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.
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.