photo courtesy of Herald Times Reporter; HRTNews.com
Yesterday we unveiled our first high school state tournament recap of the year and today, we have another. Wisconsin held their state championship last weekend and there was plenty to talk about coming away from the event. The biggest upset of the state tournament season took place along with a few breakout performances from stud freshmen.
Like many other state tournaments around the nation, the Wisconsin event was different from years past. Instead of housing all three classifications under one roof at the Kohl Center in Madison, each division had its tournament separate from each other at a high school.
Wisconsin is a state that produced some elite collegiate competitors from 2007-2016 (Ben and Max Askren, Cole Konrad, Alex Dieringer, Trevor Brandvold, Craig Henning, and Matt Pell), but they have dropped off sharply since. No Wisconsin native has earned DI All-American honors since Dieringer’s graduation in 2016. That year, Alex was one of only two national qualifiers for the state. There is room to be optimistic as there has been a renewed sense of excitement around the state with Chris Bono's arrival in 2019.
Each state has its own unique way of conducting its state tournament. Wisconsin keeps a team score at their individual state tournament, but the actual team titles are awarded this week in a dual format.
We’ve combed through the brackets and found some interesting items from the 2021 Wisconsin Individual State Championships, along with state champions and wrestlers that achieved significant milestones.
State Champions
106: D1 Ben Bast (West Bend West), D2 Eaton Worachek (Luxemburg-Casco), D3 Dawson Johnson (Cumberland)
113: D1 Noah Tonsor (Slinger), D2 Rhett Koenig (Prairie du Chien), D3 Nolan McKittrick (Royall)
120: D1 Alec Hunter (Oshkosh West), D2 Brody Hart (Winneconne), D3 Brayden Sonnentag (Cadott)
126: D1 Greyson Clark (Kaukauna), D2 Caleb Meunier (Winneconne), D3 Tanner Gerber (Cameron)
132: D1 Jager Eisch (Kaukauna), D2 Blaine Brenner (Stanley-Boyd/Owen-Withee), D3 Jack Severin (Kewaunee)
138: D1 Tyler Goebel (Mukwonago), D2 Kaiden Koltz (Wrightstown), D3 Gavin Drexler (Stratford)
145: D1 Connor Thorpe (Brookfield East), D2 Matt Bianchi (Two Rivers), D3 Cael Erickson (Cedar Grove-Belgium)
152: D1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Arrowhead), D2 Cale Anderson (Viroqua), D3 Kole Marko (St. Croix Falls)
160: D1 Jack Ganos (Arrowhead), D2 Braeden Scoles (Kewaskum), D3 Aiden Vandenbush (Random Lake)
170: D1 Connor Mirasola (West Bend West), D2 Jared Stricker (Ashland), D3 Nolan Springer (Mineral Point)
182: D1 John Gunderson (Baraboo), D2 Clayton Whiting (Oconto Falls), D3 Mason Hughes (Mineral Point)
195: D1 Drake Anderson (Bay Port), D2 Kale Hopke (Amery), D3 Trett Joles (Boyceville)
220: D1 Brooks Empey (Stoughton), D2 Koy Hopke (Amery), D3 Gavin Tegels (Cadott)
285: D1 Ben Kawczynski (Oak Creek), D2 Quincy Klister (Wrightstown), D3 Tanner Gaffey (St. Croix Falls)
Team Scores
D1: 1) Stoughton 100.5, 2) Kaukauna 86, 3) Arrowhead 62, 4) West Bend West 48, 5) Waunakee 46
D2: 1) Amery 107, 2) Baldwin-Woodville 62, 3) Prairie du Chien 54, 4) Winneconne 52, 5) Wrightstown 47.5
D3: 1) Mineral Point 87.5 2) Stratford 68, 3) St. Croix Falls 64, 4) Random Lake 56, 5) Iowa-Grant/Highland 53.5
Milestones
Four-time State Champion: Matt Bianchi (Two Rivers)
Three-time State Champions: Blaine Brenner (Stanley-Boyd/Owen-Withee), Clayton Whiting (Oconto Falls), Tanner Gerber (Cameron), Kole Marko (St. Croix Falls), Trett Joles (Boyceville)
Two-time State Champions: Greyson Clark (Kaukauna), Jager Eisch (Kaukauna), Mitchell Mesenbrink (Arrowhead), Brooks Empey (Stoughton), Rhett Koenig (Prairie du Chien), Caleb Meunier (Winneconne), Braeden Scoles (Kewaskum), Brayden Sonnentag (Cadott), Gavin Drexler (Stratford), Jack Severin (Kewaunee), Aiden Vandenbush (Random Lake), Nolan Springer (Mineral Point), Tanner Gaffey (St. Croix Falls)
Stacked Brackets
The 126 lb bracket at the D1 tournament showcased one wrestler chasing his third state crown (Hayden Halter - Waterford) with another on pace for four titles (Greyson Clark - Kaukauna). It was two titles in as many tries for Clark, who dominated with a 13-1 major decision.
A similar situation occurred at 138 lbs in the D3 tournament. Two-time state champion Cash Stewart (Poynette) was prevented from winning a third by Gavin Drexler (Stratford) as he picked up his second himself. Drexler took a 12-4 major decision victory over Stewart in the semis before majoring Javis Painter (Kenosha Christian Life) in the finals. Stewart would rebound and take third.
At 160 lbs, also in D1, a pair of opponents who have appeared in the national rankings at one point or another squared off when Jack Ganos (Arrowhead) met Luke Mechler (Stoughton). Ganos was able to grab his elusive state title with a 3-1 decision. He previously finished as a runner-up as a freshman and junior. Mechler came into the finals unbeaten and had handed Ganos his only defeat of the year as he was victorious in the Sectional finals, 5-2.
The 145 lb weight class in the D3 tournament saw a pair of unbeaten wrestlers clash and a returning champion went down. Cael Erickson (Cedar Grove-Belgium) shut out Karson Casper (Coleman) in the finals 5-0. Casper won the 138 lb bracket in 2020.
Upsets
The biggest upset of the 2021 high school state tournament season took place in Wisconsin’s D1 tournament as two-time champion Nicolar Rivera (Stoughton) suffered his first career loss in the finals to Jager Eisch. The also-undefeated Eisch used a takedown in sudden victory to put the first blemish on the Fargo champion’s record, 5-3.
Sophomore Noah Mulvaney (Arrowhead) just missed appearing on our list of the Top 100 wrestlers in the Class of 2023 after a runner-up finish last season. Mulvaney showed plenty of fight as a freshman competing at D1 152 lbs when he fell to undefeated Kaden Reetz (Madison Memorial) 14-8 in the championship bout. This year he moved up to 170 and dropped a one-point match in the semis to the eventual champion Connor Mirasola (West Bend West). Mirasola was a freshman that finished 20-0.
Odds and Ends
At the D1 level, the team champions, Stoughton, was the only team in the top-four that produced just one state champion. They did have four others (Luke Mechler - 160, Rudy Detweiler - 195, Griffin Empey - 285) that competed in the finals. 113 lber Cole Sarbacker rounded out the list of placers as he took fifth. That meant that all six of the Vikings state qualifiers finished in the top-five.
Brooks Empey’s state title at 220 lbs gave Stoughton 54 individual champions, which leads all other schools in the state. A pair of champions (Nolan Springer and Mason Hughes) kept Mineral Point right on Stoughton’s heels with 53.
Of the three divisions, only Kaukauna brought eight wrestlers to the state tournament. Two of them came away with state titles, while five others got onto the podium.
Arrowhead only brought three wrestlers to the state meet, yet still came away with third place. They had a pair of titles from Mitchell Mesenbrink and Jack Ganos combined with a bronze medal from Noah Mulvaney.
Matt Bianchi became just the 19th wrestler in state history to claim four individual titles as he registered a 20-1 technical fall over Zane Licht (Lodi) in the finals.
The aforementioned Connor Mirasola was the only freshman champion at the D1 tournament. Brody Hart (Winneconne) and Koy Hopke (Amery) were freshmen who achieved the feat at the D2 level. Dawson Johnson (Cumberland) was the only D3 freshman to do so.
Perhaps a limited schedule could be to blame, but Wisconsin had an unusual amount of wrestlers finish the season unbeaten. 11 of the 14 champions from the D3 tournament were undefeated. 10 were in the D2 tournament and 12 at the D1 level. Nine of the D1 state finals featured matches between unbeaten opponents. Four occurred at the D2 championship, while five happened in D3.
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