - Dodgeland wrestling coach Bob Sweeney's streak of taking at least one wrestler to the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament extended to 18 seasons when junior Steve Schmidt advanced with a second place finish at 145 pounds at the Cedar Grove-Belgium Sectional Saturday.

Hustisford wrestling coach Dan Simon doesn't have quite the same streak going, but he's certainly had plenty of occasions to sport that loud red shirt and black tie ensemble at the state tournament. He'll do so again next week as junior Austin Neu qualified with a third place finish at 171 pounds.

And finally, a new streak begins next week as Maranatha Baptist Academy will send wrestlers to the WIAA state meet for the very first time. Sophomore Donny Simpson won his weight class at 135 pounds, while junior Aaron Downs advanced with a third place finish at 119.

Schmidt (33-12) was pinned by Ozaukee's Shawn Flom in 3 minutes, 39 seconds of the quarterfinals, but he earned a chance to wrestleback as Flom went on to win the weight class.

In the consolation semifinals, Schmidt pinned Markesan's Ed Tuttle at 2:20 to set up a third place match against Rio sophomore Calvin Canales.

ADVERTISEMENT

Canales appeared to be on his way to the finals with a 7-2 lead over Laconia's Caleb Riedeman in the semifinals but was disqualified after slamming Riedeman to the mat.

That put Canales into the third place match against Schmidt - their fourth meeting this season.

Schmidt got the one that counted most, taking an 11-7 decision. In a wrestleback for second place, Schmidt won over Riedeman by injury default.

Against Canales, Schmidt opened the scoring with a defensive takedown for a 2-0 lead. Canales got an escape and shot again, but Schmidt used a whizzer to force Canales to his back for a 7-2 lead following a penalty point.

In the second period, Schmidt scored a reversal and rode Canales out the rest of the period. In the third period, Canales and Schmidt traded reversals to make it 11-4. Canales later escaped and scored a takedown with 24 seconds left, but Schmidt was able to post out for the victory.

“They went 2-2 this year,” Sweeney said. “The matches have all been very similar, in that Steve gets into positions where he will throw Canales to his back, but Canales has been very successful at quickly arching off before Steve could get any back points.

“It happened in the conference tournament and it happened in the regional final. But on Saturday, it was a little bit different situation, where Steve forced him to his back rather than just flopping him there, so there was no momentum for Canales to force him off. I think Steve is doing a better job of wrestling a full six minutes, too.”

Schmidt wrestles La Crosse Aquinas senior Alex Wettstein (36-9) in a quarterfinal match at the Kohl Center in Madison on Thursday night. Division 3 matches begin at 7:15.

Five other Dodgeland wrestlers competed at the sectional.

Senior Chris Jones (24-15) took fourth at 119.

He beat Oshkosh Lourdes' Joey Marek 5-0 in the quarterfinals, then lost an 8-1 decision to Heritage Christian's Tim Hartung in the semifinals. After pinning Oostburg's Clint Walli in 39 seconds of the consolation semifinals, Jones lost a 9-0 major decision to Random Lake's Tony Schneider.

“He just was in a bracket with guys who were better than he was,” Sweeney said. “He wrestled like he did all season. He gave it a good shot, but the guys were just better wrestlers.”

Senior Tom Beal (25-5) finished fourth at 215.

Beal pinned Markesan's Tony Logan in 5:07 of the quarterfinals, then lost an 8-5 decision to Racine St. Catherine's Keith McLeod in the semifinals. After beating Oakfield's Wesley Kottke 10-3 in the consolation semifinals, Beal lost a 4-2 decision to Random Lake's Kyle Narveson in the third place match.

“I don't think he wrestled all that well ever since that injury (he suffered midseason),” Sweeney said. “The injury seemed to set him back. He just didn't seem to be the same wrestler after that. He was showing some moves that I hadn't seen from him earlier in the season. There wasn't a lot of that toward the end of the season.”

Jones and Beal both made it to state a year ago.

“That's always something they can remember and be proud of,” Sweeney said.

Junior Dylan Jones (16-21) lost his quarterfinal on an 18-1 technical fall to Palmyra-Eagle's Jake Rice at 152.

Senior Steve Schmidt (20-24) lost by fall to Montello's Mike Whitrock at 1:32 of the quarterfinals at 160, then lost by a 17-2 technical fall to Oostburg's Jesse Korthals.

Junior Caleb Soldner pinned Racine St. Catherine's Alex Beauchene at 1:54 of the quarterfinals at 189, then lost to Laconia's Chris Sheskey by fall in 44 seconds of the semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, Soldner lost a 7-0 decision to Random Lake's Mason Anklam.

“Caleb Soldner did get a pin on the day in his first round, so that was important,” Sweeney said. “It was good for Dylan Jones to wrestle there, too. It makes them a little more hungry, hopefully. Mike was just outclassed.”

Neu advances

Other than wrestling with a hiatal hernia that's plagued him all season and getting slammed to the mat in his quarterfinal match, Neu had a perfectly nice day at the sectional to earn his first trip to state.

Neu scored a 14-0 major decision over Oostburg's Gregory Schneider, but his day was almost ended when Schneider slammed him to the mat in the second period. Neu went on to score five additional points in the third period but forfeited his semifinal match against Palmyra-Eagle's Jake Halbrucker as a precaution.

In the consolation semifinals, Neu scored a 14-5 major decision over Princeton's Jon Hoffman. In that match, Neu slammed Hoffman with two seconds to go in the match, but Hoffman gamely finished out the match rather than lay down and take a win by disqualification.

“That was a classy thing to do,” Hustisford wrestling coach Dan Simon said. “Their coaches told me, ‘We'd never do a thing like that.'”

In the third place match, Neu scored a 13-3 major decision over Random Lake's John Pieper to advance. As Hulbrucker lost in the finals, there was no wrestleback for second place.

“I think Austin would have won that weight class had he not been slammed in that first match,” Simon said. “Of the eight kids in Austin's weight class, Austin has beaten all seven of them in his career. He was on fire throughout the day, even with the slam.”

Neu will face a familiar foe in Deerfield's John Podmolik in the state quarterfinals Thursday night.

Husty junior Brock Becker (27-10) finished fourth at 112.

Becker beat Random Lake's Kyle Christian 10-8 in overtime, then lost by fall to Oshkosh Lourdes' AJ Zemke at 2:39 of the semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, Becker pinned Kenosha St. Joseph's Sean Gallagher in 42 seconds. In the third place match, Becker lost a 16-8 major decision to Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah's Adam Giebel.

“Brock had an up and down day,” Simon said. “He was down 10-8 going into the third against Giebel. The kid chose down and we cut him because Brock was wrestling well on his feet all day. It backfired when he got taken down. The kid was a good leg rider and turned Brock at the end for three points. Brock just wrestled his heart out. He's got nothing to be ashamed of.”

Simpson, Downs advance

After just missing state a year ago at this sectional, Simpson returned to Cedar Grove and proved he was the dominant wrestler at 135.

Simpson (30-0) pinned Heritage Christian's Zach Philippi in 3:39 of the quarterfinals, scored an 11-0 major decision over Oostburg's Lucas Copp in the semifinals and stuck Kenosha St. Joseph's Max Sauer in 3:50 of the title match.

The area's lone sectional champion receives a first round bye at state and will not wrestle on opening night Thursday. Simpson awaits the winner between Park Falls senior Luke Williams (36-7) and Fennimore junior John Hagen (33-9) in a quarterfinal match Friday morning.

Downs (21-11) pinned Heritage Christian's Ben Matson at 5:32 of the quarterfinals, then beat Oshkosh Lourdes' Nathan Duwe on a 9-1 major decision in the semifinals.

In the title match, Downs lost by fall to Laconia's Brad Bentz in 3:07. In a wrestleback for second place, Downs lost an 8-1 decision to Kenosha St. Joseph's Austin Lemens.

Downs will face Coleman sophomore Cody Baker (25-12) in a quarterfinal match at state Thursday night.

Bluejays end season

Four Johnson Creek wrestlers competed at the Cedar Grove sectional.

Manuel Garcia (5-18) lost by fall to Giebel from Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah in 58 seconds at 112.

At 125, Taylor Holzapfel (3-21) lost by fall to Laconia's Jake Dean in 24 seconds of the quarterfinals. In the consolation finals, he lost by fall to Random Lake's Tony Schneider in 43 seconds.

Kajun Roehl (8-5) lost by fall to Montello's Steffen MuCullough in 3:19 of the quarterfinals at 140.

Heavyweight Eric Caudill (7-7) lost a 10-1 major decision to Ozaukee's Alex Schultz in the quarterfinals.