W-F wrestlers win in Poynette
By Greg Seubert
A Central Wisconsin Conference championship was not in the cards this season for the Weyauwega-Fremont wrestling team.
A regional championship is another story, however.
The Warhawks headed to Poynette High School Feb. 10 for a WIAA Division 3 regional with 12 other teams and returned home with a team championship. Not only did Weyauwega-Fremont qualify a wrestler in each weight class for the Dodgeland Sectional, the regional win also qualified the Warhawks for a team sectional, which was held Feb. 13 in Waterloo.
The Warhawks won the regional with 308 points. Lomira finished a distant second with 191 points, followed by Pardeeville (158), Markesan (144.5), Omro (142), Westfield (124), Princeton/Green Lake (116), Poynette (85.5), Laconia (66.5), Tri-County (61), Oakfield (27), Montello (7) and Almond-Bancroft/Pacelli (0).
Meanwhile, Manawa competed in a Division 3 regional in Crandon.
Poynette Regional
Weyauwega-Fremont’s championships included Jaydon LeNoble (106 pounds), Carter Birdyshaw (132), Carter McDaniel (165) and Vanden Hoffman (285).
Four other wrestlers – Josue Azuara (113), Aiden Marquette (144), Connor Johnson (157) and Tellyer Alix (190) – also made it to a championship and placed second.
LeNoble defeated Westfield’s Lincoln Beyer 6-0; Birdyshaw had a 12-2 major decision over Princeton/Green Lake’s Hunter Lambert; McDaniel pinned Lomira’s Isaiah Giese in 3:51; and Hoffman improved to 37-1 on the season after pinning Omro’s Andyboi Hernandez in 2:31.
Azuara dropped a 4-0 decision to Markesan’s Gavin Slark in their championship match; Pardeeville’s Kingston Galetka pinned Marquette in 1:22; Johnson fell 11-8 to Pardeeville’s Caleb Mackey; and Alix dropped a 3-2 decision to Markesan’s Noah Hanefeld.
Also advancing to the Dodgeland Sectional for the Warhawks are Rylan Konen (third, 120); Wyatt Wetzel (third, 215); Jake Buss (fourth, 126); Ezra Balthazor (fourth, 138); and Nolan Schrei (fourth, 175);
Alex Loehrke also placed fifth at 150.
“We could not have wrestled much better than we did in this tournament, pulling out several upsets and winning the close matches,” coach Tim Potratz said. “The team is very excited to represent Weyauwega-Fremont at the team sectional.”
Weyauwega-Fremont opened the team sectional Feb. 13 against Cambridge. Waterloo and Lomira met in the other semifinals and the two semifinal winners met for the right to move on to the state team tournament, set for Friday and Saturday, March 1-2 at the University of Wisconsin Field House in Madison.
Crandon Regional
Manawa placed 10th out of 13 teams and did not qualify any wrestlers for the Bonduel Sectional, to be held Feb. 17 in Shawano.
Coleman won the regional with 284 points, followed by Shiocton (248.5); Crandon (234.5); Oconto (150); Lena (113.5); Wabeno/Laona/Three Lakes (91); Bonduel (86); Suring/Gillett (78); Rosholt (54); Manawa (26); Florence (24); Oneida Nation (23.5); and Elcho (17).
Kaiden Lew placed fifth for Manawa at 205 pounds, while Owen Schuelke placed sixth at 120.