The CROSSFACE

On the Inside

Cover ................................. p. 4Team Sectionals ............ p. 5All-State Team ................ p. 6River Valley ...................... p. 8WWCA .............................. p. 11College Notes ................ p. 12Ben Peterson .................. p. 13WWF .................................. p. 15

Volume 32 Number 4 February 19, 2016 $3.00

Western Power SurgeHudson, SV/E, Ellsworth Rise to Top of Rankings

Photo Submitted By Justin Bystrom

Spring Valley/Elmwood and their fans celebrate a victory during SV/E’s 40-27 victory over Coleman in the D2 team state final a year ago.

INSIDE:

Crossface

All-State Team

Pages 6-7

The CROSSFACE

February 19, 2016

2 - The

Crossface

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CROSSFACE-SSJ4473-121615.pdf 1 12/16/15 11:35 AM

February 19, 2016

- 3The

Crossface Editorial

If it’s happening in Wisconsin wrestling, it’s in

The Crossface

Eight times a year, the Crossface comes into your home with all the scores, highlights, news, rankings, schedules, and features of Wisconsin wrestling. Whether its Kids, high school, college, university, or senior wrestling, The

Crossface is your best source of information.

Subscribe now and be in the know about Wisconsin wrestling.

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THE CROSSFACE

Phone 414-617-0563E Mail joe@crossfacewisconsin.com

2017 N. 47th StreetMilwaukee, WI 53208

Dates to RememberFebruary 20: Wisconsin at Central Michigan, noon.

February 20: WIAA individual sectionals.

February 21: Northwestern at Wisconsin, noon.

February 25-27: WIAA individual state tournament, Kohl

Center Madison.

February 26: NCAA Division II Super Regional, UW-

Parkside at Indianapolis, Ind.

February 27: NCAA Division III Midwest Regional,

Crawfordsville, Ind.

March 4-5: WIAA team state, UW-Fieldhouse, Madison.

March 5: Big Ten Championships, Iowa City Iowa.

March 11: NCAA Division II Championships at

Sioux Falls, S.D.

March 12-13: NCAA Division III Championships, Cedar

Falls, Iowa.

March 17-19: NCAA Championships, Madison Square

Garden, New York.

The

CrossfaceEditor Joe ShinnersLayout/Circulation Manager Jack HaenselProduction/Graphic Design Susan AngellOwner & Publisher ShinnersHaensel LLC

Editorial Office

Phone 414-617-0563Website:crossfacewisconsin.com

E Mail joe@crossfacewisconsin.com

The Crossface, Inc., 2017 N. 47th Street Milwaukee, WI 53208 Periodicals postage paid at Madison, WI. and additional mailing offices. Postmaster send ad-dress changes to The Crossface, 2017 N. 47th Street Milwaukee, WI 53208

What a season it has been for Kenosha Brad-ford coach Jeril Grover.

First he apprehended a man burglarizing his home, tied him up with a garden hose and held him for police. Then he was removed from his job after a parents meet-ing that obviously went bad.

He was reinstated at the beginning of the year and now he’s leading his team to the WIAA state team tournament for the second time. Bradford’s last trip to state was in 1993.

That is a year to re-member.

All-State notes: In this issue, we have the Crossface All-State team that includes all three di-visions in one group. It was started by Joe Kaster and it continues.

There were six unani-mous selections on the first team: Hartford’s Beau Breske at 182, Amery’s Hunter Marko

at 138, Two Rivers’ Paul Bianchi at 120, Johnson Creek’s Wilder Wichman at 145, West Salem/Ban-gor’s Devin Bahr at 152 and Pewaukee’s Jacob Ra-schka at 195.

All are or were ranked in the InterMat national high school rankings. Bi-anchi checks in at No 16 at 120. Marko is ranked No.7 at 138. Bahr is ranked No. 8 at 152. Breske is ranked No. 3 at 182. Raschka is ranked No. 16 at 195. Wichman was ranked ear-lier this year.

The rankings were com-piled just prior to region-als so some things may have happened in the in-terim. That’s just how it goes with rankings. Still, I think the committee did a good job of selecting wres-tlers from all over the state and in all three divisions to highlight the state’s best.

All-State Academic team: Please remember to e-mail or snail mail the Academic All-State Nomi-

nation Form on page nine. The rules and regulations are on the form. Nothing has changed in the criteria from the past teams.

Team tournament: The dual meet everyone wants to see will take place in the quarterfinals at the WIAA state team tourna-ment when Kaukauna and Hudson lock horns.

It’s too bad it will take place that early but that’s how it goes in our state. Plenty of criticism will be heaped upon the WIAA until we seed the team and individual tournaments.

Congratulations to the first-time team qualifiers: Hortonville, Two Rivers and River Valley.

Individual state cov-erage: Remember to check the crossfacewis-consin.com website for coverage of the WIAA in-dividual state tournament as it unfolds. I’m sure our first run through live will be a bit rocky, but it will be an improvement for read-ers seeking information in a timely fashion.

Potentially Dangerous

byJoe Shinners

February 19, 2016

4 - The

CrossfaceCover Story

Western Teams Flex Muscles This YearSmall area near the St. Croix River fills all three divisions with quality teams

By Justin Bystrom

Roughly 20 minutes east of the Minnesota border and the St. Croix River lies a mid-point that is less than 15 miles between three of Wisconsin’s wrestling powerhouses.

Pierce County is home to the No. 1-ranked Division 2 Ellsworth Panthers. Also present is the WIAA Division 3 returning state team cham-pions, the Spring Valley/Elmwood Cardinals.

Just to the North, the num-ber one-ranked Division 1 team, the Hudson Raiders, resides in St. Croix County.

Other than proximity, the teams these three teams that are grouped within 30 miles of each other also share a link of being taken by teach-ers who have led the teams to the top of the rankings this year.

Spring Valley/Elmwood is currently ranked 4th in Division 3 but the Cardinals returned almost their entire team after winning the team state championship in 2015.

At the top of their re-spective divisions are Hud-son (D1) and Ellsworth (D2).

Having a teacher who is the coach is not unique to any particular sport; however, these educators have clearly listened and learned how to develop championship-cal-iber teams.

Hudson’s Chris Hansen, Ellsworth’s Mark Matzek and Spring Valley/Elmwood’s Carter Turner have the abil-ity to scout, recruit and ul-timately keep tabs on their student-athletes as well as their prospective teammates throughout the year.

They all also have shown a knack of encouraging alumni wrestlers to keep coming back to the wrestling room to help train the current gener-ation.

Coach Turner was inducted into the National

Wrestling Hall of fame last year.

The Spring Valley native has coached his alma mat-er for 26 seasons, starting in 1990. He has coached eight WIAA individual state cham-pions (including five titles earned by his four sons) and led his team to seven confer-ence championships and six regional championships.

His induction was a shin-ing moment after leading his team to their first team state championship with a 40-27 victory over Coleman last year.

Coleman had previously beaten Spring Valley/Elm-wood for the D3 champion-ship in Turner’s two previ-ous state tournament runs in 2014 and 2012.

Last season, Spring Valley/Elmwood sent five individ-uals to the Division 3 WIAA state tournament, and four of the five are pushing for a run again this year. Andrew Webb (106 lb.) was injured early this season and lost; however, Seth Schlegel (120 lb.), Cruze Hurlburt (132

lb.), Jed Schlegel (160 lb.) and Ethan Hofacker (220 lb.) are in the lineup.

In last year’s WIAA indi-vidual state tournament, Hurlburt was runner-up at 132-pounds, Hofacker was runner-up at 220 and Jed Schlegel earned a trip to the podium by placing fifth at 160.

Coach Matzek may only be in his second season in Ells-worth but he is a veteran of the sport with a wealth of ex-perience on the mat and lead-ing wrestlers onto the mat.

As an athlete, Matzek won two individual state titles for the Panthers and went on to coach two years as an assist-ant and six seasons as head coach of the Augsburg College wrestling program.

Matzek led Augsburg to the NCAA Division III nation-al title in the 2009-‘10 sea-son and three second-place finishes during his tenure at the school.

The Ellsworth team itself (led by then-head coach Jack Radabaugh) has been to the WIAA team state tournament

14 times and won the Division 2 title five times since its first entry in 1997.

At the beginning of this sea-son, the Panthers took early advantage of a showdown with SV/E, keeping the team at bay by winning the Ellsworth In-vitational (253 points). SV/E (201 points) secured second place at the tournament.

The Panthers return 2015 state qualifiers Owen Matzek (6th), Sawyer Strom, Anders Lantz (5th), Tristen Mueller, Jacob Sigler and Sam Stuhl (1st).

Ellsworth’s 50+ year wrest-ling tradition is often visible with multiple cousins on the team from season to season.

Coach Hanson’s Hudson Raiders’ strength was tested early and often, including a head-to-head with Ellsworth on January 9. Hudson has stated its case that it is the best team overall in the state this year and can boast of victories over both Ellsworth and SV/E.

After winning both The Mar-ty Loy Invitational and Bi-State Classic tournaments, the Raid-ers dispatched the formidable Ellsworth Panthers, 44-20, in a dual.

The team has continued to roll this year, going 14-0 in duals against Wisconsin teams and ultimately capturing the Big Rivers/Dunn-St. Croix Challenge (combined Big Riv-ers Conference and Dunn-St. Croix Conference). Hudson beat SV/E by more than 75 points at the conference tour-nament.

The Raiders have made two appearances at the team state tournament; however, they went 1-1 in 2015 and in 2011. Hudson looks like it is poised to win its first state title this year.

This year the team is led by seniors Sawyer Massie (36-0, 170 lb.) and Dylan Anderson (36-0, 182 lb.). The team also has a group of six other wrest-lers with more than 30 wins this year.

Submitted by Justin BystromMark Matczek took over for long-time coach Jack Radabaugh (center) and at Ellsworth and has led the team to the Division 2 state tinal a year ago.

Radabaugh led Ellsworth to six D2 state team championships. The last one came two years ago.

February 19, 2016

- 5The

Crossface Sectional Finals

Hudson, ranked No. 1 in Division 1, had no problems advancing to the WIAA state team tournament at the Waus-au West team sectional. Hudson defeated short-handed Stevens Point, 47-26, on the strength of six pins. Hudson will be headed to the state team tournament for the third time. Hudson received pins from Dylan Anderson (182), Drew Midby (195), Drew Klabon (120) and Matt Koski (145) in the dual that began at 152. Hudson won nine of the 14 matches. Stevens Point forfeited two weight classes, but did receive pins from Fritz Schierl (160), Nate Engle (220) and Dylan Koontz (113). Hortonville 50, Pulaski 21: Hortonville used four pins and a pair of forfeits to defeat Pulaski at Green Bay West and advance to the D1 team tourna-ment for the first time. Jacob Barnett (120), Curtis Diedrich (132), Elliott Luker (170) and Jacob Huebner (220) posted pins for Hortonville, which won nine of the 14 matches. Sauk Prairie 39, Hol-

Continued on page 14

men 24: Sauk Prairie won nine of the 14 matches but needed a pin from Zeke Smith (106) and a major decision from Dylan Herbrand (113) in the final two matches to pull out the victory in D1 at Baraboo. Sauk Prairie advanced to the state tourna-ment for the fourth time. Sauk Prairie also got pins from Luke Vils (160) and Austin Powell (170). Kaukauna 59, Slinger 3: Two-time defending D1 state champion Kaukauna won 13 of the 14 matches at Kaukauna. Kaukauna advanced to the state tournament for the 14th time on the strength of pins by Drew Krepline (160), Mason Van Asten (220), John Diener (106), Trent Leon (132) and Nick Ar-nold (138). Stoughton 30, Milton 28: Stoughton’s run of victories from 106 to 120 in the dual that began at 145 were the keys to the victory. Dalton Shea (106) and Brandon Louis (113) picked up victories before Kaleb Louis (120) posted a major decision that gave Stoughton a 30-21 lead with two matches remain-ing at Stoughton.

Milton received a major de-cision from Tristan Woods at 132 and a decision from Vince Digennaro at 138 but it wasn’t enough to stop Stoughton from advancing to state for the 10th time. The team’s split the 14 matches. Mukwonago 43, Pewau-kee 25: Mukwonago swept from 126 to 152 to blow open a tight dual and qualify for the team tournament for the sev-enth time. The dual began at 195. Jake Schulte (106), Nick Armstrong (126), Nathan Smith (138), Alex Timmers (152) and Zac Hinz (170) posted pins for Mukwonago, which won nine of the 14 matches at Burlington. Menomonee Falls 40, Wauwatosa 23: Falls’ surpris-ing late-season run continued at Cedarburg as it won eight of the 14 matches and qualified for team state for the third time. Falls received pins from Nate Fuiten (182) and Tyler Gill (106) but it was Falls’ streak of winning five of six matches from 285 to 120 that sealed the out-come. The dual began at 182. Kenosha Bradford 28, Oak Creek 26: Bradford pulled off the biggest upset of the D1 field by knocking off Oak Creek to advance to state for the second time at Bradford. It was close all the way to the final match before Bradford could end a season of losing

to Oak Creek. Oak Creek beat Bradford, 45-20, in the first dual of the season in the Southeast Conference. The teams split the 14 matches in a dual that began at 285 pounds. Each team had a pin. Oak Creek had two major decisions to Bradford’s one. Oak Creek, however, forfeited at 106 and saw its top two wrestlers de-feated by Red Devils in the deci-sive matches. Bradford freshman Jake Deates scored the biggest upset as he defeated No. 1-ranked Oak Creek senior Andrew McIntosh, 13-7, at 138. The victory gave Bradford a 15-13 lead. Deates overcame a 4-2 defi-cit in the first period by securing three takedowns and one tilt for a two-point nearfall in his first victory over McIntosh. “I wrestled him at confer-ence and knew I could go take-downs with him,” said Deates, who lost to McIntosh, 9-5, at the Southeast Conference tour-nament. “This means a whole lot. Our coaches told us after we won the regional that we can do it. It’s great to make it to state. That was our ultimate goal all year” Bradford senior Oscar Ra-mos was able to turn back Oak Creek senior Ross Agg, 9-6, in a

WIAA Team Sectional FinalsHudson Cruises Into Team State

West Allis Hale sophomore Peyton Mocco (left) and Mukwonago senior Nathan Smith prepare to engage in the 132-pound final at the Muskego Regional. Mocco went on to a 9-4 victory over Smith, the D1 120 state chan-pion a year ago.

2016 WIAA State Team TournamentWhen: Friday, March 4 to Saturday, March 5

Where: UW-Field House, MadisonDoors open one hour prior to start of each session

Division 1QuarterfinalsMarch 4, 5:30 p.m. Match 1: Hortonville vs. Sauk Prairie. Match 2: Stoughton vs. Kenosha Bradford/Reuther. Match 3: Hudson vs. Kaukauna. Match 4: Mukwonago vs. Menomonee Falls.SemifinalsMarch 4, 7:30 p.m. Match 5: Match 1 vs. Match 2 winners. Match 6: Match 3 vs. Match 4 winners.FinalMarch 5, 3 p.m.Semifinal winners.

Division 2 Match 1: River Valley vs. Wisconsin Lutheran. Match 2: Ellsworth vs. Two Rivers.FinalMarch 5, 3 p.m.Semifinal winners.

Division 3SemifinalsMarch 5, 10 a.m. Match 1: Fennimore vs. Random Lake. Match 2: Spring Valley/Elmwood vs. Stratford.FinalMarch 5, 3 p.m., 3 p.m. Semifinal winners.

February 19, 2016

6 - The

CrossfaceAll-State Team

Crossface All-State Team(Below is the Crossface All-State Team for 2015-‘16. All three divisions combined.

Committee met the week prior to the conference tournaments.)

Continued on page 5

106 Pounds

1, Brady Koontz, jr., Stevens Point2, Zach Licht, so., River Valley3, Zack Anglin, jr., Bayfield/Wash-burn4, Zach Zohr, sr., Germantown5, Dalton Shea, jr., Milton

Honorable mention: Bryce Bosman, fr., Luxemburg-Casco; Koltin Grzbowski, fr., Coleman; Cole Britton, sr., Luck/Frederic/Grantsburg.

132 Pounds1, Nathan Smith, sr., Mukwona-go2, Hunter Dischler, sr., Weston/Ithaca3, Jaden Van Maanen, jr., La Crosse Central4, Cal Hansen, jr., Deerfield5, Peyton Mocco, so., West Allis HaleHonorable mention: Jordan Sarver, jr., Nekoosa/Port Edwards; River Pawelski, jr., Southern Door; Drew Fjoser, jr., Sauk Prairie

113 Pounds

1, Brandon Klein, jr., Stoughton2, Brock Bergelin, jr., Denmark3, Josh Depies, jr., Random Lake4, Dylan Koontz, jr., Stevens Point5, Cole Britton, sr., Luck/Fred-erick/Grantsburg

Honorable mention: Mason Phillips, so., Eau Claire North; Aiden Wusterbarth, jr., Oconto; Cody Ziebell, so., Slinger.

138 Pounds1, Hunter Marko, sr., Amery2, Josh Bird, sr., Burlington3, Andre McIntosh, sr., Oak Creek4, Adam Becker, sr., Johnson Creek5, Nathan Lichtfuss, jr., Horton-ville Honorable mention: Nolan Kicmol, so., Evansville/Albany; Bailey Slater, sr., New Lisbon; Brady Simonson, sr., Bloomer/Colfax.

120 Pounds

1, Paul Bianchi, sr., Two Rivers2, Riley Lull, sr., Fennimore3, Thus White, sr., West Allis Cen-tral4, AJ Schoenfus, so., Stratford5, Aaron Schulist, jr., Mukwonago

Honorable mention: Seth Schlegel, jr., Spring Valley/Elm-wood; Chris Ruf, sr., Mauston; Matt Berlin, sr., Oak Creek.

145 Pounds1, Wilder Wichmann, sr., John-son Creek2, Collin Kraus, sr., Stoughton3, Jake Morgan, sr., Wilmot4, Boone Schmitz, jr., Mineral Point5, Nathaniel Trepanier, jr., Oconto FallsHonorable mention: Jaden Winchel, jr., Sparta; Josh Adams, sr., Sparta; Josh Donar, sr., Cuba City/Southwestern.

126 Pounds 1, Justin Ratkovec, sr., Water-ford2, Justin Folley, sr., Wauwatosa3, Jeremy Schoenherr, sr., Strat-ford4, Alston Nutter, so., Ad-ams-Friendship5, Trenton McManus, sr., Ad-ams-Friendship

Honorable mention: Sam Stuhl, so., Ellsworth; Patrick Spray, sr., Wisconsin Rapids; Chase Katzen-meyer, jr., Evansville/Albany.

152 Pounds1, Devin Bahr, West Salem/Bang-or2, Eddie Smith, sr., Sauk Prairie3, Mason Kauffman, jr., Stratford4, Hayden Krein, so., Sparta5, Joe Cliver, sr., Hortonville

Honorable mention: Tyler Dow, so., Stoughton; Cruze Hurl-but, jr., Spring Valley/Elmwood.

Brady Koontz Brandon Klein

Nathan Smith Hunter Marko Wilder Wichmann Devin Bahr

Paul Bianchi Justin Ratkovec

February 19, 2016

- 7The

Crossface All-State Team

Crossface All-State Team (continued)

160 Pounds

1, Jackson Hemauer, jr., De-Forest2, Fritz Schirl, sr., Stevens Point3, Brock Benitz, sr., Wisconsin Rapids4, Elijah Alt, jr., River Valley5, Stetson Clery, sr., Weston/Ith-aca Honorable mention: Seth Vosters, sr., Freedom; Ryder Si-gler, sr., Cedarburg; Zach Coffeen, jr., Laconia.

195 Pounds

1, Jacob Raschka, jr., Pewaukee2, Bennett Paulson, sr., Amery3, Henry Fielding, sr., Shiocton4, August Peplinski, sr., Witten-berg-Birnamwood5, Kaleb Kaminski, sr., Tomahawk Honorable mention: Ross Agg, sr., Oak Creek; Jason Seufzer, sr., Dodgeland; Dalton Hahn, jr., Reedsburg.

220 Pounds

1, Mason Stokke, sr., Menomon-ie2, Brett Samson, sr., Oconomowoc3, Brady Koller, sr., Sheboygan Falls4, Ethan Hoffacker, sr., Spring Val-ley/Elmwood5, Dane Borchardt, sr., Tomahawk Honorable mention: Brady Wetter, sr., Dodgeville; Ian Ruble, sr., Clear Lake; Konrad Ernst, sr., Onalaska.

285 Pounds

1, Blaze Beltran, jr., Pewaukee2, Cole Warzynski, sr., Al-mond-Bancroft/Pacelli3, Quinton Reed, sr., Wisconsin Lutheran4, Cole Mikrut, sr., Lake Geneva Badger5, Brandon Windsor, sr., Boyceville Honorable mention: Donte Johnson, jr., Fond du Lac; Kea-ton Kluever, so., Kaukauna; Tyson Kauffman, sr., Stratford.

170 Pounds

1, Sawyer Massie, sr., Hudson2, Jared Krattiger, so., Waterford3, Jordan Michael, sr., Lomira4, Scott Pittz, sr., Mineral Point5, Micah Johnson, jr., Boyceville

Honorable mention: Alex Pep-linski, jr., Wittenberg-Birnam-wood; Connor Williams, jr., La Crosse Central; John Keifer, sr., New Richmond.

182 Pounds

1, Beau Breske, sr., Hartford2, Dylan Anderson, sr., Hudson3, Kamren Bornbach, jr., Stratford4, Matt Blome, sr., Mount Horeb5, Stetson Burmeister, sr., Wright-stown Honorable mention: Blair Mul-holland, sr., Kimberly; Austin Pow-ell, sr., Sauk Prairie; Garrett Joles, so., Boyceville.

Sawyer MassieJackson Hemauer Beau Breske

Jacob Raschka Mason Stokke Blaze Beltran

February 19, 2016

8 - The

CrossfaceRiver Valley

Photo submitted by Pat MahoneyRiver Valley co-coach Pat Mahoney (center) poses with two wrestlers and a team trophy at the

Bi-State Classic in December. River Valley finished in third place in Division 2 at the tournament this year.

By Bill Twining

One of the top Division 2 teams in southwest Wisconsin is a team looking to make an impact for the first time in the WIAA State Team Tournament series.

River Valley, currently ranked fifth in Division 2, is aiming for it’s first-ever appearance at Team State.

River Valley’s wrestling pro-gram came to prominence in the late 1970s under coaches Rich Lawinger and Larry Laughery.

Under Lawinger, a high school wrestling champion for Mineral Point and a national champion at the University of Wisconsin, the Blackhawks made a run at a state title in 1978 but finished as run-ner-up to D.C. Everest. That year River Valley had three wrestlers all suffer one-point losses in the state finals.

Mike Bahr was second at 119 pounds, John Galarnyk second at 145, and wrestling legend-to-be Marty Loy a state runner-up at 167.

Laughery then equaled that state finish in 1981, the second year of the three-class system.

With Randy Forseth and future River Valley head coach Ralph Liegel winning individual titles, the Blackhawks placed second to Reedsburg in the Class B stand-ings.

The next year, River Valley would win the first of three state team titles in the 1980s, led by Ralph Liegel’s second state title, runner-up showings from Jim Bauer at 98 pounds and Troy Mc-Keown at 105, and a third-place showing from Mark Mahoney at 138.

River Valley and Reedsburg ac-tually shared the top spot with 63 points apiece in Class B, as team scores were kept in all three div-isions during the state individual tournament.

In 1984, River Valley took the Class B title outright, as both Mike Luther and Mike Limmex won state titles and Terry McKeown placed third at 105. Then in 1989, Coach Laughery would lead River Valley to its third and most recent state team championship.

Jerold Stauffacher at 130 pounds that spring won the first of two state championships, while three teammates also reached the state finals. Todd Oman at 112 pounds, current River Valley co-head coach Pat Mahoney at

River Valley Eyes First Team Tournament AppearanceThe Blackhawks Young Core Seeks 1980 Style Success

135, and Shane Hatfield at 140 all were state runners-up, while John Schweitzer was 4th at 119 for the Blackhawks.

The WIAA instituted the state team tournament concept two years later and River Valley has yet to make an appearance.

While River Valley has kept alive the tradition of producing fine in-dividuals and state champions, including multiple winners such as Cal Jensen and Seth Liegel, the Blackhawks haven’t been able to overcome the likes of Lancaster, Lodi, and Sparta, when it came to the state team tournament series

In fact the Blackhawks have yet to win a match at the team section-al level. Last season, River Val-ley made it to the team sectional under Coach Ralph Liegel, but fell to Lodi in the semi-final match.

This year’s edition of the Black-hawks is led by a trio of state re-turning state place-winners. Jun-ior Elijah Alt is ranked first at 160 pounds, and is coming off a state runner-up finish at 145 to Chand-ler Donati of Two Rivers.

Sophomore Zach Licht returns at 106 pounds, where he placed fourth in the state meet last

spring, and is also ranked first in his weight class.

And junior Dustin Hatfield (Shane’s son) at 126 pounds is a two-time state qualifier who also placed fourth at state a year ago.

He is currently ranked third at 126 in Division 2. Three other Blackhawks are also in the rank-ings at wiwrestling.com: fresh-man Shane Liegel is fourth at 152, sophomore Caleb Radtke 11th at 113, and junior Gavin Wipper-furth receives honorable mention at 145. The team - which has just two seniors in the line-up - recent-ly completed a 9-1 dual meet regu-lar season and won the dual meet championship of the Southwest Wisconsin Conference.

River Valley put together a strong showing in the annual All SWAL/SWC Conference Clash, finishing third behind Mineral Point and Fennimore. Both Licht and Wipperfurth won league titles, while Hatfield, Liegel, and Alt placed second.

Liegel fell to Dustin Reynolds of Lancaster, Hatfield to reign-ing state champ Alston Nutter of Fennimore, and Alt to the tourna-ment’s Most Valuable Wrestler -

Scott Pittz of Mineral Point.At the helm of the Blackhawks

is a pair of men who were assist-ants to Ralph Liegel a year ago: Pat Mahoney and Curtis Fiedler. Ma-honey is in his second stint as head coach for the Blackhawks, having served four seasons from 2001-2005.

Fiedler was winning the first of two state championships while wrestling for Mineral Point in 2005 when Mahoney finished his first go-round at head coaching.

This season, they serve as co-head coaches, with a staff that includes Dan Machovec, Ralph Liegel, and former state champion and Wisconsin Badger Scott Lie-gel.

Scott Liegel is currently second only to his younger brother Seth on the list of River Valley all-time wins leaders, a list that youngest brother Shane (26-8 currently as a freshman) could someday join.Also in the district serving as ad-ministrators are former head wrestling coaches James Radtke and Jaime Hegland, while another

Continued on page 10

February 19, 2016

- 9The

Crossface

Wisconsin Weigh-In Wrestling Club2016 Training Program

Middleton High School Wrestling Room6:30-8 p.m.

The club will meet every Monday evening starting March 7, 2016 and continue through May 16, 2016

Open to all wrestlers grades 5 through 12

Cost: $40.00 Fee covers site rental, clinic staff salary, and clinic t-shirt

Contact: Wayne Bruce (608) 493-3576 or Kent Weiler (608) 469-5640

Please accept my application for wrestling club membership. I understand that my membership qualifies me for certain Wisconsin Weigh-In privileges. These include access to facilities and coaches during specified times.

Name _____________________________________________________ Address __________________________________________

Phone #__________________________ Age _____________ Year in school _____________ USA Card#_____________________

Parent signature (if under 18) Date__________________________________________ Date ______________________________

Crossface Academic All-State Team Continuing the Crossface tradition of recognizing academic as well as athletic prowess, we will once again be selecting an Academic All-State Team. The selections will be announced in our April 18 edition. In order for a wrestler to be considered for this honor, his nomination form MUST BE RECEIVED BY APRIL 8, 2016. Because of the large number of nominations received every year, late nominations will NOT BE CONSIDERED. All grade-point averages must be converted to a 4.0 scale. Nothing higher than a 4.0 will be considered.

DEADLINE APRIL 8

Name: __________________________________ School:__________________________________

Year in school: ________ 2015-16 Varsity record: __________

MUST HAVE WRESTLED AT LEAST ONE VARSITY MATCH

Qualified for state tournament Yes No

Place earned in state tournament:____ Cumulative grade-point average:____(Must be on a 4.0 scale. Nothing higher than a 4.0 considered).

Mail to: The Crossface, 2017 N. 47th St. Milwaukee, WI 53208.

Email to: joe@crossfacewisconsin.com

February 19, 2016

10 - The

CrossfaceRiver ValleyRiver ValleyContinued from page 8

The Facts Don’t Lie. Since 2001, Advance School of Wrestling has

trained wrestlers who went on to win more than 145 State Championships

in Folkstyle, Freestyle & Greco-Roman; 20 National Champions &

90 All-Americans at the kids through junior levels; and more than

320 High School State Qualifiers!

Visit: www.advancewrestling.com today for schedules and more information

Join the “A” Team and make this year your Championship Season!

Wrestling Sessions & Athletic Performance Program for grades 9-12

Wrestling Sessions for grades 4-8 • Expert wrestling instruction for dedicated athletes

from ages 9 to 18. • Quality workout partners and Intense workouts. • Cutting-edge weight training & conditioning classes. • 4000 square feet of mat space. • Professional-grade weight training & cardio equipment.

NEW! Advance Kettlebell Training • Helping you be a better athlete—whatever sport you play!

Advance Functional Fitness Classes • Fun fitness, nutritional and motivational training for all.

Advance School of WrestlingBrad Owens–Director & Instructor 2556a Advance Road, Madison, WI 53718608/469-2920 or brad@advancewrestling.com

PhotoeSubmitted by Pat MahoneyRiver Valley co-coach Curtis Fiedler

former head coach Mike Hogan lives in the community.

The three provide a support staff and technical expertise for the cur-rent staff and help create a cham-pionship atmosphere.

Under the guidance of Mahoney and Fiedler, River Valley has ex-celled on the weekends.

The season began with a cham-pionship in the Reedsburg Duals and a runner-up finish to Lux-emburg-Casco at the Battle on the Bay where Elijah Alt earned a championship and Dustin Hat-

field finished second after a 4-2 title match with Two Rivers’ Paul Bianchi.

The Blackhawks then put togeth-er solid third-place efforts at both the Badger State and the Bi-State Classic, with Alt accomplishing the rare feat by winning titles in both events.

In more recent weeks, River Val-ley took the second spot behind the tournament host at the Sauk Prairie Invitational, and then won a team title at the DeForest Norski Invitational, where titles were won by Licht, Liegel, and returning state qualifier Nate Jennings, a junior at 132 for the Blackhawks.

Curtis Fiedler in his post-high school years since wrestling for veteran coach Scott Schmitz at Mineral Point says he “has been blessed to do it all.”

He wrestled in college, earned his stripes as a WIAA wrestling official, served as a color commen-tator for Fox Sports for eight years during the WIAA State Wrestling Tournament, and been an assist-ant coach.

He has also earned his teach-ing certificate, and works within the River Valley School District in Spring Green.

He says he “feels like head coaching is just the next step,” and refers to it as a constant learning

experience.“I now appreciate all the things

that ‘Schmitty’ had to do,” Fielder said. “I didn’t realize how much work was involved.”

But Fiedler says he has enjoyed coaching to this point, and says that having Mahoney as a co-head coach has helped a lot.

He also especially appreciates having the Liegels on the staff.

Ralph’s experiences as head coach have aided him, and he re-fers to the younger Scott Liegel as “a blessing,” calling the recent graduate of the University of Wis-consin’s “knowledge of the sport second to none.”

Fiedler was asked about his goals as a coach, and responded: “My responsibility is to be the best head coach that I can be in all as-pects...to be a good role model and a good representative of the River Valley school district. This sport has been a part of my life for 28 years now, and has given me so much. I feel obligated to give back in any way that I can.”

The personable Fiedler is look-ing forward to this final month of the season, saying: “This is a team capable of doing a lot of good things - this team is that talented.”

For Pat Mahoney, it’s his second go-round in the head-coaching arena, and he credited his decision to return to two mitigating factors:

the chance to coach his two sons (senior Cole and freshman Brock) and the opportunity to share head coaching responsibilities with the up-and-coming Fiedler.

“I’ve learned that head coach-ing can be a quick burn-out if you try to do it alone. We help each other,” Mahoney said.

Mahoney is proud of this year’s Blackhawk wrestling unit.

Like Fiedler, being a member of the teaching fraternity has him ap-preciating a team that has “most of them competing good academic-ally - which is always good for me.”

He also cites the team’s work ethic and the help that his entire coaching staff has been to him.

He said the goal of the season was to keep things fresh and keep the wrestlers focused on the end of the season.

“We would rather be at 110% in February - not in November,” he said.

Mahoney is looking forward to not only making it to the team sec-tional, but to experiencing River Valley’s first-ever dual meet win at that level of competition.

“Our chances are as good as any,” he said, and feels that this year’s young Blackhawk team is capable of reaching the next level- and of returning to the state cham-pionship level that the program enjoyed in the 1980s.

February 19, 2016

- 11The

Crossface WWCA

The Long Winding Road

The road to Madison has made several stops all over the state, and the journey has finally ar-rived at the final destination: the Kohl Center!

It promises to be quite a show, and for those of us that are fans of the sport of wrestling, it is guaranteed not to disappoint.

Many are happy just to make it here while others are saying it is the top of the podium or bust.

Yet, regardless of their situation, all of the wrestlers that make it here are winners and should be extremely proud of their accomplish-ments.

Make this a weekend that will bring you a ton of memories you will remember all your life, and please make sure you take time to enjoy this

John QuinlanWWCA

President

last stage of the journey.

*Rate Your Officials*Head coaches, as you start to take care of your

end-of-season responsibilities, make sure to rate the officials that have worked your matches this season.

This is an extremely important part of the process in getting the best officials possible at your WIAA Regional, Sectional and State sites.

The rankings from the coaches are the major determining factor in who gets assigned to these tournaments. The officials have worked very hard throughout the season and deserve to get your thorough attention in this matter.

The ranking of officials page can be found on the WIAA website at www.wiaawi.org <http://www.wiaawi.org/> or simply call them at 715-344-8580 if you have any questions in this process.

*Board Meeting Topics*The next WWCA Board Meeting will be on the

Saturday morning of the WIAA State Tourna-ment. Please contact your District Rep if there is a topic you feel is important and should be brought to the attention of the board. We will try to put it on the agenda and discuss on Satur-day morning.

*Outgoing Board Members*A tremendous thank you to two of our outgo-

ing board members: Public Relations Chairman Mel Dow and Awards/Hall of Fame Chairman Jeff Behrens.

They are true professionals and have brought their positions to a higher level.

Jeff has especially upheld the true prestige

and honor of being a part of the George Martin Wisconsin Wrestling Hall of Fame. He has also done a great job with the tremendous amount of awards that are handed out and kept track of.

Mel has taken this position to another level and has done a phenomenal job in securing the suite at the state and being the driving force in getting the state finals on live TV.

These two men are a credit to our association and they will be sorely missed. Their replace-ments are quality individuals and will do a great job but have big shoes to fill. Thank you again, Jeff and Mel.

*State Finals on Live Television*That’s right, after a long wait we finally will be

able to watch the WIAA Individual State Finals on live TV! Fox Sports will be handling the broadcasting and announcing of the event, and I know the network will do a great job.

I sincerely hope this will be a long relation-ship between the Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Association, the WIAA and Fox Sports and that it will prove to be beneficial to all parties involved.

*Suite at State*The WWCA will again play host as we invite

our members to join us in the Nicholas Suite for some camaraderie, a meet-and-greet with some legends in our sport and a great time watching great wrestling.

Enjoy the weekend. Yours in Wrestling,

John QuinlanWWCA President

Photo Submitted by Justin BystromThe Hudson Raiders wrestling team lines up in preparation for a dual meet last year. This year, Hudson has climbed to the top of the Division 1 poll

with the No. 1 ranking. Hudson will face Kaukauna in a must-see Divisoin 1 quarterfinal at the WIAA team state tournament March 4 in Madison. Kaukauna, the two-time defending state D1 champion is ranked No. 2 in D1.

February 19, 2016

12 - The

Crossface

College Notes

Becker Remains Undefeated, Ranked No. 1at 174 in DII

College Notes

UW-Parkside Rangers redshirt sophomore Nick Becker (Hartford, Wis.) remained the No. 1-ranked 174-pounder in the Wrestling Coaches’ Association NCAA Div-ision II national poll.

Becker, 33-0, won the 174 title at the Pete Wilson Invitational at Wheaton, Ill. It has been quite a successful run for Becker since he transferred from Central Michigan following the 2014 season. Beck-er was the freshman of the year at Central Michigan following the 2012-’13 season.

Last year, Becker went 13-0 wrestling unattached for Park-side. He is currently on a 46-match wining streak.

Becker has helped lead Parkside to the No. 6 national team ranking in the Division II poll with a 9-2 dual meet record. The Rangers are the state’s hottest team right now. They do not compete again until the NCAA Division II Super Regional Feb. 26-27 at Indianapolis, Ind.

Parkside is ranked No. 1 in the Super Regional.

Parkside redshirt senior Nick Fishback (28-3) moved up one spot in the rankings at 165 to No.3. He was named Great Lakes Valley Conference wrestler of the week following his championship show-ing at the Pete Wilson Invite. Fish-back finished fifth at the NCAA DII national meet a year ago, earning All-American honors.

Parkside redshirt senior Montrail Johnson (25-4) remained ranked No. 7 at 184.

Parkside defeated all four Wis-consin state colleges on its schedule this year. The Rangers latest state victim was Whitewater. The Ran-gers beat Whitewater, 44-0. White-water is ranked No. 13 in the DIII poll.

Whitewater wins WIAC: The UW-Whitewater Warhawks won their fifth consecutive WIAC con-ference tournament on Feb. 14 at UW-Stevens Point. The tourna-ment title washed away a little of the Warhawks’ disappointment af-ter finishing 4-1 in the WIAC dual season.

Whitewater’s only loss was a 19-16 setback at Stevens Point.

The Warhawks had five individ-ual champions at the league tour-nament and scored 161.5 points to upset No. 5-ranked UW-La Crosse (156 points). Seniors Matt Adcock (141), Tom Gerszewski (165), soph-omore Isaiah Vela (149) and fresh-men Brandon Arteaga (157) and Nicholas Bonomo (184) all won in-dividual titles. Gerszewski entered the tournament ranked No. 9 at 165 in the DIII poll Vela was ranked No. 10 at 149.

A total of six other conference wrestlers entered the tournament ranked in the DIII poll.

UW-La Crosse junior Ryan Wein-mann was No. 1 at 125. UW-L junior

Dustin Weinmann was No. 4 at 133. UW-Eau Claire senior Nathaniel Behnke was No. 3 at 145, followed by UWL senior Cody See (No.4) and UW-Stevens Point senior Jared Kust (No. 6). La Crosse junior Tyler Schneider was ranked No. 4 at 174. The only other state college wrestler ranked in the DII poll was MSOE

sophomore Austin Bellile, who was No. 10 at 285.

All of the state DIII schools next compete at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, sched-uled to be held Feb. 27 at Wabash

College in Crawfordsville, Ind.

Just when you thought it was time to write off the Wisconsin Badgers wrestling team, it rebounded with a pair of road victories that are bound to build future confidence for the team.

The two victories removed the possibility that the Badgers would get swept away in losses during the Big Ten Conference season and gave hope to a team that knew this year would be a transition season.

And three Badgers picked up impressive individual victories along the way as sophomore John-ny Jimenz came up clutch against Rutgers, redshirt junior standout Isaac Jordan won a family rivalry and redshirt sophomore Andrew Crone knocked off a ranked wrestler against Minnesota.

“Good things are happening but there are things we need to work on as a team,” head coach Barry Davis said after the Badgers dropped an agonizingly close 17-16 dual to

visiting Minnesota. “A couple guys we need to get back to just wrest-ling. We’re building momentum but there’s still work to be done.”

In the loss to Minnesota, Crone had the biggest moment of his career when he defeated No. 16-ranked Jake Short, 9-7, with a takedown 11 seconds into overtime in the match at 149 pounds at the Field House. Crone also used a late third-period takedown to send the match to over-time.

“I could feel my opponent fading a little bit,” said Crone about his upset victory. “I just kept attacking on of-fense and got the takedown…It was an awesome experience.”

The loss came just after Wisconsin knocked off No. 12-ranked Rutgers, 18-15, when UW sophomore Johnny Jimenez defeated Rutgers’ Sean Mc-Cabe, 7-4, in the deciding match at 125 pounds in Piscataway, N.J.

The Badgers even found a bright spot in a 34-6 loss to Ohio State in

Columbus, Ohio. Of course it came from Jordan, who defeated his cous-in, Ohio State’ Bo Jordan, by a 6-4 decision in a battle between two top-ranked 165-pound wrestlers.

Jordan’s three takedowns were all he needed to secure a 6-4 vic-tory. Isaac Jordan entered the match ranked No. 3; Bo Jordan entered the

match ranked No. 2.The Badgers 25-12 victory over

host Maryland was the second con-ference victory of the season for the Badgers (2-6 Big Ten; 3-7 overall). It closed out a busy stretch of five duals over 12 days.

Against Maryland, the Badgers won seven of the 10 matches.

Badgers knock off Maryland, Ranked Rutgers

Photo by Julie Swanson /jandjdoubletake.smugmug.com

Wisconsin’s Andrew Crone wraps up a takedown of Minnesotas Jake Short in their match at 149 pounds at the Field House in Madison.

Minnesota pulled out a 17-16 victory over the Badgers.

WIAC TournamentFinal Results

Team scores: UW-Whitewater 161.5, UW-La Crosse 156, UW-Stevens Point 119.5, UW-Platteville 76, UW-Eau Claire 53.5, UW-Oshkosh, 49.5.

125: Ben Vosters (UWSP) def. Zac Denny (UWW), 3-2133: Scott Arneson (UWP) pinned Joe Brodman (UWW), 6:55141: Matt Adcock (UWW) def. Cody See (UWL), 6-3149: Isaiah Vela (UWW) tech. fall Roy Munroe (UWEC), 18-3 (4:27)157: Brandon Arteaga (UWW) def. Kory Jauch (UWW), 6-3165: Tom Gerszewski (UWW) def. Logan Hermsen (UWSP), 10-3174: Tyler Schneider (UWL) major dec. Dan Squires (UWSP), 10-0184: Nicholas Bonomo (UWW) pinned Alex Friedman (UWL), 3:44197: Sean Ward (UWL) def. Bryant Etherton (UWP), 8-2285: Clay Broze (UWL) def. D’Andre Johnson (UWP), 8-4

John Peterson Wrestler of the Meet: Scott Arneson of UW-Platteville

Mertz Mortorelli Coach of the Year: Ned Shuck of UW-Whitewater

Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete: Jared Kust of UW-Stevens Point

February 19, 2016

- 13The

Crossface Peterson

By Ben Peterson

Wrestlers and coaches find themselves do-ing a lot of “cleanup work.” After every practice, dual, road trip, tournament, and awards ban-quet there is cleanup. Yes, there are the obvious mats, locker room, bus, gym and uniforms that all need cleaning after being used by a bunch of wrestlers.

But I am talking of cleanup work needed for each wrestler and coach in his thinking and his confidence.

Wrestlers and coaches will benefit from working together in both the physical and the

mental aspects of a wrestler’s life.

In a recent conversa-tion with Greco-Roman World Champion Mike Houck he said: “Educa-tion is a messy process.” That caught my atten-tion! Mike is a middle school Industrial Educa-tion teacher. No doubt his students have made a messy classroom more than once. Mike had to get accustomed to deal-

ing with the cleanup process. Such is the pro-cess of learning. But Mike also pays attention to the mental encouragement of his students and his wrestlers.

A common sense proverb states:“Where no oxen are, the trough is clean;But much increase comes by the strength

of the ox.” Proverbs 14:4

This statement reminds us of what farmers understand so well. If you raise animals, you will daily need to keep the feed trough full. And at the end of the day, you will be cleaning the barn. As much work as the animals create for a farmer he is glad he has animals to care for.

Wrestling Is MessyWhat about wrestling?

Is wrestling a messy pro-cess? Absolutely! First, it has a major education process, but it can also push the emotions to the high-est limits. So “messy” will happen.

Are you a wrestler? Then because we are emo-tional creatures, we need to do emotional recovery.

Are you a coach? Then be glad for each wrestler you have working for your team, but be sure to look for how they need to be guided, motivated and cheered up. All of us can be helpful to the young wrestler(s) in our lives. They are learning to deal with tough situations after each task they do, so with the magnitude of wres-tling events they could use some help.

Young beginning wres-tlers can get discouraged with the hard work and new-

Pay Attention to ‘Cleanup’ of your Wrestling Teamness of everything.

A hundred reasons can cause a coach, parent or teammate to be needed to keep a beginner excited about wrestling, as well as the seasoned senior. The daily workouts, the bloody noses, sore and tired muscles, the intense schedule, making weight, the crowd, the singlet, getting pinned, the ride home, and much more will all need some cleanup and repair.

The older, more experienced wrestlers learn to deal with many of the above issues on their own.

They are maturing and are learning to deal with their own “messes.” But occasionally they, too, need help. A wise coach and thoughtful teammate will notice and come to the aid of even the most experienced wrestlers. And what about the one who is stinging over his loss while everyone else is celebrating a team victory? The sooner that contact is made the better. If left alone, that wrestler may lose heart and go backward in his/her effectiveness as an athlete and as a person.

Some very vivid memories of my own wrestling include someone coming to my side and saying a key word that sent me back to practice and better prepared for the next meet. As a coach, my fondest memories are of helping wrestlers fight through major road blocks that brought them to their lowest points and then on to new heights. These were key times to build-ing emotional stability.

New and serious challenges of life need to be dealt with. They can get quite messy even for the most experienced and mature. There is always a learning element in life, even for the oldest of us. Life in general is messy. We often hear it said that wrestling is a picture of life. Therefore, we should not be surprised that both life and wrestling can get messy.

A Game Plan HelpsSpecial events are a lot of fun. Weddings,

birthdays, graduations, and a home, all need cleanup just like a practice, a dual, and a tour-nament. We need a plan and time to cleanup

and put things back in order. After doing this for hundreds of wrestling and family events, I now know that even cleanup times can become memorable in very positive ways, especially when we plan for it.

Working with my family and team to do cleanup for special events is still strong and fond in my mind.

I urge you to embrace the cleanup of facili-ties, but also the cleanup of your team mem-bers. Take note of them. Do they need help in dealing with pride because of a victory? Do they need help dealing with discouragement because of a loss?

Maybe they need a friend to just confide in because there is no family or friend near. All of this is part of wrestling. A team or family member can often do more than a coach. I urge you to look for how you can help others deal with their “messiness” in wrestling and in life. Wrestlers, when the results of a match put you in an emotional tailspin, learn to honestly deal with it and also accept the help of others.

If you find yourself doing a lot of feeding (teaching, encouraging) and a lot of cleanup (correcting, refocusing and motivating) during your wrestling season then be thankful. You have “oxen” that are the gems of someone’s family. So work to make them your prized per-formers.

Captains, upper classmen, family members, cheerleaders, fans, and coaches should remem-ber to help with the cleanup before, during, and after daily practice and special events. Work to make the process simple but regular. Don’t get so lost in reporting victories and dealing with uniforms that you miss those who need some help to repair their hope and rebuild confi-dence.

Find other articles by Ben at: www.campofchamps.org Today Ben & John Peterson run Camp of Champs Wrestling Camps. Contact them at: PO Box 222 Watertown, WI 53094 800-505-5099 ben@campofchamps.org

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John PetersonOlympic Champion

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February 19, 2016

14 - The

CrossfaceSectional Finals

West Allis Central senior Tyus White fends off a shot by Muskego junior Tom Wintheiser in the 120-pound final at the Muskego Regional.

White, who the 106 D1 state title two years ago and was a state finalist last year, went on to pin Wintheiser in 3:07.

Wisconsin Rapids senior Brock Benitz (top) goes for nearfall points against Luxemburg-Casco junior Dalton Smerchek in the 180-pound final at the Bat-tle on the Bay in December. Benitz won by a 12-3 major decision at the early

season tourmament.

match between two highly ranked wrestlers at 220 in the second-to-last match of the dual. Ramos entered ranked No. 3 at 182. Agg came in ranked No. 2 at 195. That gave Bradford a 28-22 lead. Ramos lost to Agg, 3-1, at the conference meet, but was able se-cure a takedown and put Agg to his back when Agg went for a big throw in the second period. That gave Ramos a 6-4 lead early. Ra-mos added a third period take-down with 54 seconds left to seal the victory. “This is something I’ve want-ed to do since my freshman year,” said Ramos. “This is the best team we’ve had in my four years. I knew we could develop this year.” Bradford senior Hunter An-derson was able to limit Oak Creek junior Enrique Acevedo to a 15-5 major decision at 220 and the victory was Bradford’s.DIVISION 2 Ellsworth 66, North-western 9: Ellsworth blew through the field to reach the state team tournament for the 14th time. Against Northwestern, Ells-worth went 12-2 and racked up 10 pins. Overall, Ellsworth won 23 of the 28 matches it wrestled in the sectional at Melrose-Mindoro. In the semifinals, North-western defeated Amery, 53-18, and Ellsworth defeated Loyal/Greenwood, 59-11. Two Rivers 35, Oconto Falls 26: It all came down to the final two weight classes at the Omro Sectional and Two Riv-ers swept them as Paul Bianchi registered a pin at 132 and Laken Duerschmidt picked up a deci-sion at 138. Two Rivers advanced to the state team tournament for the first time. Prior to Bianchi’s pin, Oconto

Falls held a 26-24 lead as the teams traded runs in the dual that began at 132. In the semifinals, Two Riv-ers defeated Ripon 41-27 and Oconto Falls defeated Witten-berg-Birnamwood, 41-25. River Valley 30, Lodi 21: River Valley won three of the final four matches to pull out the vic-tory and advance to team state for the first time. River Valley led, 19-18, before a decision by Gavin Wipperfurth (145), a tech fall by Shane Liegel (152) and a decision by Elijah Alt (160) sealed the historic victory for River Valley in a dual that was tight from start to finish. River Valley defeated Evans-ville/Albany, 45-19, in the semi-finals. Lodi defeated West Salem/Bangor, 39-31, in the semifinals. Wisconsin Lutheran 29, Lomira 22: Lutheran led, 19-17, with four matches remaining but won three to advance to the state team tournament for the second time in a dual that start-ed at 120 at East Troy. Lutheran received decisions from Bryce Roberts (220) and Quinton Reed (285) and a technical fall from Tyler Roecker (106) in the crucial three-match swing to pull out the victory. Wisconsin Lutheran de-feated Sheboygan Falls, 37-27, in the semifinals. Lomira defeated Valders, 37-27, in the semifinals.Division 3 Spring Valley/Elmwood 60, Cumberland 18: De-fending D3 state champion SV/E blew out the field at Boyceville to advance to the state tournament for the fourth time. SV/E won 11 of the 14 matches against Cum-berland and registered eight pins. SV/E had identical numbers in its 63-17 victory over Arcadia in the semifinals. SV/E won 11 of 14 matches and registered eight

Sectional FinalsContinued from page 5

pins. Cumberland defeated Ladysmith, 55-18, in the semi-finals. Stratford 35, Coleman 21: Stratford won five consecu-tive matches form 113 to 138 at Manawa to pull away and ad-vance to the team tournament for the fifth time. The dual was close until a victory by Jake Drexler (113), major decisions by A.J. Schoen-fuss (120) and Jeremy Schoen-herr (126), a pin by Derek Marten (132) and a decision by Jordan Becker (138) allowed Stratford to pull away. Stratford defeated Crandon, 73-0, in the semifinals. Coleman defeated Shiocton, 76-6, in the semifinals. Fennimore 37, Cashton 22: Cashton led, 21-18, after the first 10 matches and won seven of them but Fennimore swept the final four weights – one by forfeit at 113 – to advance at Royall. Riley Lull (120) posted a major decision, Riley Blair (126) recorded a decision and Alston Nutter (132) recorded a pin dur-ing the four-match swing. Fen-nimore advanced to team state for the second time. Fennimore defeated Black-hawk, 57-12, in the semifinals. Cashton held off New Lisbon, 40-30, in the semifinals. Random Lake 63, Markesan 6: Host Random Lake won 13 of 14 matches and advanced to the team tourna-ment for the seventh time. Ran-dom Lake received pins from Chris Mudlaff (145), Jarett Hill-er (285), Stone Goral (120) and Austin Udovich (126) in the dual that began at 132. Markesan defeated Reeds-ville, 33-25, in the semifinals. Random Lake defeated Keno-sha Christian Life, 41-20, in the semifinals.

Crossface State Coaches

Association Team Rankings (2/16/16)

Division 11, Hudson.2, Kaukauna.3, Mukwonago.4, Hortonville.5, Stoughton.6, Sauk Prairie.7, Wisconsin Rapids.8, Stevens Point.9, Milton.10, Kenosha BradfordHonorable mention: Pewaukee, Holmen, Menomonee Falls and Sparta.Division 21, Ellsworth.2, Two Rivers. 3, River Valley.4, Wisconsin Lutheran.5, Luxemburg-Casco.6, Amery. 7, Wrightstown.8, Sheboygan Falls.9, Freedom.10,Witenberg-Birnamwood.Honorable mention: Lomira, Evansville/Albany and Den-mark.Division 31, Stratford.2, Coleman.3, Spring Valley/Elmwood.4, Random Lake.5, Mineral Point.6, Boyceville.7, Fennimore.8, New Lisbon.9, Cashton.10, Kenosha Christian Life.Honorable mention: Horicon, Iowa Grant/Highland, Johnson Creek, Shiocton and Athens.

February 19, 2016

- 15The

Crossface

The Wisconsin Wrestling Fed-eration camps and tournaments are right around the corner.

This time of the year the excite-ment and emphasis are on the high school and college seasons as they near the end.

Congratulations to all of those athletes that committed to the long, hard season and maybe had the success they dreamed of or pos-sibly fell short of those hopes but continued to compete.

The WWF had intentions of implementing the requirement to have a coach’s certification to have a matside access pass to our state events.

USA Wrestling provides 4 lev-els of coaching education, and the WWF will be requiring in “2017” that either a minimum of Copper or an optional Bronze Level certifi-cation for our state championships.

Those classes can be taken online, or we can schedule a class-room setting for hands-on, face-to-face instruction. Those can be arranged and scheduled by con-tacting Scott Kluever. I will list a brief outline for the programs that I’m referencing below.

Purpose: USA Wrestling Coach Certifications are com-prehensive coaching education programs for coaches, parents and volunteers who are committed to expanding their knowledge in the

art and science of our sport.Copper certification is typi-

cally recommended for coaching children 12 and under while Bronze certification is typically recom-mended for coaching children 12 and up.

Audience: Coaches from youth, high school, collegiate and elite internationals levels. Bronze certification is required to coach at most national level USA Wrestling National and Regional events.

Prerequisites: Participants must be current coach members of USA Wrestling and must have a successful background check. The membership is already a minimum requirement.

Materials: Course material can be found on the website at http://www.teamusa.org/usa-wrestling/coaches/educational-resources <http://www.teamusa.org/usa-wrestling/coaches/ed-ucational-resources> under the heading “Bronze Level Coaches Course Materials.”

Renewals: Membership can be purchased as an annual or two-year card. The education card is a one-time application. It last a lifetime, but it is not valid without the current membership

Wisconsin Wrestling Federation

www.wiwrestling.orgDave Black, WWF Chairman

WWF SantionedTournaments

February2-20-2016 Pardeeville Boys Club Youth Wrestling Tournament2-21-2016 Whitewater Youth Wrestling Tournament2-21-2016 Border Bash2-21-2016 Rosendale: Laconia Youth Wrestling Tour nament2-21-2016 Slinger Red Rhino Youth Open2-21-2016 Sauk Prairie Youth Tournament2-21-2016 Wisconsin Girls State/Northern Open3-5-2016 Badger Youth Wrestling Club Tournament (Lake Geneva)March3-6-2016 Lake Mills Youth Wrestling Tournament3-6-2016 Verona “Warm Up To The Qualifiers” Wrestling Tournament3-6-2016 Dodgeville Youth Wrestling Tournament3-6-2016 Nicolet Jr. Knight Tournament3-12-2016 Cambridge Classic Youth Tournament3-12-2016 Port Washington Youth Wrestling Tourney 20163-13-2016 Kewaskum Youth Wrestling Tournament3-19-2016 WWF State Youth Qualifier District #1 Sauk Prairie High School3-19-2016 WWF State Youth Qualifier District #2 Oregon High School3-19-2016 WWF State Youth Qualifier District #3 Oconomowoc High School3-19-2016 WWF State Youth Qualifier District #4 Lakeland College3-19-2016 WWF State Youth Qualifier District #5 Merrill High School3-19-2016 WWF State Youth Qualifier District #6 Westby High School3-19-2016 WWF State Youth Qualifier District #7 Bay Port High School3-19-2016 WWF State Youth Qualifier District #8 River Falls Senior High School3-25-2016 WWF State Folkstyle - Madison

April4-9-2016 Kimberly Greco/Freestyle Wrestling Tour nament4-16-2016 Sparta 2-Style Tournament4-23-2016 Stateline Greco/Freestyle Tournament

May5-7-2016 WWF State Freestyle-Wisconsin Dells5-8-2016 WWF State Greco - Wisconsin Dells

WWCA

It’s Time to Talk Certification

Oconomowoc senior Brett Samson works to score nearfall points on Beaver Dam junior Wyatt Wells in the 220-pound final at the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference meet at Slinger. Samson went on to a 7-0 victory

to win the title. Wisconsin Lutheran won the team title.

February 19, 2016

16 - The

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