March 4, 2016 at 9:01 a.m.
Dodgeville's Wetter is D2 champ - several gain podium at state
The UW Badgers wrestling program bound Wetter pinned all three of his opponents.
He had a Thursday night bye as a sectional champion and then pinned Denmark's Jake Vanden Heuvel in the first period Friday morning. Friday night he put Ripon's Ryan Socha's shoulders to the mat in 2;51. In the final he scored a 3:33 fall over Monroe's Traiten Gore.
Wetter became just the 6th Dodgeville wrestler to claim a state championship at the Kohl Center on Saturday night. He joins Jason Hughes (2001), Bobby Wunnicke (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008), T.J. Wunnicke (2006), Grant Sutter (2007, 2008) and Grant Miller (2008) as Dodger state wrestling champions.
"Brady's three pins in the state tournament were a reflection of the domination Brady exhibited throughout the season," said Dodger coach Ryan Lord. "Brady had only one match this season go the full 6 minutes, a 6-2 decision over WIAA 3rd place D 1 Hwt, Brady Lenz. Other than that match, no other opponent made it past the second period against Brady. It was a truly remarkable season and a well deserved finish to all the years of hard work and dedication that Brady put in to making his dream become a reality.
"Brady ends his Dodger wrestling career with a career record of 151-21 and two 3rd place state finishes to go along with his state title. The team and current and past coaches would like to congratulate Brady on an outstanding season and career. We will all look forward to watching Brady begin a new chapter in his wrestling career as a Badger."
Also in D2 River Valley's Dustin Hatfield was a runner-up in the 126 lb. division. He dropped his title bout 5-0 to Ellsworth's Sam Stuhl.
Blackhawk freshman Shane Liegel was a 3rd place finisher at 152. He won 5-1 in overtime over Southern Door's Michael Bertrand.
Elijah Alt also was a 3rd place winner when he took a 6-2 win over East Troy's Jeremy Dedick.
Caleb Radtke (113) and Gavin Wipperfurth (145 )also competed for RV.
Iowa-Grant/Highland freshman Drew Hennessey worked his way to the finals at 170 in Division 3 and took the runner-up spot.
He dropped a tough 3-1 bout to Random Lake's Helton Vandenbush on a takedown with 13 seconds remaining in the third period.
His teammate Brady Peat took 5th at160 in D3 when he scored a major decision over St. Croix Falls' Luke Clark 10-2.
Also competing but not placing for I-G/H were 113 lb. Sawyer Sarbacker and 132 lb. Max Maylor.
"Drew wrestled a great tournament. He wrestled aggressively and fearlessly. He went into the tourney with a plan to win it and he almost did it," said Iowa-Grant/Highland coach Ryan Allen.
"In the semi's, Drew had a returning state champ and knew he was going to come out fast. The kid hit a shot right away and Drew countered with a throw to put him on his back and got the pin in about 40 seconds. It was probably one of the most electrifying matches I've ever been a part of.
"In the finals, the match was tied with about 30 seconds left and we had a single leg way up in the air. Drew ran out of room and couldn't finish that takedown and they went out of bounds. Then, with about 10 second left, he got in on our leg and dumped us right on our butt for the takedown and that was the match."
He added, "I thought Brady also had a good tournament. Brady has worked very hard all season and he knew it and wrestled like it. Although I'm sure he would have liked to place higher I think he did a good job, especially in his last match. It can be hard to rebound after a loss at the state tournament, but he came out and majored a tough kid for fifth."
"Sawyer came out strong and faded as the match progressed, Allen said. "I thought we could have gotten in on his legs more on our feet, but it just never happened. He has wrestled well all year so I don't think this match defines his season but it does hurt. He has put in a lot of time and I hope this loss can push him to place high next year."
"Max just didn't wrestle well in his match. He seemed a little off," The coach pointed out. "I don't know if it was nerves, pressure, or what; but he just never got it going. Like Sawyer, it was a bad match but it doesn't define his season. Max has a lot of big wins this year as well as a few tournament championships. I really hope Max learns from this match and next year comes out firing."
Mineral Point senior Scotty Pittz finished 3rd at 170 in D3.
He lost a heartbreaker 7-6 in overtime to Vandenbush, who eventually beat I-G/Highland's Drew Hennessey for the title. Pittz was leading 3-1 in the match when the Random Lake wrestler scored a reversal to tie things in the last 10 seconds. Then in the extra period, Pittz yielded another takedown to drop the match by one point.
He came back to take 3rd with a 5-0 decision over De Soto's Lance Buckles and a 7-1 win over Boyceville's Micah Johnson.
Logan Schmitz finished 5th at 126 when he came up with a 4-0 decision over Ryan Berg of Spring Valley/Elmwood.
Danny Pittz was a 6th place finisher at 106 when he dropped an overtime match to Parkview's Jackson Hauri 4-2.
At 138, Pointer Brandon Forseth was also a 6th pace finisher. He dropped a 6-3 bout to Dodgeland's Ryan Neu in their 5th place match.
Also taking part in the individual state matches, but not placing were: 145 lb. Boone Schmitz, 160 lb. Riley Workman and 195 lb. Kyle Juedes.
"I felt we wrestled well over the weekend," said Pointer coach Scott Schmitz. "We would've liked to have more get to the podium, but going in with seven and having four on the award's stand is pretty good, The kids wrestled extremely hard and improved week by week. We have a lot of kids back next year and we have a bright future."
In talking about his state qualifiers, Schmitz said, "Boone and Kyle both gained a lot of experience knowing now what state is like. Boone gave up a takedown at the end that was the deciding factor in his match.
"Riley had a nice pin in his first match and then didn't give up and stayed after it in his next two matches. He too gained some very valuable experience.
"The two freshmen, Danny and Logan, both did good jobs. Danny just got caught, but then did a good job coming back to wrestle for fifth. He lost a close one giving up a takedown at the end. You can't put a price on the experience Logan had. He wrestled injured for the last few weeks.
"The two seniors, Brandon and Scotty, probably didn't quite finish where they wanted.
"Brandon lost a close match for third at the end. I'm extremely happy with the four years I have had with him.
"I felt that Scotty was the best wrestler in his class. He just wasn't for one match. He would probably beat Vandenbush 9 out of 10 times. He's just a great kid who has always done what we have asked. Sunday, after state, he was working with the little kids helping them. He's going to be an asset in life no matter what he chooses. We're going to miss him in our program. Hopefully he'll be close by and stay helping out.
"We look for good things next year and will try to get a conference championship, send a bunch to individual state and get to team state."
2016 WIAA Individual State Results for Dodgeville
D2-220-Brady Wetter (29-0) placed 1st.
Quarterfinal-Wetter won by fall over Jake Vanden Heuvel (Denmark) 35-8 (Fall 1:16), Semifinal-Wetter won by fall over Ryan Socha (Ripon) 45-4 (Fall 2:51), 1st Place Match-Wetter won by fall over Traiten Gorr (Monroe) 42-3 (Fall 3:33)
2016 WIAA Individual State Results for Iowa-Grant/Highland
D3-113 - Sawyer Sarbacker (39-9) failed to place.
Champ. Round 1-Dylan Bune (Spring Valley/Elmw.) 38-11 won by decision over Sarbacker (Dec 5-2)
D3-132-Max Maylor (40-8) failed to place.
Champ. Round 1-Hunter Schienebeck (Chequamegon) 37-10 won by major decision over Maylor (MD 16-8)
D3-160-Brady Peat (38-9) placed 5th.
Champ. Round 1-Peat won by fall over Will Raatz (Edgar) 31-11 (Fall 3:38), Quarterfinal-Zach Coffeen (Laconia) 47-3 won by decision over Peat (Dec 7-4), Cons. Round 1-Peat won by major decision over Riley Workman (Mineral Point) 28-20 (MD 10-0), Cons. Semi-Jacob Banker (Bonduel) 41-9 won by decision over Peat (Dec 6-5), 5th Place Match-Peat won by major decision over Luke Clark (Saint Croix Falls) 39-5 (MD 10-2)
D3-170-Drew Hennessey (32-10) placed 2nd.
Champ. Round 1-Hennessey won by decision over Sam Severin (Kewaunee) 37-5 (Dec 10-6), Quarterfinal-Hennessey won by decision over Alex Lemanski (Edgar) 32-8 (Dec 5-2), Semifinal-Hennessey won by fall over Micah Johnson (Boyceville) 21-3 (Fall 0:40), 1st Place Match-Helton Vandenbush (Random Lake) 47-3 won by decision over Hennessey (Dec 3-1)
2016 WIAA Individual State Results for Mineral Point
D3-106-Danny Pittz (36-9) placed 6th.
Champ. Round 1-Pittz won by tech fall over Luke Pulvermacher (Princeton) 30-12 (5:27 (15-0)), Quarterfinal-Cian Fischer (Weyauwega-Frem.) 41-2 won by fall over Pittz (Fall 1:40), Cons. Round 1-Pittz won by major decision over Anthony Rautmann (Random Lake) 28-16 (MD 9-1), Cons. Semi-Zack Anglin (Bayfield/Washburn) 38-3 won by decision over Pittz (Dec 4-3), 5th Place Match-Jackson Hauri (Parkview) 44-5 won in sudden victory - 1 over Pittz (SV-1 4-2)
D3-126-Logan Schmitz (33-12) placed 5th.
Champ. Round 1-Schmitz won by fall over Sawyer Young (Mishicot) 24-12 (Fall 3:45), Quarterfinal-Tate Murty (Cochrane-Foun. City) 35-2 won by decision over Schmitz (Dec 6-2), Cons. Round 1-Schmitz won by decision over Ethan Leis (Cashton) 34-15 (Dec 8-1), Cons. Semi-Alec Potter (Laconia) 46-4 won by decision over Schmitz (Dec 7-4), 5th Place Match-Logan Schmitz won by decision over Ryan Berg (Spring Valley/Elmw.) 37-9 (Dec 4-0)
D3-138-Brandon Forseth (37-10) placed 4th.
Champ. Round 1-Forseth won by decision over Bryce Karban (Coleman) 35-13 (Dec 6-4), Quarterfinal-Brock Schlough (Boyceville) 41-4 won by decision over Forseth (Dec 7-0), Cons. Round 1-Forseth won by decision over Sam Wenzel (Stratford) 41-9 (Dec 6-1), Cons. Semi-Forseth won by decision over Sammy VanStraten (Shiocton) 41-9 (Dec 7-6). 3rd Place Match-Ryan Neu (Dodgeland) 38-9 won by decision over Forseth (Dec 6-3)
D3-145 - Boone Schmitz (35-10) failed to place.
Champ. Round 1-Hunter Shuler (Ken. Christian Life) 34-9 won by decision over Schmitz (Dec 9-2)
D3-160 - Riley Workman (28-20) failed to place.
Champ. Round 1-Workman won by fall over Alex Zeitler (Gillett/Suring) 35-9 (Fall 5:20), Quarterfinal-Luke Clark (Saint Croix Falls) 39-3 won by major decision over Workman (MD 17-7), Cons. Round 1-Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 38-9 won by major decision over Workman (MD 10-0)
D3-170-Scott Pittz (42-2) placed 3rd.
Quarterfinal-Pittz won by decision over Jed Schlegel (Spring Valley/Elmw.) 34-7 (Dec 3-0), Semifinal-Helton Vandenbush (Random Lake) 46-3 won in tie breaker -1 over Pittz (7-6), Cons. Semi-Pittz won by decision over Lance Buckles (De Soto) 42-7 (Dec 5-0), 3rd Place Match-Pittz won by decision over Micah Johnson (Boyceville) 22-4 (Dec 7-1)
D3-195-Kyle Juedes (29-14) failed to place.
Champ. Round Max Villnow (Amherst) 42-9 won by decision over Juedes (Dec 7-3)
2016 WIAA Individual State Results for River Valley
D2-113-Caleb Radtke (36-15) failed to place.
Champ. Round 1-Cole Britton (Luck/Frederic/Grant.) 31-3 won by decision over Radtke (Dec 4-0)
D2-126-Dustin Hatfield (43-5) placed 2nd.
Quarterfinal-Hatfield won by major decision over Andrew Smith (Amery) 27-10 (MD 15-6), Semifinal-Hatfiel won by decision over Kaleb Ison (Sheboygan Falls) 31-19 (Dec 5-2, 1st Place Match-Sam Stuhl (Ellsworth) 41-5 won by decision over Hatfield (Dec 5-0)
D2-145-Gavin Wipperfurth (36-10) failed to place.
Champ. Round 1-Wipperfurth won by decision over Jacob Nygaard (Wisconsin Lutheran) 37-15 (Dec 6-3), Quarterfinal-Nate Trepanier (Oconto Falls) 46-0 won by decision over Wipperfurth (Dec 4-0), Cons. Round 1-John Maki (Mauston) 42-5 won by decision over Wipperfurth (Dec 3-2)
D2-152-Shane Liegel (37-10) placed 3rd.
Champ. Round 1-Liegel won by decision over Derek Nielsen (Neills-ville/Greenw./Loyal) 43-6 (Dec 9-2), Quarterfinal-Josh Verbeten (Wrightstown) 40-7 won by decision over Liegel (Dec 5-1), Cons. Round 1-Liegel won by decision over Brad Jones (Mount Horeb) 41-13 (Dec 2-0), Cons. Semi-Liegel won in sudden victory - 1 over Kyle Larson (Saint Croix Central) 36-10 (4-2), 3rd Place Match-Liegel won in sudden victory - 1 over Michael Bertrand (Southern Door) 40-9 (5-1)
D2-160-Elijah Alt (44-4) placed 3rd.
Quarterfinal-Jeremy Dedick (East Troy) 45-7 won by decision over Alt (Dec 3-1), Cons. Round 1- Alt (River Valley) 44-4 won by decision over Chase Schmidt (Rice Lake) 40-4 (Dec 2-1), Cons. Semi-Alt won by decision over Tristen Mueller (Ellsworth) 30-6 (Dec 7-1), 3rd Place Match-Alt won by decision over Jeremy Dedick (East Troy) 46-8 (Dec 6-2)
