Medford wrestling qualifies half-dozen youths for the state tournament

WWF KIDS FOLKSTYLE STATE WRESTLING

Six youths from Medford have earned spots in the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation’s Kids Folkstyle state championships set for Friday and Saturday at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.

Top-three finishes by wrestlers in their individual weight classes were needed to advance from this past Saturday’s eight qualifying tournaments held throughout the state.

Medford’s wrestlers competed out of the Merrill tournament. Two of Medford’s wrestlers are repeat qualifiers from a year ago.

Avery Losiewicz won a qualifier weight class championship for the second straight March. This year, she took the girls 138-pound weight class in the 2008-09 age group. In a bracket of six, she had no trouble, pinning Ellie Koplien of Weyauwega-Fremont in 1:17, Taylor Dahlquist of Rhinelander in 18 seconds and, in the final, Blaynne Crawford of Mosinee in 1:08.

Oakley Sperl returns to state after qualifying out of the 57-pound weight class in the 2014-15 age group. He reached the championship match Saturday before settling for second place in a bracket of 15 wrestlers. Sperl won a thrilling 6-4 overtime match over Ean Schulist of Rosholt in the semifinals to get to the final, where he lost 4-0 to Easton Beyersdorf of Waupaca. Earlier in the day, Sperl beat Calvin Cummings of Wittenberg-Birnamwood 8-2 and pinned Declan Tritz of Wisconsin Rapids in 2:54.

Carson Olson was the champion of his qualifier bracket at 97 pounds in the 201011 age group. In a bracket of 10 wrestlers, Olson beat Michael Jelinek of D.C. Everest 6-2 in the quarterfinals, Emmitt Deer of Crandon 3-2 in the semifinals and William Froemel of Hayward by pin in 1:30 in the title bout.

Just two wrestlers were entered in the 270-pound weight class in the 2008-09 age group. Medford’s Forest Hartl won the only match he needed to take the championship, pinning Trystin Powell of Antigo in 1:30. Amara Gudmundson was one of two wrestlers in the 105-pound weight class of the girls 2012-13 age group. She lost her only match 12-0 to Antigo’s Elia Peterson but advances to state as a runner- up. Trevor Kautzer made it to the championship match at 73 pounds in the 2010-11 age group before settling for third place and a state berth. In a bracket of seven wrestlers, he beat Rhinelander’s Alec Pilat 7-4 and Aidyn Schneider of Adams-Friendship 6-0 to get to the final, where he was pinned in 1:35 by Parker Gerber of the Crass Trained Wrestling Club. Kautzer faced a second-place wrestleback from Garrett Bodendorfer of Spencer- Columbus and was pinned in 1:29.

Amiah Samuelson came up one spot short as the fourth-place finisher at 77 pounds in the girls 2012-13 age group. She was pinned in her first match in 1:34 by Farrah Rathje of New London, but a win by pin over Madelyn Klimek of Independence gave her a shot to wrestle for third place, but she was pinned in 1:44 by Laona- Wabeno’s Leilani Collins.

C-G-LH reps

Four wrestlers from the Cornell-Gilman- Lake Holcombe area also advanced to state. Taydyn Angell and Dax Steinbach qualified out of the Merrill tournament, while Peyton Hugh and Reilla Warner advanced at River Falls.

In Merrill, Angell returned to state with two pins at 210 pounds in the 200809 age group. In a bracket of five wrestlers, he pinned Neenah’s Caleb Clark in 39 seconds in the semifinals and Ethan Schramm of Two Rivers in 2:08 in the final. Steinbach took second out of nine wrestlers at 105 pounds on the 2010-11 age group. He pinned Medford’s Evan Rinehart in 11 seconds in the quarterfinals, but then lost 7-4 to eventual champion Jack Brukbacher of the Askren Wrestling Academy in the semifinals. Steinbach then battled his way back by beating Noah Laakson of Hayward 6-2, pinning Easton Papendorf of Neenah in 1:41 in the third-place match and then pinning Noah Wellach of Auburndale in the second-place wrestleback in 1:54.

In River Falls, Hugh won a five-wrestler bracket at 60 pounds in the 2012-13 age group. He pinned Gabriel Wright of Northwestern in 1:19 in the semifinals and defeated Rylan Haremza 10-0 in the final. Hugh and Haremza both represented the Crass Trained Club. Warner took third out of five girls at 77 pounds in the 2012-13 age group. She drew a bye into the semifinals, where she was pinned in 13 seconds by Brielle Meyer of Osceola. Warner pinned Liberty Palmer of Menomonie in 2:40 in the third-place match and lost by pin in 1:50 to Raegan Risler of Mondovi/Eleva-Strum in the secondplace wrestleback.