WOLFPACK WRESTLING - Wolfpack’s Angell reaches title bout at River Falls weekend tourney
WOLFPACK WRESTLING
The season-opening unbeaten run ended Saturday for Cornell-Gilman-Lake Holcombe sophomore Taydyn Angell, but until falling against one of the state's best in the 215pound championship, Angell continued to dominate opponents in the two-day Northern Badger Wrestling Classic hosted by River Falls High School.
Angell, seeded second out of 32 entrants in the 215-pound weight class, did what the seed indicated he could do as he used four straight pins to get to Saturday's final. There he met 15-1 senior Henry Vander Heiden of Freedom, who had already won championships this season at the Dan Gable Donnybrook in Iowa and the Shawano Holiday Classic Dec. 21. Vander Heiden took a 7-0 lead with a first-period takedown and a second-period nearfall and then put the match away with four more takedowns in the third period before getting the pin with one second left in the match.
The loss knocked Angell, the fourthplace finisher in the state tournament last year in Division 3 at 215, to 12-1 for the season through three tournaments.
He was one of three Wolfpack wrestlers to compete in the boys portion of the weekend tournament. Lucas Halida at 132 pounds and Lee Zagorski at 285 pounds both went 0-2.
Angell started Friday with a quick 52second pin over Tyler Hastings of River Falls. The second-round match went into the second period, but Angell got his pin in 3:22 over Barron's Wyatt Weise. In the quarterfinals, Angell got a pin in 5:39 over a solid 14-5 wrestler from St. Croix Falls, Joe Petherbridge, who was the seventh seed in the bracket. Angell took down third-seeded Hayden Buckel of St. Croix Central, who is 154, and pinned him in 5:38 in the semifinal round.
Not only did Henry Vander Heiden win the 215-pound championship, his twin brother Hunter Vander Heiden, who is 16-0, won the 285-pound championship.
In that 285-pound bracket, Zagorski was pinned in 1:58 by Hayward's Micah Butler (18-5) and in 1:43 by Edgar's Corey Koeppl (64) in his matches. At 132, Halida was defeated by Hayward's Memphis Demain (10-5) in a 15-0 technical fall and by Barron's Ethan Eriksen in an 8-0 major decision.
Angell accounted for all 40 of the Wolfpack's team points, which were good for a ninth-place tie with Edgar in Division 3. They were a point behind Clear Lake. Glenwood City was the Division 3 champion with 191 points, well ahead of Spring Valley-Elmwood (122.5). St. Croix Falls won the Division 2 title and was the overall champion with 341.5 points, easily outscoring Cumberland (258.5) and Marathon (245.5). St. Croix Central was the Division 1 champion with 318 points, just ahead of Freedom (307.5), while River Falls was third with 248.5 points.
In girls competition, Cornell-Gilman-Lake Holcombe's Kaitlyn Madlon placed sixth out of nine wrestlers at 152 pounds and Aspen Person was eighth out of 10 wrestlers at 120 pounds.
Madlon lost her first match by pin in 1:49 to Ava Gilberg of Black River Falls but came back with two wins. She earned a 166 major decision over Arcadia's Linsy Cruz and a pin in 2:53 over Spooner-Webster's Hannah Kirk. She was pinned in the consolation semifinal in 2:06 by Charlie Heath of Black River Falls and then, in the fifth-place match, Vienna King of Mondovi/Eleva-Strum pinned Madlon in 1:18.
Person got a bye in the 120-pound quarterfinals, where she was pinned by eventual fourth-place wrestler Elizabeth Bauer of Spooner-Webster in 26 seconds. After a consolation bye, Person lost 12-2 to Journee Wood of Phillips and by pin in 1:38 to Osceola's Tanea Campeau.
The Wolfpack is off until Jan. 9 when the team opens Lakeland Conference competition at Flambeau in a quad with the host Falcons, Shell Lake and Bruce. The first dual meets are at 6 p.m.
