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By Kasi Greenwood
This past Saturday, the 2020-2021 WIAA Division 3 Team State Wrestling Title was decided, when the Mineral Point Wrestling team traveled to Wausau West.
The decision went to PointerNation after they defeated the number one seeded Coleman Cougars with a final score of 33-32.
This is the first time PointerNation made its appearance at Team State, in five years. The teams the Pointers competed against are no strangers.
In the semi-final rounds, the Pointers wrestled against Random Lake, defeating them 36-17. Wins came through a major decision from Lucas Sullivan (113), a technical fall from Reid Spurley (120), decision matches from Tarrin Riley (132), Hayden Bakken (152), Daniel Nordstrom (220), and Joey Robinson (106).
Receiving pins for the Pointers were state champions Nolan Springer (170) and Mason Hughes (182). Changing things up, Tyler Schoneman wrestled Springer who defeated Samuel Schwabe in the individual state tournament last weekend. Schwabe fell short to Hughes by a fall of four minutes and forty one seconds.
Senior Will Straka (285) earned three points for the Pointers in a tiebreaker match against Jordan Arendt.
Then came the finals against Coleman, and the journey for the gold didn't come so easy as Head Coach Curtis Fiedler pointed out.
"We knew it was gonna be a tough goal," Fiedler said. "We knew that they came to us with a team state title just like we did."
Mineral Point took the first three matches when 120 pounder Reid Spurley won by technical fall over John Nowak,Tarrin Riley (126) pinned Brady Gross in 44 seconds and Trapper Nafzger won by 4-2 decision over Chance Gruber(132), bringing the score up to 14-0.
The Cougars responded with two back to back pins when Will Bieber (138) earned six points for his team by pinning Ross Lindsey in 4:09. Karson Casper (145) followed suit with another six point match over Jimmy Tibbits in 5:25, bringing the score 14-12.
After Bakken and Bo Hanson (160) fell short in their matches, Springer and Hughes knew that they had to take big action, each earning six point matches. Decision scores on both teams were earned after Mitch Aurit (195) defeated Coby DenRuyter 2-1, with Nordstrom falling short to Brody Zahn at 220.
The next key matches were important for the Pointers. After Will Straka (285) fell short via major decision against Spencer Karban, it came down to Joey Robinson (103) not losing by six points.
"That was big for him, and he did his job," Fiedler said. "And Will Straka too, only giving up four points after a tough loss at sectionals the week prior. Throughout the day, everyone's scared of Nolan Springer, rightfully so. So they bump up their stud against Mason Hughes and he came out on fire. He was guns blazing."
The final match of the day was by sophomore Lucas Sullivan, whose team state story came down to a major decision match against Raymond LeMieux.
At that time it wasn't known what the criteria would be in order to secure the win (it came down to the tech fall from Spurley had the final scores been tied). That said, Sullivan knew that the major decision was what the Pointers needed to be certain of the win.
"I knew I couldn't let my team down," Sullivan said. "It was so exciting to be able to win that match because I knew my guy did not want to get majored. I never would have thought I'd be wrestling in the state finals this year, and now we became state champions."
Resiliency is what Fiedler feels helped the Pointers secure the gold.
"What a resilient group of kids that we have that had, especially past year with COVID thrust upon them," Fielder said. "However they did what they had to do and made the best of it doing the little things that you expect a team to do in times like this. It's the work you've got to put in and it starts in the weight room."
Seniors leaving the team are Straka, Payton Byous, Kane Gunderson, Chandler Workman, Springer, Aurit, Hughes, Mason Horn and Nordstrom.
"I'm going to miss those seniors," Fiedler said. "They put in the work and I'm so happy that they were able to end it with a goal. They certainly earned it. They worked their tails off and I couldn't be prouder to coach those guys. And it'll be fun to watch them have a successful life after high school, whatever they decide."

WIAA Team Sectional - Mineral Point
Match #1 Semifinal
Mineral Point defeated
Random Lake 36-17
113 - Lucas Sullivan (Mineral Point) over Mark Szombathelyi (Random Lake) Maj 16-5
120 - Reid Spurley (Mineral Point) over Tanner Birenbaum (Random Lake) TF 18-3
126 - Ethan San Felippo (Random Lake) over Trapper Nafzger (Mineral Point) Dec 8-4
132 - Tarrin Riley (Mineral Point) over Stone Pomeroy (Random Lake) Dec 5-4
138 - Parker Scholler (Random Lake) over Ross Lindsey (Mineral Point) Dec 5-1
145 - Hayden Scholler (Random Lake) over Jimmy Tibbits (Mineral Point) Dec 5-1
152 - Hayden Bakken (Mineral Point) over Toren Vandenbush (Random Lake) Dec 8-4
160 - Aiden Vandenbush (Random Lake) over Bo Hanson (Mineral Point) TF 26-11
170 - Nolan Springer (Mineral Point) over Tyler Schoneman (Random Lake) Fall 0:59
182 - Mason Hughes (Mineral Point) over Samuel Schwabe (Random Lake) Fall 4:41
195 - Brock Upson (Random Lake) over Mitch Aurit (Mineral Point) SV-1 3-1
220 - Daniel Nordstrom (Mineral Point) over Michael Upson (Random Lake) Dec 3-0
285 - Will Straka (Mineral Point) over Jordan Arendt (Random Lake) TB-1 5-1
106 - Joey Robinson (Mineral Point) over Grant Gibson (Random Lake) Dec 10-4

Match #2 1st Place Match
Mineral Point defeated Coleman 33-32
120 - Reid Spurley (Mineral Point) over John Nowak (Coleman) TF 17-2
126 - Tarrin Riley (Mineral Point) over Brady Gross (Coleman) Fall 0:44
132 - Trapper Nafzger (Mineral Point) over Chance Gruber (Coleman) Dec 4-2
138 - Will Bieber (Coleman) over Ross Lindsey (Mineral Point) Fall 4:09
145 - Karson Casper (Coleman) over Jimmy Tibbits (Mineral Point) Fall 5:25
152 - Owen Kinziger (Coleman) over Hayden Bakken (Mineral Point) Dec 7-3
160 - Peter Kuchta (Coleman) over Bo Hanson (Mineral Point) Fall 2:43
170 - Nolan Springer (Mineral Point) over Cole Klimek (Coleman) Fall 1:16
182 - Mason Hughes (Mineral Point) over Tyler Blanchard (Coleman) Fall 1:52
195 - Mitch Aurit (Mineral Point) over Coby DenRuyter (Coleman) Dec 2-1
220 - Brody Zahn (Coleman) over Daniel Nordstrom (Mineral Point) Dec 6-2
285 - Spencer Karban (Coleman) over Will Straka (Mineral Point) Maj 11-1
106 - Cameron Kimmell (Coleman) over Joey Robinson (Mineral Point) Maj 10-2
113 - Lucas Sullivan (Mineral Point) over Raymond LeMieux (Coleman) Maj 15-5