East Troy sends six wrestlers to state championships
By Dan Truttschel
Sports Correspondent
There will be no shortage of East Troy school colors at this weekend’s Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Wrestling Tournament in Madison, that’s for sure.
In fact, this year marks the most qualifiers the program has had with six.
Now it’s on to the big show.
East Troy punched six tickets for the Kohl Center after a strong showing at last weekend’s Division 2 Waupun Sectional.
Advancing to the state tournament were Cody Vogel (113), Gabe Braam (126), Ryan Engel (132), Andy Strey (138), Zack Lamb (145) and Jeremy Dedick (160).
Vogel, Strey and Lamb all earned sectional titles, while Engel and Dedick finished second and Braam was third.
“They wrestled pretty well on Saturday,” East Troy coach Mike Howard said.
“It was a snowball effect. The lighter weights started winning, and it seemed like everybody looked at each other and said, ‘Hey we can do this,’ and got it rolling. They did a nice job.”
Howard thinks six state qualifiers are the most East Troy has ever had.
“We’ve had some pretty big amounts of kids go, but I think six is the most we’ve had in quite a while,” he said.
Vogel captured the first title Saturday with a 13-5 major decision victory over Valders’ Luke Oltmanns. Vogel (40-5 overall) opened with a pinfall win in 50 seconds over Manitowoc Lutheran’s Christian Bradley, followed by a 6-3 win over Campbellsport’s Bennett Marchant.
The next two titles came from Strey and Lamb at 138 and 145 pounds, respectively.
Strey (46-4) earned his title with an 11-3 major decision win over Pewaukee’s Garrett Shibilski. His road to the finals began with a pinfall win in 1:08 over Grafton’s Gary Ross and a pinfall win in 2:58 over Sheboygan Falls’ Alex Fitzgerald.
Lamb (35-8) pinned his first two opponents, Ripon’s Bradley Krahn and Grafton’s Kevin Taylor in 4:28 and 4:11, respectively, followed by a 7-2 win over Kewaskum’s Joey Seitz in the finals.
Joining that trio in Madison this weekend are Engel (132) and Dedick (160), who were second, and Braam (126), who was third.
Engel (36-10) won his first two matches, a pinfall in 1:13 over Valders’ Matthew Pekarske and a 5-4 win Mayville’s Dakota Danner to advance to the finals. In that match, he fell 7-1 to Chilton-Hilbert’s Patrick Breckheimer.
A 3-2 win over Pewaukee’s Jake Paget and a 12-1 major decision win over Kewaskum’s Eric Wade sent Dedick (32-14) to the finals, where he fell 9-4 to Sheboygan Falls’ Mitchell Lambrecht.
East Troy’s sixth qualifier, Braam (37-10 overall) won his first two matches to advance to the finals, where he fell 3-2 to Delavan’s Cody Chelminiak. In a second-place wrestle back match, he lost 7-4 to Pewaukee’s Isaac Lodise.
Braam earned his spot in the finals with a 9-1 major decision win over Ripon’s Tyler Resop and a pinfall victory in 5:15 over Kiel’s Ben Mannenbach.
Also competing for the Trojans were Tim Giese (170) and Kyle Storandt (285), who each were 0-2.
Next up, state
The next challenge for Howard and his coaching staff is to prepare the six wrestlers for their trip to state later this week.
It’s time to add some new colors to the wrestling room, Howard said.
“We have our board in the room where the (previous) state qualifiers and state place winners are,” he said. “We tell them the place winners are in red and blue. We want some red and blue.”
Keeping things as normal as possible, especially headed to a huge venue like the Kohl Center, may be among the biggest challenges, Howard said.
“That’s the biggest thing, is just trying to keep the kids calmed down and doing what they’ve been doing all year,” he said. “We want to convince them it’s just another match.
“Everything is the same. It’s the same size mat, same size kid, just a little bigger venue with a few more people. It’s a fun atmosphere.”
Vogel, ranked sixth by Crossface Magazine, has a first-round bye and will face either fifth-ranked Clay Lieber, Nekoosa-Port Edwards (38-5) or seventh-ranked Cole Britton, Luck (31-8), in a second-round matchup Friday morning.
The state journey for Braam begins Thursday when he faces Abbotsford senior Sage Soppa (39-7 overall). The winner faces second-ranked Cody Walrath, Freedom (39-4), Friday morning.
Engel, honorable mention at 132 pounds, opens state against Sparta freshman Jaden Winchel (35-13). The winner of that matchup will face 10th-ranked Josh Verbeten, Wrightstown (35-15) Friday morning.
Both Strey and Lamb have first-round byes in Madison.
Strey, ranked 10th, faces either Chetek junior Bucky Nelson (31-15) or Wisconsin Dells senior Max Obis (36-11) Friday, while Lamb meets the winner of sixth-ranked Jacob Pockes, Portage (34-6) or fifth-raked Austin Worachek, Luxemberg-Casco (37-7).
Both second-round matches are set for Friday morning.
Dedick opens his state tournament Thursday night against Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Alex Peplinski (42-10). The winner faces the state’s top-ranked wrestler, Ellsworth’s Gable Frandsen (50-1) Friday.
Howard is confident the final weekend of the season will be a memorable one.
“I really we do have a chance (to do well),” he said. “If we wrestle like we did Saturday, I think they’ll do really well up there.
“The big thing is to get them focused on doing the same thing we’ve been doing all year. They should do well.”
