Team ends season at sectionals
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The road to the WIAA Division 2 State Tournament remains wide open for five East Troy wrestlers.
And they’ll make that journey to the Kohl Center in Madison this week.
Tommy Larson (106), Joe Moede (120), Chase Coleman (160), Jake Dessart (170) and Chris Storandt (220) each punched their state tickets with top-three efforts at last week’s Cedar Grove-Belgium Sectional.
Coleman and Storandt advanced with individual sectional titles, while Larson was second and Moede and Dessart were third.
“Having five kids make it to state is fantastic, but we are not done yet,” East Troy coach Mike Howard said. “Overall, we did well in the early rounds. If you win your first two rounds, you are in the finals and guaranteed a top-three spot at sectionals, and all five did that.
“I thought the five (of them) kept their emotions in check and were ready to wrestle from the first whistle of the day. In the tournaments, you cannot give up cheap points or overcome large leads, and for the most part, we didn’t have to do that.”
Coleman (40-8), who is making his third state trip, advanced to the finals with a pinfall win in 4:26 and an 11-5 win, followed by an 11-6 victory in the title tilt over Grafton’s Nick Rapp.
“At the end of the year, Chase seems to wrestle his best,” Howard said. “He is doing that now. He is outworking and outscrambling kids with his intensity and hustle. … In the finals at sectionals, he dominated the match far past what the score indicated. He gave a few points at the end to make it closer than it seemed. He beat a tough kid and made it look easy.”
Storandt (45-2), who will make his second state trip, rolled to three pinfall victories en route to his title. He needed just 59 seconds total to win his first two matches, followed by a pin in 1:322 over Cedar Grove-Belgium’s Brett Feind in the championship contest.
“Chris dominated all day and has done (that) for the most part all year,” Howard said. “We are looking forward to see how he does this weekend. At sectionals, he was able to outmuscle and outwrestle anyone that was put in front of him.”
Larson (43-4), who was sixth in his first state tournament last season, moved into the finals with two victories, where he was pinned in 3:13 by Jefferson’s Quintin Gehrmann – in a battle of the state’s first- and second-ranked wrestlers.
A tough call by the official went against Larson in the finals and turned the tide in that matchup, Howard said.
“Tommy had a great day all day,” Howard said. “No one scored on him except for the times Tommy let them up. … The call (in the finals) surprised everyone, including Tommy’s opponent. It wasn’t the right call. He will have the opportunity, hopefully, to avenge that loss this Saturday (at state).”
In the second-place match, Larson bounced back with a 10-0, major decision victory over Whitewater’s Tyler Gamble.
Moede (30-14) and Dessart (32-15), who will make their first trip to Madison this weekend, each finished third.
After two victories put him in the finals, Moede was pinned in 2:17 by second-ranked Lukas Schevikhoven, Shoreland Lutheran. In the second-place match, he was beaten in overtime, 7-5, by Kewaskum’s Mason Pomeroy.
“Joe had a great tournament,” Howard said. “He was beaten in the finals against an undefeated wrestler, whom he had at regionals. Joe dominated the third-place wrestleback match until the final five seconds, when he gave up four points to force an overtime. He then had the takedown in overtime, but lost the scramble to give up two points. He by all means wrestled well, and hopefully that will carry over to this weekend at state.”
Dessart also won his first two matches to move into the finals, where he was pinned in 1:59 by Campbellsport’s Joe Lindsley, followed by a loss in 3:34 to Jefferson’s Jake Neff.
“Jake Dessart wrestled great to get to the finals and then ran into two very quality opponents,” Howard said. “He got caught in a throw from both and was not able to overcome it. That (shouldn’t) overshadow how he wrestled this last month. He had an awesome last 30 days of wrestling, and we hope that momentum also carries over at the state tournament.”
Also competing at the sectional were Calvin Collins (126), John Veselka (145), Jacob Price (195) and Jacob Mast (285). Veselka and Mast were 1-2 on the day.
Trojans fall at team sectional
East Troy fell behind, 24-0, to Chilton-Hilbert in the Division 2 team sectional Feb. 13 and couldn’t recover in a 42-27 loss.
“Chilton-Hilbert came ready to wrestle, and we came out stale,” Howard said. “Once they got the ball rolling with a few key wins, we were unable to turn it around.”
Picking up wins were Dessart (170), 6-2; Price (195), 3-1; Storandt (220), by pin in 40 seconds; Mast (285), by pin in 3 minutes; and Larson (106), 3-2. East Troy also had a forfeit victory at 120 pounds.
Dropping matches in the dual were Collins (132), by pin in 42 seconds; Mason Orgas (138), by pin in 32 seconds; Veselka (145), 10-3; Jackson Dedick (152), by pin in 4:34; Coleman (160), 7-3; and Sam Tuttle (182), by pin in 1:28.
“We did not win matches that we should have won,” Howard said. “If we would have won a couple matches that we were unable to, it would have been a different meet.”
Chilton-Hilbert won the team title with a 30-29 win over Kewaskum to advance to the state team event March 2.
