Wrestlers brave storm to compete at tournament
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The East Troy High School wrestling team took a skeleton crew with it to Saturday’s Badger State Wrestling Tournament in Madison.
But the Trojans still managed to come home from the Alliant Energy Center with a pair of top-two finishes.
Junior Chris Storandt ran the table at 195 pounds to win that title, while freshman Tommy Larson was second at 106.
Junior Chase Coleman split two matches at 152 pounds to finish fourth. East Troy’s other entrant, junior Joe Moede (113) was 1-4, with his lone victory coming via forfeit in the fifth round.
The first significant snowstorm of the season almost derailed the Trojans before they even began, coach Mike Howard said.
East Troy stayed overnight to avoid any potential traveling issues it may have had Saturday – and that strategy paid dividends.
“By being across the street from the Alliant Center, the kids had no worries, and I thought we were better prepared for the tournament,” Howard said. “The Badger State Tournament is one of the tougher tournaments on our schedule this year.”
Storandt, now 16-1 overall, rolled through his quarterfinal matchup with Neenah’s Marshall Kools and earned a win by pinfall at the six-minute mark.
That victory sent Storandt to the semifinals, where he beat Mineral Point’s Kyle Juedes 4-1. Storandt closed out his 3-0 day with an 8-2 win over Stoughton’s Gavin Miller in the championship matchup.
“Chris came to wrestle and dominated and controlled each kid,” Howard said. “His toughest match was in the semis.
“After taking the kid down, we decided to let him go for more takedowns and open up the match. Giving a kid a point and not getting the takedown can keep the match close.”
Larson, who moved into the latest Division 2 rankings by Crossface Magazine at No. 7 this week, advanced to the finals with a pair of easy victories.
In his first-round matchup with Mineral Point’s Wyatt Evans, Larson posted a 22-6 technical fall victory, which sent him to a semifinal contest with Neenah’s Anthony Hefter.
Larson won that contest by pinfall in 1:22 to advance to the finals, where he fell by pinfall in 3:28 to Stoughton’s Hunter Lewis.
Lewis, a state qualifier last year at 106 pounds, currently is ranked first in Division 2.
Howard said Larson, who continues to work on adding weight, is not overwhelmed by any match or the environment around him.
“Larson comes out ready for every match,” he said. “He warms up well and is ready to go. He will be ready for these bigger, more experienced kids by the end-of-the-season tournaments.”
Coleman won his first match of the day, 8-5 over Mineral Point’s Lucas Sanchez, but fell into the consolation bracket after an 8-6 loss to Stoughton’s Cade Spilde.
In his third match, Coleman posted a 15-7 major decision win over Viroqua’s Cameron Mastin, but lost in the third-place match, 12-8 to Two Rivers’ Tommy Bianchi.
Bianchi is ranked seventh in Division 2.
Howard said Moede moved down from 120 pounds, so the tournament was his first time at 113.
