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After battling its way to the WIAA Team Wrestling State Tournament for the first time since 2015, Freedom ended its season with a Division 2 state championship Saturday at the UW Field House in Madison.

The second-seeded Irish topped No. 2 Ellsworth 35-16 in the title bout to score their first team championship since that 2015 campaign and the third state title in program history.

Wins in 10 of 14 bouts lifted Freedom to the decisive victory.

Colten Kater (113), Carsten McHugh (120), and Colby McHugh (126) each scored victories by decision to help the Irish race out to a 9-0 lead.

Charlie Stuhl got Ellsworth on the board with a 14-3 major decision over Koy Murphy at 132 pounds.

After some back-and-forth bouts, the Panthers gained their first and only lead of the dual when Cedric Kosnopfal scored an 11-3 major decision over Jon Verhasselt. The fourth major decision of the day gave Ellsworth a 16-15 lead with five matches to go.

From there, it was all Irish. Freedom went on tear, closing out the dual with five straight victories. That included a pin from Seth Brownson at 220 that ultimately sealed the dual meet win.

Freedom advanced to the championship match with a 35-24 win over No. 3 GET/Melorse Mindoro in the semifinals Saturday morning.

The Irish finish the season with a dual meet record of 19-3.

Prior to this year, Freedom's most recent state championship also came courtesy of a victory over Ellsworth in the state title dual. 

Ellsworth ended the season with a mark of 19-5 and its second consecutive state runner-up finish.

No. 2 Freedom 35, No. 1 Ellsworth 16

113: Colton Kater (F) dec. Cole Nelson, 6-0

120: Carsten McHugh (F) dec. Bailey Poellinger, 5-0

126: Colby McHugh (F) dec. Jon Cain, 5-1

132: Charlie Stuhl (E) maj. dec. Koy Murphy, 14-3

138: Reece Manteuffel (F) dec. Carter Huppert. 8-2

145: Jared Lansing (E) maj. dec. Ben Bredael, 14-6

152: Sawyer Hamilton (E) maj. dec. Troy Nabbefeld, 9-1

160: Sam Peters (F) dec. Jared Toenjes, 6-4

170: Cedric Kosnopfal (E) maj. dec. Jon Verhasselt, 11-3

182: Grant Vosters (F) maj. dec. Alex Matzek, 11-3

195: Devan Van Rossum (F) dec. Logan Melstrom, 3-2

220: Seth Brownson (F) p. Ian Matzek, 1:24

285: Grant Williamson (F) dec. Logan Peterson, 4-2 (SV-1)

106: Zach Lahay (F) maj. dec. Cale Ekholm, 13-4