With the WIAA Wrestling Tournament series in full swing right now and with state taking place next weekend, it would be a good time to do a brief recap and roundup of the last few weekends of action from around the state.
Two weekends ago most conferences around the state held their conference tournaments and for most teams, it was their last tune ups before heading into regionals and the start of a 3 week journey towards the medal stand at the Kohl Center in Madison. Some conference tournaments of note include
the SWAL-SWC Clash that was held in Richland Center this year won by Mineral Point and the
Badger Conference tournament held at Oregon High School which was won by Stoughton.
The
Wisconsin Valley Conference tournament held in Marshfield saw Wausau West edge Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln to share the conference title thanks to Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln winning the dual meet schedule.
With regionals happening last weekend and sectionals this weekend, you check out all results
here.
The end of the wrestling season usually brings word of stories of wrestlers working hard to overcome any adversities they may have faced in their lives so far. Such stories as
this one about the inspirational story of a wrestler from Wrighstown High School and this one involving a
Mt. Horeb/Barneveld wrestler, showcase how wrestling builds character and how that it gives students from all different backgrounds goals and ambitions to work hard to try and acheive them.
A lot has happened the last few weeks in Wisconsin High School Wrestling, so its time for a quick roundup of the key events and stories that we may have missed in the last few weeks.
The biggest tournament that usually kicks off every new year in Wisconsin happens to be the annual Cheesehead Invitational held by Kaukauna High School. The Cheesehead usually involves some of the best teams in the state of Wisconsin and several tough teams from outside the state. This year was no different as the invite included the following teams from around the state in Wausau West, Kaukauna, Mineral Point, Stoughton, Luxemburg-Casco, Pewaukee, Hartland Arrowhead, River Valley, DeForest, Port Washington, Milton, Wrightstown and Sheyboygan Falls. All of these teams are currentley ranked by
Wisconsin Wrestling Online. Then you add in the out of state teams including Montini, IL, Adrian, MN, Kenton-Wanamingo, MN, Edwardsville, IL and Brandon, FL. So when you mix some of the toughest teams from around Wisconsin and a few of the tougher teams from outside the state, you get one of the toughest tournaments in Wisconsin.
Brandon, FL won the overall tournament while Wausau West finished 2nd, Montini, IL placed 3rd and host Kaukauna placed 4th. Brandon set a national high school record for any sport by winning 459 straight duals over a 34 year span, a streak that was snapped last year at home thanks to a 32-28 loss to South Dade, FL. They seemed to have recovered though by winning 28 straight duals going into the Cheesehead and
they were ready to show Wisconsin what they were made of.
These
Madison-area seniors all have one goal in mind, a state championship. The problem is they are all at the same weight class right now.
Boyceville is trying to avenge last year by
making it to team state this year.
Last night in one of the most anticipated duals of the year,
Wisconsin Rapids avenged their loss last year to defending state champ and nationally ranked Wausau West with a 25-24 win at Wausau West.
BadgerStateWrestling.com's Shane Sparks will be blogging about high school wrestling soon here in the BSW Blog.
Hello all and welcome to the first Takedown Blog post regarding Wisconsin High School Wrestling. We will be highlighting major happenings around the state including key duals, important tournaments, the best wrestlers in the state and more.
Seeing as we passed the halfway point of the season a few weeks ago, it would be important to highlight the major holiday tournaments in Wisconsin and those involving teams from Wisconsin. Among the larger annual holiday tournaments held in Wisconsin were
Northern Exposure in Merrill which was won by Lodi,
the Mid-States Classic hosted by UW-Whitewater which was won by Muskego,
On The Water Tournament hosted by Oshkosh Lourdes which was won by Mosinee, the
Janesville Craig Invitational which was won by Elkhorn and the
Northern Badger Classic which was held in River Falls and won by Marshfield.
The biggest holiday tournaments that involve Wisconsin teams usually come down to two tournaments; the Bi-State Classic hosted by Holmen High School at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse and The Clash in Rochester, MN.
The Bi-State Classic involved 55 teams from Wisconsin and Minnesota and it offered its place as one the best places to evaluate wrestlers and teams at the half-way point of the season. The individual two-day tournament was won by Bloomington Kennedy of Bloomington, MN
who outdistanced 2nd place Hudson and 3rd place Fond du Lac.
The Clash dual tournament though is a major stepping stone for any team looking to get their squad noticed on the national level or just trying to face some of the best talent from around the United States. The two-day dual tournament held at the Rochester Community Center included 32 teams from California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin. The tournament included many teams that are currently ranked by
Amateur Wrestling News and it included 3
rd ranked and Clash Champion Apple Valley, MN, 8
th ranked Christiansburg, VA who finished 4
th, 9
th ranked Simley, MN who finished 2
nd and 10
th ranked Ballard-Huxley, IA who finished 3
rd. Other ranked teams who competed at The Clash were 13
th ranked St. Edward, OH, 17
th ranked Montini Catholic, IL, 21
st ranked Collins Hill, GA, 26
th ranked Hastings, MN, 27
th ranked Wausau West, 28
th ranked Wisconsin Rapids, 30
th ranked High Point, NJ, 31
st ranked Roseburg, OR, 34
th ranked Iowa City West, IA and 39
th ranked Don Bosco, IA.
These rankings don’t even include the teams at the tournament who are not be ranked on the national level at the moment but are multiple time state champs in their own states. As for Wisconsin, teams that also competed and represented the state alongside Wausau West and Wisconsin Rapids were Kaukauna and Luxemburg-Casco, two very tough and successful programs as well. Wausau West fared the best among Wisconsin teams
by finishing 7th overall while Wisconsin Rapids finished 9
th overall. Kaukauna placed 26
th overall and Luxemburg-Casco finished 31
st in one of the toughest tournaments in the country.
This concludes the wrap-up of the holiday season in Wisconsin High School Wrestling, come back later as we recap the key action in Wisconsin that has kicked of 2009 so far.