A-C wrestler Smazal competes at state
For a fifth straight year, a member of the Abby-Colby wrestling team earned their place at the WIAA Individual State Tournament held at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Since 2019, there has been at least one athlete representing the co-op team in the final tournament, with River Halopka, Carter Grewe, and Tanner Halopka all competing in the finale at various points over the past five seasons.
This year, Tristen Smazal added his name to that list after his third-place finish during the Amery sectional meet solidified him as one of the top twelve wrestlers in Wisconsin in the 113-pound weight-class. The competition proved to be just as fierce as one might expect given the skill and athleticism necessary to reach such a vaunted level.
After amassing a 38-19 record over the course of the 2022-23 season and taking first place at the Cloverbelt Conference tournament, a secondplace finish at regionals and a thirdplace finish at sectionals, Smazal’s season all came down to a match with sophomore Blake Endres of the Belleville/ Monticello/New Glarus co-op team.
Endres came into the match with a 45-11 record and had also taken first in his own conference tournament. He placed second in the Evansville sectional to make it to state.
In the opening period, Endres was the first to strike, scoring a quick takedown. Smazal just as quickly escaped to take a point back, but Endres kept up the pressure, forcing two more takedowns in the period. Smazal managed to survive, escaping once more, but found himself in a 6-2 hole after one round.
The second period started similarly to the first, with the Belleville sophomore scoring two more takedowns and Smazal escaping both times. Smazal scored his first takedown of the match following his second escape, but could not find a way to pin his opponent before the end of the period.
The Abby-Colby freshman cut his opponent’s lead down to three points after starting out the third period with an escape, but Endres would manage to hold onto his advantage by scoring two more takedowns in the final round to take the 14-8 decision.
While Smazal ultimately fell in the first round, the experience in and of itself is both an impressive achievement as well as a building block for the future.
It also capped off a solid season for the Abby-Colby team as a whole, which sent five wrestlers through a tough regional onto sectionals and saw many tournament podium finishes over the course of the year.
