Wisconsin High School Sports | Wisconsin Sports Network | WisSports.net

The 75th annual WIAA Individual Wrestling State Tournament got underway at the Kohl Center Thursday afternoon.

Session 1 began with Division 1 preliminary and quarterfinal matches and concluded with D2 and D3 preliminary bouts.

Some notable results are detailed below.

Please check back to WisSports for additional updates as the weekend progresses.

Division 1

(106 pounds) The first No. 1-ranked wrestler of the tournament went down in the D1 106-pound quarterfinals as No. 3 Hayden Halter of Burlington topped Ashwaubenon’s Cody Minor 6-3.

Minor jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period. But Halter kept his wits about him. The freshman standout had a plan.

“Just to keep my mental mindset good. It was only 2-0, there was plenty of time left to come back and win.”

By the end of the second, Halter was out to a 4-2 lead. He tacked on two more points in the final two minutes to claim a three-point victory.

“I kept my pace high, didn’t let him control the match,” Halter said.

Halter knows he needs to continue to do more of the same if he wants to stand atop the podium Saturday night.

“I need to keep my pace moving, heavy hand fighting and hit my shots really crisp and get it done.”

(113 pounds) Top-ranked Eric Barnett of Hortonville led wire-to-wire as he bested No. 2 Zeke Smith of Sauk Prairie 9-3 in the quarterfinals.

Barnett, who won by fall in his preliminary match, cruises into the D1 semifinals with a record of 44-0.

Friday night he will take on No. 9 Reuben Guzik of Rhinelander with a berth in the state title match on the line.

(126 pounds) No. 1 Aaron Schulist (Mukwonago) has battled a shoulder injury for the vast majority of the season. Friday evening, that shoulder put an end to Schulist’s state title run.

The senior dropped his quarterfinal match to No. 8 Cooper Hunt of Homestead by injury default.

Action was stopped late in the second. After receiving attention from the medical staff, Schulist tried to continue. But moments later, he tweaked his shoulder again and was unable to continue.

His status for Friday’s consolation match is unknown.

Earlier in the session, Elkhorn’s Grant Trusdale upended No. 2 Fernando Coronado (Ashwaubenon) in a preliminary bout.

Tenth-ranked Truesdale went on to drop a 3-2 decision to No. 4 Mason McMillen (Reedsburg) in the quarters.

(132 pounds) No. 12 Tyler Gill of Menomonee Falls pinned No. 3 Brandon Micksch (Kaukauna) in the second period of their preliminary match.

Gill was pinned by fourth-ranked Thomas Severson (D.C. Everest) in the quarterfinals.

(160 pounds) West Allis Hale’s Peyton Mocco emerged victorious in a battle of top-3 wrestlers in the 160-pound semis.

No. 2 Mocco bested No. 3 Jacob Anderson (Hudson) by major decision 18-9.

“I started off a little slow, but once I finally started going to my stuff I tried keeping the pace going,” Mocco said. “Because I know if I keep a high pace, there is nobody who can stay with me.”

Mocco is set to face fourth-ranked Frank Garcia (Kenosha Tremper) in the semifinals Friday night with a potential showdown with No. 1 Tyler Dow of Stoughton looming Saturday evening.

“I want to keep getting better with every match, just keep rolling,” Mocco said. “Hopefully by the time I’m in the finals and by tomorrow, I’ll be wrestling my best wrestling of the year.”

(182 pounds) Second-ranked Isaac Lahr of Holmen topped No. 3 Bryson Alsteen (Kaukauna) 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

Alsteen was a Cheesehead Invitational finalist at last month.

Lahr advances to take on No. 4 Sam Mitchell (Marshfield) in the semifinals.

(195 pounds) Jack Trautman III (Waterford) handed No. 4 Stephen Maule (Watertown) his second loss of the season courtesy of a 7-0 shutout in the quarters.

Trautman, the No. 2 195-pounder in D1 according to Wisconsin Wrestling Online, will go toe-to-toe with ninth-ranked Adam Jones of South Milwaukee in a semifinal bout Friday night.

(285 pounds) Fifth-ranked Alan Olkowski (Waunakee) topped No. 5 Cole Godbout (Hudson) by injury default in a preliminary match. Olkowski was winning by decision at the time the match was called.

Olkowski fell to top-ranked Keaton Kluever (Kaukauna) in the quarters by a count of 14-6.

Division 2

(106 pounds) It is not often the second-ranked wrestler in the state has to participate in the preliminary round of a Division 2 or 3 state tournament. That’s because sectional champions are awarded byes to the quarterfinals and, more often than not, the No. 2 grappler is generally a sectional champ.

But that’s not the case for East Troy’s Tommy Larson, who happened to be in the same sectional as No. 1 Quintin Gehrmann of Jefferson.

Larson was pinned by Gehrmann in the first-place match at sectionals. A win in the second-place match pushed Larson to State.

By way of that result, Larson was relegated to a Thursday night match at the Kohl Center, a designation that brings added pressure. Unlike Division 1, losers of D2 or D3 preliminary matches are automatically eliminated.

Larson made the best of his early appearance at the Kohl Center, hanging on for a 7-5 victory over No. 9 Blaine Brenner of Stanley-Boyd/Owen-Withee.

He will face No. 4 Cale Anderson (Viroqua) in Friday’s quarterfinals.

(145 pounds) Ryan Hannah of Viroqua is no stranger to the Kohl Center.

The senior is a four-time state qualifier seeking his third appearance in the finals.

After winning it all in 2016, Hannah finished runner-up a season ago. His drive for redemption began in earnest Thursday evening.

No. 2 Hannah used a late takedown to a seal a 4-0 victory over No. 8 Ryan Cody of Ripon.

“Personally, I don’t think I did too well,” Hannah said. “I have to open up more on offense, basically just stay on the attack. I got two takedowns and that held him off well enough. But on top I have to score more points.”

Hannah admitted he has looked ahead to a potential return to the championship match. But he tries to keep his mind from wandering too far down that path.

“You’re always looking into the future, but you don’t want to trip over anything. That’s the mentality you have to have,” Hannah said. “You can look up for a split second and trip over one thing and then you end up on the back side [of the bracket] instead of wrestling for a state championship. So you just have to wrestle and keep your mind in the match.”

Hannah squares off with No. 3 Max Ward (Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah/Howards Grove) Friday.

Division 3

(126 pounds) The pursuit of a fourth consecutive state championship officially began for Stratford’s AJ Schoenfuss.

The senior grappler took care of business with a 3-0 decision over Danny Pitz (Mineral Point) in the prelims.

“It’s really nice to get that first one out of the way,” Schoenfuss said. “Especially today, on Thursday night, when if you lose you’re done.”

Schoenfuss conceded the prospect of joining the elite four-timers club has weighed heavily on his mind recently.

“The nerves are really starting to set in these last couple days,” said Schoenfuss. “It’s just one of those things where I’d really like to get it and the nerves are kicking in hard this week.”

The three-time returning state champ got off to a sluggish start in Thursday’s match, not scoring any points in the first four-plus minutes of action.

“I started off a little slow. I kicked it in gear in the second period,” Schoenfuss said. “But I’m really just happy to get it out of the way and try and keep getting better and try to get some rest before tomorrow’s match.”

With another win in his pocket, Schoenfuss knows it’s time to compartmentalize.

“I just have to put everything to the side and actually take it one match at a time and just, no matter what, give it what I’ve got and hopefully I end up there at the top.”

No. 2 Schoenfuss squares off with third-ranked Carson Strong (Glenwood City) in Friday’s quarterfinals.

(138 pounds) Sammy VanStraten (Shiocton) didn’t waste any time in the preliminary round.

The 2017 state finalist scored a first-period pin Thursday night and punched his ticket to the quarters.

“The first one, especially on Thursday, is probably the most stressful because it’s do or die,” VanStraten said. “This is my senior year. So if I don’t win that match, my career is basically over.”

Like many of his fellow wrestlers, VanStraten acknowledged the added intensity of wrestling on Thursday night. However, he saw his experience as an advantage.

“The thing I like about wrestling on Thursday is getting the jitters out early,” VanStraten said. “My jitters are basically gone, so now it’s just give it all I’ve got.”

Second-ranked VanStraten will take on No. 5 Logan Schmitz (Mineral Point) Friday.