March 5, 2015 at 12:27 p.m.

RV's Alt, Dodgeville's Wetter lead area D2 placewinners


River Valley's 145 lb. sophomore Elijah Alt gained three decisions to reach the finals, his opener at 4-3 being the tightest match. He finished second, losing to Two Rivers Chandler Donati 8-2 in the title match. Alt claimed a 44-12 record on the season.
RV freshman Zach Licht dropped his opener via the pin after leading with seconds remaining in the match at 106. He finished fourth in his first season. Sophomore Dustin Hatfield (113) finished fourth while fellow sophomore Nate Jennings (120) did not place.
Licht was 47-6 on the season while Hatfield finished 43-8 and Jennings 25-13.
Dodgeville's 195 lb. Brady Wetter ran into the eventual champion, unbeaten August Peplinski of Wittenberg-Birnamwood, in the semifinals and dropped a 5-2 decision. Wetter pinned his way through his consolation semifinal and gained a major decision to gain third place.
He closed out the season at 48-5, with three losses coming at the hands of D3 state champ David Chadd of Lancaster.
Other area finishes included: Richland Center's 285 lb. Kaleb Crook 6th, Mount Horeb 182 lb. Matt Blome 2nd and Cuba City/Benton/Southwestern's Josh Donar 5th a 138.

2015 WIAA Individual State Results for Dodgeville
D2-195-Brady Wetter (45-4) placed 3rd.
Quarterfinal-Wetter won by fall over David Meza (Berlin) 18-5 (1:46), Semifinal-August Peplinski (Wittenberg-Birn.) 51-1 won by decision over Wetter (5-2), Cons. Semi-Wetter won by fall over Lucius Rinehart (Evansville/Albany) 40-9 (1:23), 3rd Place Match-Wetter won by major decision over Duncan Calnin (Chilton/Hilbert) 43-7 (9-1)

2015 WIAA Individual State Results for River Valley
D2-106-Zach Licht (43-9) placed 4th.
Quarterfinal-Josh Ehster (Mosinee) 37-7 won by fall over Licht (5:56), Cons. Round 1-Licht won by decision over Calen Kirkpatrick (Northwestern) 34-10 (11-5), Cons. Semi-Licht won by fall over Arturo Duran (Grafton) 37-11 (5:00), 3rd Place Match-Tyler Roecker (Wisconsin Lutheran) 47-6 won by decision over Licht (13-7)
D2-113-Dustin Hatfield (41-6) placed 4th.
Champ. Round 1-Hatfield won by decision over Mitch Garvey (Freedom) 37-12 (7-3), Quarterfinal-Hatfield won by decision over Alex Costello (Campbellsport) 45-3 (3-2), Semifinal-Clay Lieber (Nekoosa/Assumpt./Port Edw.) 41-3 won by decision over Hatfield (9-3), Cons. Semi-Hatfield won by decision over Cole Britton (Luck/Frederic/Gr.) 38-10 (9-2), 3rd Place Match-Trenton McManus (Adams-Friendship) 16-3 won by decision over Hatfield (7-3)
D2-120-Nate Jennings (25-12) failed to place .
Champ. Round 1-Cody Vogel (East Troy) 45-4 won by decision over Jennings (11-4)
D2-145 - Elijah Alt (41-11) placed 2nd.
Champ. Round 1-Alt won by decision over Ryan Gulich (Saint Croix Central) 38-6 (4-3), Quarterfinal-Alt won by decision over Josh Verbeten (Wrightstown) 28-14 (5-3), Semifinal-Alt won by decision over Austin Keuler (Chilton/Hilbert) 43-8 (9-3 1st Place Match-Chandler Donati (Two Rivers) 24-3 won by decision over Alt (8-2))
"I was pleased with the showings of all 4 boys. Having three boys place in the top four is a good showing, although I do not think any of the boys were happy with how they finished. That should make all of them more hungry for next year," said River Valley coach Ralph Liegel in wrapping up the state meet.
He talked about his individuals:
"Zach Licht: 4th place. I thought he got away from some of the stuff that he had been doing good all year and got a little sloppy in his quarter-final match. Zach was definitely good enough to be in the finals, and hopefully will use this experience to reach the top next year.
"Dustin Hatfield: 4th place. He too tried some stuff that he had not done all year and it proved costly. His goal was to be a state champion and although that was not reached, he will come back next year and hopefully improve on his style of wrestling.
"Nate Jennings: We knew that Nate's draw was not the best as his guy had been ranked number one for part of the year. Nevertheless, I thought Nate wrestled well after the first period. He continues to get better all the time and really made some strides this year. With some additional wrestling this spring/summer, Nate will hopefully make that next step.
"Elijah Alt: 2nd place. Elijah had a good tournament and wrestled well in his first 3 matches. I do not think he opened up in the finals like I think he is capable, but sometimes that happens in the state finals. If he gets a takedown in the last 30 seconds, he wins the match."
"All four boys now have a better understanding of what it will take to get to the top of the podium next year. All are underclassmen and three are sophomores and one is a freshman. If they and the rest of their teammates truly believe that they can be state champions and put in the hard work and time in the off season to accomplish this, then the RV program could be something special next year," Liegel concluded.
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