By Troy Sparks
SLN CORRESPONDENT
Jimmy DuVal will make a trip to the state wrestling tournament for the second straight year and senior Tyler Gamble will join him.
The tournament will take place at the Kohl Center in Madison Feb. 22 through 24.
DuVal punched his ticket in the 189-pound weight division at the Division 2 sectional tournament at Cedar Grove-Belgium last Saturday by winning the sectional championship.
He pinned North Fond du Lac sophomore Lane Fritch in one minute and five seconds.
DuVal beat Lakeside Lutheran junior Cole Lauersdorf 13-8 in the semifinals and junior Brian Flanagan of Catholic Memorial 9-5 in the championship match.
The Whitewater senior will take a 42-2 record into the state tournament. He earned a first-round bye and will wrestle Friday, Feb. 23, at approximately 11:15 a.m. against the winner of junior Sean Holk of Marinette (37-4) and Chetek-Weyerhaeuser/Prairie Falls senior Daniel Chuchwar (30-4). Holk and Chuchwar will wrestle each other on Thursday around 7:15 p.m.
“In the finals, DuVal looked very calm and in control throughout,” Whitewater coach John Schimming said. By winning the title, he has earned a bye in the first round of the state tournament and will compete on Friday morning. This is a great accomplishment for DuVal.”
Gamble began his day at 106 with a 15-0 tech fall loss to Jefferson junior Quinton Gehrmann. He rebounded to defeat Sheboygan Falls freshman Cole Mattek by tech fall (18-3) and beat Chilton-Hilbert sophomore Joe Boehnlein 9-3 in the third-place match.
“The (third-place match) pitted Gamble against a very tough young man from Chilton, who put together a very nice season,” Schimming said. “Gamble wrestled his best match I have ever seen. He opened up with a great move to the opponents’ back to build a 5-0 lead. He did not look back and closed out the match, winning by a final 9-3 score.”
For more on the wrestling team, pick up the Feb. 22 edition of the Whitewater Register.
