State Team Wrestling Semifinals Recap
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Saturday, March 2, 2013

State Team Wrestling Semifinals Recap

The Division 1 State Team Wrestling championship match will pit Kaukauna (22-0) against Wausau West (20-3) after both programs notched victories in their semifinal matches Saturday morning at the UW Field House in Madison.

Kaukauna defeated Sauk Prairie 49-15 in its semifinal. The Galloping Ghosts won the first five bouts of the match to storm ahead 25-0, which included pins at the 120- 126- and 138-pound weight classes. Sauk Prairie won two of the next three matches to trail 25-9, but Kaukauna added pins at 182, 285 and 106 to clinch the win.

Wausau West edged Bay Port in a semifinal match that came down to the last two matches. The Warriors led 27-12 through the first eight weights, which featured pins at 126, 145, 152 and 170, but Bay Port battled back to tie the match at 27-27 with decisions at the next three weights and a pin at heavyweight. Bee Lor won by a technical fall at 106 to give the Warriors a 32-27 advantage heading into the final bout. Bay Port won the final match by decision, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit.

Three-time Division 3 defending champion Coleman (12-4) earned another berth the title match with a 39-22 win over Clear Lake in the Team State Wrestling semifinals Saturday afternoon. The Cougars trailed 3-0 after the first match at the 120-pound weight class, but proceeded to win the next four bouts by decision to lead 12-3. After Clear Lake cut the lead to 12-6, Coleman recorded falls at 160, by state individual champion Mason Mergener, and at 182, 220 and 285 to secure their advancement to the finals.

Defending Division 2 champion Luxemburg-Casco (16-3) defeated last year’s runner-up Ellsworth their much anticipated semifinal match-up, 35-25. Two-time individual champion Jens Lantz gave Ellsworth an immediate boost with a pin at 120. The Spartans responded with decisions at the next three weights to take a 9-6 lead. The strength of Panthers middle weights propelled them to a 19-9 lead with with a pin at 152 and a major decision at 160. However, the Spartans scored 23 unanswered points to decide the match, including two pins, one by two-time State individual champion Newton Smerchek at 285.

Mauston (13-1) recorded pins at 126, 138, 160 and 285 to lead the Golden Eagles to a 34-25 triumph. They advance to the finals in their first-ever State Tournament appearance. The two teams actually split the amount of bout victories at seven apiece, but the four falls and a major decision trumped the Tigers’ five decisions, a major decision and one pin.

In the other Division 3 semifinal, Lancaster held on to defeat Random Lake 32-30. The Flying Arrows appeared to be en route to an easy victory early in the match, winning seven of the first nine bouts to take a 29-6 lead heading into the 195-pound weight class. However, the Rams posted pins by Joey Schanen at 195, Jake Schwan at 285, Jon Mudlaff at 106 and Kohl Sanders at 113 to close the gap. Only a decision by John VanDeHey at 220 provided the margin of victory for the Arrows.

The finals for all divisions begin Saturday at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the gate.

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