82ND ANNUAL WIAA STATE INDIVIDUAL WRESTLING TOURNAMENT - Lueck wins state title in his final shot

82ND ANNUAL WIAA STATE INDIVIDUAL WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

By Casey Krautkramer

Stratford senior wrestler Carter Lueck admits that he wasn’t a good youth wrestler and that hard work and perseverance over the years helped him become a WIAA Division 3 state individual champion on Saturday night at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Lueck was the No. 1 seed in the 190pound state weight bracket and he took care of business with a 7-4 decision win against No. 2 seed William Becker of Pardeeville in the state finals match. It was a great moment for Lueck to stand atop the state tournament podium on Saturday night after he finished as state runners-up at 175 pounds last season. He placed fourth at state at 170 pounds during his sophomore season.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “I feel like a million bucks. I finally did it. This is all I every wanted to do as a kid. I watched other Stratford wrestlers win state titles while I was growing up and I wanted to do that too.”

As a freshman wrestler, he recalls watching his Stratford teammates Raife Smart and Gavin Drexler compete at the state individual wrestling tournament and wishing he was there wrestling too. He qualified for state the next three seasons. Lueck began this year’s state individual wrestling tournament by pinning No. 9 seed Simon Schwabe of Random Lake. He then pinned No. 4 seed Gavin Handyman of Iowa-Grant/Highland in the state semifinals match on Friday night to advance into the finals match on Saturday night against Becker which he won. He describes what it was like to see his parents, Matt Lueck and Martine Bredl-Lueck along with his younger brother, Stratford sophomore wrestling teammate Owen Lueck, and his other siblings after he’d just won the state championship.

“I felt like a big weight was lifted off my shoulders and it was finally over, but in a good way,” he said.

Carter Lueck currently has a 48-1 record this season heading into the WIAA Division 3 state team semifinals match at 10 a.m. this Saturday, March 8, at the UW Fieldhouse in Madison. No. 3 seed Stratford wrestlers No. 2 seed Mineral Point and No. 1 seed Weyauwega-Fremont wrestles No. 4 seed Oostburg in the state semifinals. The winners of these two matches will compete against each other in the state championship match at 3 p.m. the same day.

Stratford senior wrestler Trenton Cournoyer also had a great Saturday at the state individual tournament on Saturday at the Kohl Center in Madison. He finished the state tournament exactly as his seed suggested. Cournoyer was the No. 3 seed in his Division 3 state 120-pound bracket and he won a 4-3 decision over No. 4 seed Derek Godard of Auburndale in the thirdplace match. Cournoyer also took third place at state at 120 pounds last season after not placing in his first two years at the state individual tournament.

Cournoyer started this year’s state tournament with a 15-6 major decision win against No. 6 seed Martez Sheard of La Crosse Aquinas. He then lost by technical fall to No. 2 seed Braden Johnson of Cumberland in the state semifinals match on Friday night, which put him in Saturday’s third-place match against Godard which he won. Cournoyer currently has a 55-4 record this season.

Stratford sophomore Aaron Knetter made the state tournament podium on Saturday with a fifth-place finish at 132 pounds. He was seeded No. 5 and he lost his first state match to No. 12 seed Cooper Schramski of Cumberland which put him in the consolation bracket for the rest of the tournament. To his credit, he battled all the way through the consolation bracket with an 8-3 decision win against No. 10 seed Tamanni Tellez of Kenosha St. Joseph’s and then won a 10-0 major decision against No. 7 seed Clayton Stenjem of Cambridge to put himself in the fifthplace match on Saturday. He won a 9-6 decision in overtime against Schramski of Cumberland in the fifth-place match. Knetter currently has a 50-9 record this season.

Trenton Cournoyer’s younger brother, junior Colin Cournoyer, also made the state podium for the first time in his high school wrestling career with a sixth-place finish at 126 pounds. He was a No. 5 seed in his state weight bracket and he started the state tournament by pinning No. 12 seed Logan McVeigh of Glenwood City. He then was pinned by No. 4 seed Zade Grassel of Auburndale and was put into the consolation bracket. Cournoyer won a technical fall against No. 6 seed Parker Misna of Cashton and then a 4-2 decision against No. 10 seed Tyler Paulson of La Crosse Aquinas to make it into the fifthplace match on Saturday. Cournoyer lost a

See TIGERS AT INDIVIDUAL STATE/ page 14

LUECK PERSEVERES TO WIN A STATE WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP - Stratford senior wrestler Carter Lueck is shown gaining near fall points for a 7-4 decision win against senior William Becker of Pardeeville in the WIAA Division 3 state 190-pound finals match on Saturday night at the Kohl Center in Madison.

PHOTO BY ELLE GAUERKE Tigers at individual state

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close 7-6 decision to No. 7 seed Jack Wendling of Valders in the fifth-place match. Cournoyer currently has a 47-8 record this season.

Stratford sophomore Kolton Haupt was seeded No. 4 in his state 106-pound bracket but he didn’t place in his first time qualifying for the state individual wrestling tournament. He lost a close 8-6 decision to No. 5 seed Memphis Burkhalter of Mineral Point and then was pinned by No. 11 seed William Kratochvill of Lancaster to end his state tournament. Haupt currently has a 35-14 record this season.

Tigers junior Mathias Kaiser didn’t place at state for the second straight season. He competed at state in the 132pound bracket last year and he was a No. 7 seed in this year’s 150-pound state weight bracket. Kaiser began the state tournament by pinning No. 10 seed Max Peterson of Lena but then he lost by technical fall to No. 2 seed Collin Hamm of Weyauwega-Fremont and was moved into the consolation bracket. Kaiser won by technical fall against No. 9 seed Joe Beavers of Hutisford before getting pinned by No. 3 seed Brock Hinderman of Iowa-Grant/Highland to end his state tournament. Kaiser currently has a 43-11 record this season.

Aaron Knetter’s older brother, Stratford senior Brandon Knetter, didn’t place in the 157-pound bracket in his first trip to the state individual wrestling tournament. Brandon Knetter was a No. 12 seed and he was pinned by No. 5 seed Brayden Lenz of Valders and placed in the consolation bracket where he was pinned by No. 6 seed Connor Mentink to end his state tournament. Brandon Knetter currently has an 18-17 record this season.

Stratford junior Drew Gage also didn’t place in the 285-pound weight bracket in his first time qualifying for the state individual wrestling tournament. He was a No. 7 seed and he lost a 6-2 decision to No. 10 seed Will Flottmeyer of La Crosse Aquinas and was placed in the consolation bracket. He pinned No. 9 seed Brian Ortega of Kenosha St. Joseph’s before getting pinned by No. 4 seed Jovan Lopez of Ozaukee to end his state tournament. Gage currently has a 45-11 record this season going into Stratford’s state team appearance against Mineral Point on Saturday.