Same results in rematches for state wrestlers

WIAA STATE WRESTLING

The first WIAA state wrestling tournament experiences for Medford’s Gage Losiewicz and Cornell-Gilman-Lake Holcombe’s Troy Duellman didn’t last long, but they will hopefully serve as springboards for the bright futures both still have.

Both of the wrestlers, who also happen to be cousins, lost their first-round matches Thursday night at the Kohl Center in Madison. Wrestlers placed in first-round matches in Divisions 2 and 3 must win to continue wrestling Friday and, possibly, into Saturday.

Losiewicz, a freshman wrestling at 132 pounds, got a rematch with Baldwin-Woodville junior Tyler Fink, who beat him 13-3 at the Feb. 19 WIAA Division 2 Amery sectional.

This time, Fink took control with a takedown and near fall late in the first period that put him up 4-0. A reversal and near fall in the second period opened up a 9-0 lead and third-period takedown finished off an 11-0 major decision that ended Losiewicz’s first season with the Raiders at 33-10.

“Gage wrestled hard and has a lot to be proud of,” Medford head coach Brandon Marcis said. “He is one of only a few wrestlers from Medford who made the state tournament as a freshman. I look for him to use this as a catalyst to wrestle with more intensity, aggression, and physicality as he trains in the offseason. We are proud of his efforts.”

Fink (39-9) lost his next two matches and did not place. The first one was against topseeded Rhett Koenig of Prairie du Chien (50-2), who beat Fink 12-2 and went on to win the state championship match 6-2 over secondseeded Owen Seffrood (34-4), a freshman from Darlington-Black Hawk.

Duellman, a sophomore wrestling at 145 pounds, also got a sectional rematch. His was with St. Croix Falls freshman Griffi n Marko, who beat him 5-1 at the Feb. 19 WIAA Division 3 St. Croix Falls sectional.

Marko got the first takedown in the first period for a 2-0 lead and opened up a 5-0 lead in the second period by getting an escape and another takedown. With the wrestlers in neutral positions, neither scored in the third, giving Marko the 5-0 decision.

“We knew after the sectional match that Troy could stick with him but had to find a way to get Marko out of position so he could get to his shots,” Wolfpack head coach Greg Sonnentag said. “We worked on some set-ups, but ultimately we weren’t able to get our offense going again. Troy improved a lot over the year on his leg attacks. Hopefully, next year we can get a little more physical and confident in battling ties and working our set-ups on very defensive wrestlers like Marko.”

Duellman finished 32-13 for the year. Marko (29-11) knocked off fourth-seeded Blake Delsman, a 34-8 senior from Reedsville, 5-4 in the quarterfinals before losing 9-1 to top-seeded Cael Erickson of Cedar Grove-Belgium (50-1) in the semifi- nals. Second-seeded Karson Casper (47-3) of Coleman upset Erickson in the championship with a pin in 59 seconds. Marko wound up winning the fifth-place match 2-1 in a rematch with Delsman.