Halopka, Grewe and Dommer move to sectionals
Levi Dommer, Carter Grewe and Tanner Halopka will compete in the WIAA D-2 sectional meet Amery this Saturday after they won their respective weight classes in Neillsville over the weekend.
Abby/Colby’s collected 120 points to finish fifth. Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal placed first with 220 points, followed by Regis/Altoona with 198.5 points and Medford Area in third with 180 points.
Sophomore Tanner Halopka has been on a mission this season. After placing fifth in the 138 weight class in the WIAA D-2 state tournament last year, Halopka has torn through his competition.
The regional meet may have lasted all day, but Halopka needed just a handful of minutes to punch his ticket to Amery after he won his semifinal match in 27 seconds. He then won a 6-0 decision over Alex Poirier of Bloomer/Colfax in the first place match of the 145 weight class.
Halopka earned 24 points and improved his record to a staggering 44-1.
Senior Carter Grewe has been a monster on the mat this year, terrorizing his opponents with his combination of speed, power and precision. Grewe needed even less time than Halopka to book his place in Amery’s D-2 sectional.
Grewe received a bye into the semis of the 195 weight class, and then proceeded to manhandle Alex Wood of Regis/ Altoona, securing a pin in 30 seconds. Grewe’s next bout would be the title match, and that took even less time. It took Grewe just 20 seconds to flip Dan Polzin of /N/G/L on his back for the victory and 26 team points.
The brawny senior heads to Amery with a record of 42-2. If his performance on Saturday is anything to go by, Grewe is a heavy favorite to advance to his second state tournament appearance.
Levi Dommer is peaking at the right time, and will be joining Grewe and Halopla at sectionals after he picked up three victories in Neilsville. Dommer improved to 23-19, winning all three of his matches on pins.
Dommer pinned his first opponent in the quarterfinals of the 220 weight class in 1:22, and then pinned Cole Hanson of Spencer/Columbus Catholic in 2:23 in the semis. From there Dommer took care of Noah Knobloch of Regis/Altoona in 3:08 for the title and 26 team points.
For Grewe, Dommer and Halopka, the season continues, but for three others, their season came to an end. With only the top two wrestlers in each weight class advancing, three of Abby/Colby’s grapplers were just shy of sectionals.
Brayden Meyer, Jacob Hoppe and Talon Severson all finished one spot shy of advancing to sectionals.
Brayden Meyer finishes the 2021-22 season with a strong record of 26-13. Meyer began his regional campaign with a solid start, pinning his opponent in the quarterfi nals in 3:25. Meyer would be pinned in the semifinals by Keeghan Anding, but would take a medical forfeit in the third place match.
Unfortunately for Meyer, there would be second place match as he drew Keeghan Anding for a no contest. Meyer earned 16 team points, and will certainly be one to watch in 2022-23.
Jacob Hoppe finishes his season with a winning record. Hoppe went 20-16, and like Meyer, nearly made it to sectionals. Hoppe won his quarterfinal match with a pin in 1:06, but was stopped in the semfi nal by way of a pinfall.
Hoppe regrouped in the third place match, pinning Garrett Learman in 5:34 to earn a spot in the second place match. Unfortunately, it was not to be as Hoppe was pinned in that match.
Senior Talon Severson closed the curtain on his final year with the wrestling co-op. A multi-year letter winner, Severson went out with a 26-16 record in his final season with the co-op.
Severson received a bye into the semis, but lost his match via pinfall to N/G/L’s Dane Luchterhand. Severson bounced back to win his third place match over Tripp Reamer of Medford in 1:20, but drew Luchterhand in the second place match, resulting in a no contest.
No matter which way you cut it, the WIAA D-2 regional meet was a success for the co-op. Half the team moves on, one step closer to the biggest stage in the state for prep wrestling.
One more step, a few more matches, a handful of minutes - that’s all that’s keeping Grewe, Halopla and Dommer from etching their name in the history books for Abby/Colby wrestling.
GOING FOR A RIDE -Senior Talon Severson gets picked up during the 170 pound semifinal match.
