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NEILLSVILLE – Spencer/Columbus Catholic junior Hunter Luepke captured his third-straight title and was one of five individual champions for the Rockets as they finished tied for second at the 2017 Cloverbelt Conference Wrestling Tournament on Saturday at Neillsville High School.
Luepke won the 195-pound championship, beating Lucas Ingold of Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal with a pin in 1:53. The win marks Luepke’s third straight conference title after having taking the 195-pound title in 2014 and winning at 220 last year.
SC sophomore Logan Zschernitz avenged a loss in last year’s 285-pound final, beating Nick Rueth of Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal in an ultimate tiebreaker to earn his first conference championship. Zschernitz lost to Rueth in overtime at last year’s conference meet.
Also winning individual titles for the Rockets were Ashton Ackman at 106, Dominick Wichlacz at 120, and Carson Hildebrandt at 160.
Ackman beat Dustin Bergman of Stanley-Boyd/Owen-Withee 6-2; Wichlacz won a major decision over Nathan Buchanan of NGL 10-0; and Hildebrandt topped Eric Hoffstatter of Stanley-Boyd/Owen-Withee 7-3.
Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal won the team title with 256 points, with Spencer/Columbus and Cadott tying for second with 176.5 points. It is the third-straight year the Rockets have finished second at the conference tournament.
Leo Rodriguez (113) and Caden Schillinger (145) each finished third for Spencer/Columbus.
Spencer/Columbus will compete at the WIAA Division 2 regional on Feb. 11 at Abbotsford High School.
2017 Cloverbelt Conference Wrestling Tournament
Feb. 4, at Neillsville High School
Team scores: 1. Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal 256; 2. Cadott and Spencer/Columbus Catholic 176.5; 4. Stanley-Boyd/Owen-Withee 137; 5. Abbotsford/Colby 109; 6. Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/Fall Creek 88; 7. Thorp 37.5; 8. Eau Claire Regis 36.
106 pounds
Championship: Ashton Ackman (SC) def. Dustin Bergman (SBOW) 6-2.
Third place: Shane Chady (CAD) pinned Elodie Dickenson (OFAFC) in 3:06.
113 pounds
Championship: Skylar Barth (NGL) won major dec. over Chance Clement (AC) 12-4.
Third place: Leo Rodriguez (SC) def. Kevin Kitchen (OFAFC) 11-4.
120 pounds
Championship: Dominick Wichlacz (SC) won major dec. over Nathan Buchanan (NGL) 10-0.
Third place: Chase Schultz (CAD) pinned Ruben Sanchez (SBOW) in 5:07.
126 pounds
Championship: Andrew Gunderson (CAD) pinned Kyle Gurney (NGL) in 1:34.
Third place: Logan Ruesch (AC) pinned Cole Myers (OFAFC) in 1:53.
132 pounds
Championship: Dylan Nielsen (NGL) pinned Zak Schofield (CAD) in 2:26.
Third place: Quade Webster (TH) pinned Andres Rodriguez (SC) in 2:54.
138 pounds
Championship: Brady Spaeth (CAD) won major dec. over Dalton Smith (SBOW) 12-1.
Third place; Mason Malm (NGL) pinned Xavier Digman (AC) in 1:18.
145 pounds
Championship: Tony Borowski (TH) def. Stetson Rueth (NGL) 5-1.
Third place: Caden Schillinger (SC) pinned Ethan Tegels (CAD) in 1:43.
152 pounds
Championship: James Pfeiffer (CAD) def. Sam Burzyski (SBOW) 11-6.
Third place: Zach Smith (NGL) won major dec. over Cody Rodman (AC) 15-2.
160 pounds
Championship: Carson Hildebrandt (SC) def. Eric Hoffstatter (SBOW) 7-3.
Third place: Dominick Grimm (CAD) pinned Jesse Buchanan (NGL) in 0:45.
170 pounds
Championship: Stephen Buchanan (NGL) pinned Brock Halopka (AC) in 4:38.
Third place: Nathan Scheidler (SBOW) pinned Jesse Zamora (OFAFC) in 2:30.
182 pounds
Championship: Jeffrey Breaker (OFAFC) pinned Tanner Zschernitz (NGL) in 3:29.
Third place: Ben Turner (SBOW) pinned Josh Briggs (CAD) in 1:49.
195 pounds
Championship: Hunter Luepke (SC) pinned Lucas Ingold (NGL) in 1:53.
Third place: Dalton Swett (OFAFC) def. Jake Gilbertson (ECR) 9-3.
220 pounds
Championship: Hunter Hood (ECR) def. Sam Baumgartner (NGL) 9-3.
Third place: Angelo Hutman (AC) pinned C.J. Spath (CAD) in 3:47.
285 pounds
Championship: Logan Zschernitz (SC) def. Nick Rueth (NGL), 2-2 UTB.
Third place: Eric Bentler (SBOW) pinned Daniel Menjivar (AC) in 1:02.