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OSCEOLA – Spencer/Columbus Catholic’s Austin Post and Hunter Luepke will move on to the state tournament after finishing in the top three at the WIAA Division 2 individual wrestling sectional on Saturday at Osceola High School.
Post finished second at 132 pounds and Luepke took third at 182 to qualify for the 2016 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament at the Kohl Center in Madison on Feb. 25-27.
Post was pinned in the 132-pound championship match by Cole Skelton of Ellsworth in 3:14, but by making it to the finals he qualified for his first state meet. The senior is 29-8 this season.
Luepke, a sophomore, will be making his second-straight state tournament appearance after finishing third at 182. Luepke lost in the semifinals but went on to defeat Jacob Sigler of Ellworth 5-1 in the third-place match. Luepke, who lost in his first match at the state meet last year, is now 39-5.
Tim Bauer (138) and Nathan Neumann (152) finished fourth for the Rockets. Dominick Wichlacz (113), Austin Day (170) and Logan Zschernitz (285) also competed in the sectional but did not finish in the top four.
2016 WIAA Division 2 Individual Wrestling Sectional
Feb. 20 at Osceola High School
Team scores: 1. Ellsworth 166; 2. Amery 121.5; 3. Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal and St. Croix Central 62; 5. Ashland 55; 6. Medford 49; 7. Spencer/Columbus Catholic 45.5; 8. Melrose-Mindoro/Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 41.5; 9. Northwestern 32; 10. Rice Lake 30; 11. Luck/Frederic/Grantsburg 23; 12. Barron 22; 13. Hayward 21; 14. Bloomer/Coflax and Chetek-Weyerhaeuser/Prairie Farm 20; 16. Somerset 19; 17. Osceola 16; 18. Baldwin-Woodville 12; 19. Stanley-Boyd/Owen-Withee 9; 20. Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/Fall Creek 4; 21. Prescott 3; 22. Abbotsford/Colby 2; 23. Spooner 0.
Top 3 qualify for WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament, Feb. 25-27 at Madison
106: Championship – Matthew Peterson (ELL) def. Mike Smith (AM) 4-0; Third place – Tanner Booth (BW) pinned Colin Jeske (LFG) in 3:48.
113: Championship – Quincy Stephens (BAR) pinned Cole Britton (LCG) in 2:48; Third place – Sawyer Strom (ELL) pinned Skylar Barth (NGL) in 1:32.
120: Championship – Tommy George (ASH) won by major dec. over Josh Brooks (MED) 10-0; Third place – Caden Kirkpatrick (NW) pinned Jacob Nyhagen (SCC) in 2:43.
126: Championship – Sam Stuhl (ELL) def. Andrew Smith (AM) 6-3; Third place – Dontae Thompson (ASH) def. Les Lakey (MMGET) 7-6; Second-place wrestleback – Smith (AM) def. Thompson (ASH) by injury default.
132: Championship – Cole Skelton (ELL) pinned Austin Post (SCC) in 3:14; Third place – Tim Coyne (HAY) won major dec. over Dylan Nielsen (NGL) 9-0.
138: Championship – Hunter Marko (AM) def. Brady Simonson (BC) 5-3; Third place – Devin Drier (ELL) def. Tim Bauer (SCC) 6-3; Second-place wrestleback – Simonson (BC) pinned Drier (ELL) in 1:28.
145: Championship – Anders Lantz (ELL) def. Shawn Waalen (AM) 10-6; Third place – Sam Burzynski (SBOW) def. Cole Paulson (RL) 6-5.
152: Championship – Kyle Larson (SCC) def. Donald Pooler (NW) 3-0; Third place – Derek Nielsen (NGL) def. Nathan Neumann (SCC) 5-1.
160: Championship – Tristen Mueller (ELL) def. Chase Schmidt (RL) 4-0; Third place – Kolten Hanson (MED) def. Stephen Buchanan (NGL) 4-3.
170: Championship – Tucker Peterson (MED) def. Dalton George (ELL) 10-3; Third place – Logan Peterson (SOM) pinned Carl Oman (AM) in 0:46; Second-place wrestleback – Peterson (SOM) pinned George (ELL) in 1:10.
182: Championship – Trent Smith (SCC) def. Jon Litersky (ASH) 7-4; Third place – Hunter Luepke (SCC) def. Jacob Sigler (ELL) 5-1.
195: Championship – Bennett Paulson (AM) pinned Cody Gostovich (SCC) in 0:54; Third place – Dakota Daffinson (MMGET) pinned Lucas Ingold (NGL) in 2:19; Second-place wrestleback – Daffinson (MMGET) pinned Gostovich (SCC) in 5:00.
220: Championship – Eli Newton (AM) def. Tanner Johnson (OSC) 7-1; Third place – Sam Higley (MMGET) pinned Jacob Bugella (RL) in 5:44; Second-place wrestleback – Johnson (OSC) def. Higley (MMGET) 5-4.
285: Championship – Nick Rueth (NGL) def. Elijah Whitman (CWPF) 5-1; Third place – Mike Freund (ELL) pinned Noah LeBlanc (HAY) in 5:00.