By David Paulsen
Correspondent
For the second year in a row, the East Troy High School wresting team is sending four grapplers to the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Championships.
Freshman Cody Vogel, sophomores Ryan Engel and Andy Strey, and senior Joey Dedick will compete at the state meet to be held Thursday, Feb. 21, through Saturday, Feb. 23, at the Kohl Center on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison.
Engel, Strey and Dedick all were at state last year.
Strey took third, Vogel and Engel second, and Dedick first at the sectional competition held Saturday at Waupun.
Dedick, at 195 pounds, needed only three matches to advance to state. He won his first two matches by pin. That pitted Dedick, ranked No. 1 in the state according to wisconsinwrestling.com, against the No. 2-ranked wrestler, Austin Hephner of Chilton/Hilbert. Both came into this match undefeated, and Howard indicated Hephner was as good as advertised.
Hephner took Dedick down right away in the match, but Dedick responded well to score a 9-5 win.
Howard indicated that by the end of the second period, and throughout the third period, that Dedick was dominant.
“It was a good test for Joey,” Howard said. “We will be ready to meet him again (at state).”
Vogel, who wrestles at 113 pounds, won his quarterfinal match by pin, but then lost 4-2 in the semifinals to Tepra Wright of Wisconsin Lutheran.
“He lost a tough one there,” head coach Mike Howard said. “He was a little nervous.”
Vogel responded, though, by scoring a 15-0 technical fall win in the consolation semifinal. That put him into the third-place match, with the winner going to state.
In that match, Vogel won a 5-3 decision over Kiel’s Tanner Woepse.
Vogel then faced Daniel Loomer of Delavan-Darien for second place, and defeated Loomer by a first-period pin.
“It’s a great thing to get second,” Howard said. “He should do well (at state).”
Engel, at 120 pounds, opened with a 7-1 win, and followed that up with a 6-1 decision in the semifinal.
In the first-place match, Engel faced Patrick Breckheimer of Chilton/Hilbert and lost a 1-0 decision.
Howard indicated neither wrestler could get a takedown in the opening period, and Engel was unable to escape Breckheimer when Engel was in the down position in the third period.
“It was a tough loss for him,” Howard said.
Engel came back to take an 8-5 decision over Cayden Wiese of Lomira for second place.
Strey opened with a 7-0 win but lost in the semifinal match 3-2 to Alex Owens of Pewaukee.
In the consolation semifinal, Strey pinned his opponent in the third period.
That pitted Strey against Nic Adkins of Chilton/Hilbert for third place. The two went to overtime before Strey got a takedown for a 9-7 win that sent him to state.
Howard noted Strey was down 5-0 in this match, but came back to tie it in regulation, before getting the winning takedown.
“That was big win for him,” Howard said.
State pairings
Dedick, 43-0 overall, will have a first-round bye at state. He will take on the winner of the Jack Nelson/Jake Reiter match on Friday, Feb. 22, at 11:15 a.m.
After finishing third at state one year ago, Dedick’s goal is to win it all this year.
Vogel (43-4) will encounter Gunnar Leisner of Oconto Falls, Engel (34-7) will battle James Klassen of St. Croix Falls and Strey (33-11) will take on Alex Maes of Wrightstown
All three of those matches are scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7:15 p.m.
Team sectionals
As a team, the Trojans fell short of their goal to reach state, losing to Kewaskum Feb. 12, 49-24, in the first round of action.
Kewaskum won the first six matches, five by pin, to take a 33-0 lead and never looked back. East Troy won just five of the 14 matches.
Dedick, Vogel, Engle, Gabe Braam and Strey all got wins for East Troy. Dedick got a win via forfeit, while Vogel and Strey won by pin. Engel and Braam’s victories were by decision.
Chilton/Hilbert defeated Kewaskum 48-16 to earn the team trip to state.
