2008-2009

Wisconsin Little Ten Conference sends 12 wrestlers to WIAA state in quest of individual state titles
By Joann Walla
Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Of the hundreds of wrestlers who began their journey of a Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state title, the numbers have been reduced to 16 in each weight class.

And now the hard work really begins.

Oconomowoc junior Zach Mommaerts and Hartford freshman Nick Becker will be the first two on the mat as they both wrestle at 112 pounds.  Becker is ranked No. 6* and Mommaerts is ranked No. 7 will have a tough journey as 13 of the 16 grapplers are ranked.

Mommaerts comes in with a 40 win and 1 loss record while Becker is 38-4. Mommaerts only loss came at the hands of Becker at the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference championships when the Oriole bested the Raccoon 3-0.
Mommaerts will face Neenah freshman Alex Kueck (33-10) in the first round which Becker following him on the mat. Becker’s opponent is Billy Lorenz, a senior from LaCrosse Logan. Lorenz is 37-4 and ranked No. 11. If both win their respective matches they will wrestle again on Thursday evening. A win by the duo there would pit them against each other at 7 p.m. on Friday.

However, Mommaerts would have to get past No. 1 ranked Torin Boernke (40-1) of Marshfield, a sophomore, to make that happen. Hartford sophomore Zach Durante wrestles at 119 pounds. The Oriole brings an honorable mention ranking with his 37-7 record. His evening will begin with Sun Prairie junior Chase Steiner as the opponent. Steiner is also an honorable mention and he sports a record of 40-7.

Oconomowoc’s Taylor Mommaerts had to wrestle-back at WIAA sectionals to make the big show.
The Cooney freshman is ranked No. 9 with an impressive 39-4 record. He will face honorable mention senior Chris Strike of Franklin who brings a record of 34-5 to the mat. A win by Mommaerts would have him in all likelihood facing No. 1 Jesse Thielke of Germantown in the next round. Thielke, a sophomore, is 39-1 on the season.

At 130 pounds Golden Beaver senior Jesus Nunez and Oriole Jarid Baumgartner will carry the WLT banner.
The No. 7 ranked Nunez will face junior David Hood of Kenosha Tremper who is ranked No. 11.
Nunez carries a 33-6 record while Hood is 43-6.

Baumgartner opposes No. 4 ranked Charlie Wanty. The Oriole junior is 34-8 while Wanty, a senior, is 40-5.
Hartford senior Danny Allen, honorable mention, will wrestle at 140 pounds and his first opponent will be junior Joey Woppert of Brookfield East. Woppert is ranked No. 12 and has a record of 40-4 while Allen is 36-9.

Ranked No. 11 Wisconsin Lutheran senior Tim Filter is 43-6 and he represents the WLT at 145 pounds.
Filter will be opposite senior Nick Niemczyk of Franklin. Niemczyk is 35-11. The winner of the match will face either Jerad Jabork of Wisconsin Rapids (35-10) or Ryan Smith of Fort Atkinson (26-16).

Watertown junior Justin McFarland began the WIAA sectional with an easy technical fall win and then had to scratch and claw his way into a trip to state. McFarland made the championship round but lost to Derek Olson of Muskego. That set up a wrestle-back that proved to be a real challenge. However McFarland pulled out the win in overtime.

Seniors Abe Graziano and Nick Broadway will take the mat at 189 pounds. Graziano, from Slinger and Broadway, from Hartford bring honorable mention and No. 6 rankings, respectively. The Owl has 32 wins and 7 losses while the Oriole is 40-3.
Broadway will face off with No. 4 ranked Doug fuller of Wisconsin Rapids who is a senior and presently 38-6. Graziano will face honorable mention James Miller, a junior from Milton who is 26-6.
Graziano next match could really be a challenge as he would face either freshman Jordan Gruettner from Muskego who is ranked No. 5 or Middleton senior Tyler Christensen who is ranked No. 3. Christensen is 36-3 on the season.

Senior Tyler Dippel of Hartford will represent the heavyweights as he brings his 30-9 record to face Muskego junior Kyle Costigan (35-14) ranked as honorable mention. Costigan bested Watertown’s Bill Caudill in the first round at WIAA sectionals last Saturday, bringing the Goslings dreams of a state title to an end.

The first round of wrestling begins with the 103 pounders at 3 p.m. on Thursday at the Kohl Center on the University of Wisconsin - Madison campus. The next round is expected to begin at 5:15 p.m. or immediately following the heavyweights. The Division I wrestlers are the only group wrestling. Eight mats are used and the next match is as mats become available. Thus is can go quickly.

*All rankings can be found at www.wiwrestling.com  and were published on Feb. 12, 2009.
                                                                             

 Joann Walla

*All state rankings can be found at wiwrestling.com