Braam, Dedick, Strey and Vogel win regionals
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The hope of a trip to state remains alive for four East Troy High School wrestlers after last weekend’s Division 2 regional.
Junior Cody Vogel (120), junior Gabe Braam (132), senior Andy Strey (138) and junior Jeremy Dedick (160) each punched their sectional tickets with first-place finishes at Saturday’s East Troy Regional.
Wisconsin Lutheran won the team title with 282 points, followed by Whitewater with 193, East Troy with 183, Catholic Memorial with 152 and Big Foot with 84.
Jefferson was next with 71 points, while Milwaukee Lutheran was seventh with 60.
Vogel, who improved to 39-1 overall, certainly lived up to his top ranking in Division 2 with a pair of dominating wins.
After a bye in the first round, he pinned Catholic Memorial’s DeAnthony Kess in 1:38. In the finals, Vogel pinned Whitewater’s Irving Sedano in 2:41.
Braam, a state qualifier a year ago at 126 pounds, improved to 26-9 overall with two victories Saturday.
In the semifinal, he pinned Whitewater’s Jimmy Cushman in 1:11, followed by a pinfall win in 5:33 over Wisconsin Lutheran’s Jacob Nygaard in the title matchup.
Braam entered the week ranked second in Division 2.
Strey, ranked third in Division 2, improved to 36-2 with a pair of regional wins.
After a bye in the quarterfinal, he needed just 42 seconds to defeat Whitewater’s Tyler Lippens. In the finals, he defeated Wisconsin Lutheran’s Aaron Michaels 7-2.
The Trojans’ fourth and final sectional qualifier, Dedick, kept his hopes alive for a return-trip to Madison with two more victories.
Dedick, now 29-4 overall and ranked fourth in Division 2, rolled to an 11-2 major decision win over Jefferson’s Ben Dillavou in the semifinals.
In the finals, Dedick outlasted Whitewater’s James Ehlen for a 3-1 sudden victory win (overtime) to bring home the regional crown.
All four East Troy qualifiers next will compete this Saturday at the Milwaukee Lutheran Sectional. The top-three finishers in each weight class will advance to the state tournament Feb. 26 to 28 at the Kohl Center, Madison.
Other East Troy results
A trio of Trojans narrowly missed sectional trips with third-place finishes Saturday. The top two in each weight class advanced.
Placing third were Joe Moede (106), Sam Foley (145) and Travis Cadman (182).
Moede, who finished at 19-19 overall, fell by major decision 16-3 to Big Foot’s Travis Berryman in the opening round. He bounced back for a 7-1 win over Whitewater’s Tyler Gamble in the third-place matchup, but didn’t receive a wrestle back, so his season came to an end.
Foley (15-19 overall) met a similar fate as Moede.
After losses of 12-2 to Catholic Memorial’s Harrison Dertsch and 7-2 to Whitewater’s John Saylor, Foley bounced back to defeat Jefferson’s Jake Neff 9-2 in the third-place matchup.
But like Moede, Foley didn’t receive a wrestle back, which ended his 2014-2015 campaign.
Cadman (20-20) split four of his matches en route to a third-place finish.
After he pinned Milwaukee Lutheran’s Joseph Simon in 5:15, Cadman fell by pin in 1:27 to Catholic Memorial’s Mickey Wurster.
In the third-place contest, Cadman defeated Whitewater’s Nathan Barrett 8-5, but in the wrestle back for second, he fell by pin in 2:26 to Wisconsin Lutheran’s Ian Wirtz.
Other East Troy results had Charlie Ward (113), fourth at 1-2 to finish the year at 6-11 overall; Devin Peterson (126), 0-2 to finish 6-29 overall; Griffin Baker (152), sixth at 1-2 to finish 13-20; Kelcye Demara (170), fifth at 1-1 to finish at 2-3; Chris Storandt (195), fifth at 1-1 to finish 23-20; Nathan Dallas (220), 0-1 to finish 7-24; and Kyle Storandt (285), 0-2 to finish 30-7.
