WIAA SECTIONAL WRESTLING: Panthers’ Valach wins title, Westosha’s McNeill to join him at state meet

Wilmot senior Hunter Valach stamped his ticket to the WIAA state wrestling meet after winning Saturday’s Fort Atkinson sectional (File Photo/The Report).
By Jason Arndt
Editor

A year after Westosha Central and Wilmot were shutout at sectionals, the two area schools will send one representative each to next weekend’s WIAA Division 1 state wrestling meet, including sectional title winner Hunter Valach.

Valach, a 170-pound Wilmot senior, coasted in his first two matches in Saturday’s Fort Atkinson sectional to set up a title bout with Stoughton’s Luke Geister-Jones (38-13).

The Panthers’ senior went the distance against Geister-Jones, but came out with a 4-2 decision, which gave him his third straight tournament win.

Before Saturday’s sectional, the 35-4 Valach won the Southern Lakes Conference title followed by a regional championship.

Westosha Central’s Reid McNeill pins Lake Geneva Badger’s Patrick Keplar to come away with third place at the Feb. 3 Southern Lakes Conference tournament hosted by Delavan-Darien High School (Mike Ramczyk/The Report).

Meanwhile, for Westosha Central, senior Reid McNeill (32-10) qualified for the state meet after placing second at 182.

McNeill, who won last weekend’s regional, moved to Saturday’s sectional title match following a pin and major decision in the opening rounds.

Although McNeill dropped the championship match, which came in a tight 6-4 decision, the Falcons’ senior responded in the second place wrestleback against Elkhorn’s Nathan Welsh (23-24).

Against Welsh, McNeill sent the Elks wrestler to the mat in 4 minutes, 39 seconds to stamp his ticket to the state meet.

Westosha Central
145 – Nico Roscioli (31-8), Fort Atkinson def Dennis Grubb (22-15), Westosha Central, MD 13-1
170 – Luke Geister-Jones (38-13), Stoughton def Zach Bell (33-14), Westosha Central, 12-5.
182 – Reid McNeill (32-10), Westosha Central pin Jared Strom (7-15), 1:40; McNeill def Mitchell Schumann (29-16), Oconomowoc, MD 11-2; 1st place: Brooks Empey (29-19), Stoughton def McNeill, 6-4; 2nd place wrestleback: McNeill pin Nathan Welsh (23-24), Elkhorn, 4:39.

Wilmot Union
113 – Benson DuChemin (20-9), Wilmot def Luke Beyer (23-19), DeForest, 16-9; Mason Dutcher (39-9), Milton pin DuChemin, 4:38; 3rd place: Mayson Maclennan (31-14), Janesville Craig def DuChemin, 15-8.
120 – Joey Graham (32-9), Wilmot def Luke Olson (22-19), Oconomowoc, MD 10-0; Edward Wilkowski (37-4), Watertown def Graham, 8-2; 3rd place: Graham def Teddy Woyak (24-21), Elkhorn, MD 15-4.
138 – Nick Logan (40-6), Watertown def Mason Diedrich (20-17), Wilmot, TF-1.5 6:00 (16-1).
152 – Logan Pye (26-13), Wilmot def Karson Sutton (20-15), Sun Prairie, 6-5; Cade Spilde (41-12), Stoughton pin Pye, 2:24; 3rd place: Keagan Lazar (31-7), Oconomowoc pin Pye (26-13), 3:46.
160 – Tyler Dow (49-1), Stoughton pin Larz Gough (13-9), Wilmot, 3:05.
170 – Hunter Valach (35-4), Wilmot pin Evan Griswold (8-5), Ocononowoc, 0:57; Valach def Killian Jauch (28-18), Milton, MD 8-0; 1st place: Valach def Luke Geister-Jones (38-13), Stoughton, 4-2.


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