A-C picks up wins in Colfax, Ladysmith
By Nathaniel Underwood
The Abbotsford-Colby wrestling team took 10th place at the Ladysmith Invitational held this past Saturday. They had three athletes take first place in their respective brackets and six members finished with top-five results as the team put up 238.5 team points. Shell Lake took first place at the tournament with 374.5 points, followed by Cadott with 332.0 points and Turtle Lake/Clayton with 285.0 points.
Tristan Smazal, Tanner Halopka and Makenna Herrmann all claimed the top spot in their weight-class on Saturday. It was Smazal’s first tournament championship of the season, while Herrmann picked up her second and Halopka captured his third.
After a first round bye in the 120-pound bracket, Smazal faced off against Alvin Peterson of Somerset. The co-op sophomore took an early 2-0 lead after recording a takedown in the first period. He then added to his advantage by recording a reversal in the second period, but Peterson answered with his own reversal at the end of the round to draw back within two. The Somerset wrestler opted to start with bottom positioning for the third period, hoping to earn points via an escape or reversal, but Smazal was able to hold his position through the round and take the 4-2 decision.
He then faced off against Cadott’s Kaleb Lodahl in the semifinals. Lodahl took the initiative in the first round, recording the first takedown of the match. Smazal was able to escape and force another neutral engagement. Lodahl once again earned a takedown, but Smazal managed a last second reversal to end the round on a high note. The second period saw Lodahl extend his lead out to 5-3 with an early escape, but Smazal tied things up with a takedown later in the round. The co-op wrestler then dominated the final period, scoring a reversal and a three-point nearfall to take the 10-5 decision and move on to the championship match.
Osceola’s Logan Meyer waited in the final. In a tough match, Smazal was able to break through with a 5-4 decision, but it wasn’t easy. He took a 5-0 lead over the first two rounds after earning two takedowns and an escape, but Meyer very nearly turned the tables in the final period. A reversal to start the period got Meyer on the board and the Osceola sophomore almost earned a pin at the end of the period, but Smazal managed to survive, giving Meyer just a two-point nearfall and ending up a point short from forcing overtime. Smazal’s 3-0 day earned him 46.0 team points.
It only took Halopka two victories to claim the top spot in the 165-pound weight class. The Abby-Colby senior quickly dispatched his two opponents en route to his first place victory, winning both matches without surrendering a single point.
He faced off against Maccoy Deleasky of Phillips in his first match of the tournament and a fast takedown turned into a victory by fall seconds later.
The championship bout saw Halopka matched up with another Logger, Ethan Upson, and the Phillips wrestler fared about as
See LADYSMITH INVITE/ Page 10
COMMANDING POSITION - Jacob Hoppe maneuvers for a pin in his bout against Noah Krueger during the triangular in Colfax. Hoppe would go on to win the match and help his team beat the Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/Fall Creek co-op 48-18.
SUBMITTED PHOTO Ladysmith Invite
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well as his teammate did in the previous round. Halopka once again was aggressive and took Upson to the mat in the first round. The Loggers’ senior could not escape and Halopka pinned him to earn another first period victory by fall.
The co-op senior’s dominant performance earned his team 52.0 points and was the latest championship in an already impressive season. In addition to the win in Ladysmith, Halopka won the Wildcat Invite and the John Roberts Scramble tournaments. He also has two second place finishes and earned a third place in the co-op’s other three tournaments this year.
Herrmann also took first place in the girls 120-pound category. The accomplishment followed up a championship performance the week before in Merrill as the junior has continued her midseason hot streak. She claimed the top spot over Phillips’ Journee Wood in a modified tournament.
Matt Jakel also reached his bracket’s final stage, adding a second place finish and 46.0 team points for the Abby-Colby squad.
After a first round bye in the 126-pound bracket, Jakel faced off against Jacob LaGesse (Bloomer/Colfax). He earned four points via takedown and nearfall before eventually pinning LaGesse in the first period. He then had a semifinal bout with Shell Lake’s Phoenix Heise, who he also defeated with a first period fall to earn his spot in the championship.
Familiar foe Talon Berg (Osceola) awaited him there. The pair had matched up earlier in the season at the Northern Badger Wrestling Classic and Berg had come out on top with a pin in the consolation bracket. This time, the match went the full six minutes and only a small margin was the difference between the two wrestlers.
After an opening round with no scoring, Berg managed to tally three points in the second period, earning himself an escape and takedown. Smazal bounced back with an escape in the third period, but another takedown by Berg put the Osceola sophomore ahead 5-1. Smazal once again worked himself out of trouble and earned a point for an escape, but even a late takedown was not enough to push him past Berg, who took the 5-4 decision.
Alix Colby (132-pounds) and Jacob Hoppe (175-pounds) both went 1-2 to earn fourth place finishes at Ladysmith, scoring 36.0 and 35.5 team points respectively.
Colby took his first match by fall, taking down Bruno Palacios of Cameron by fall. He earned an early takedown and a nearfall before finishing off his opponent with a pin late in the first period. He then was paired with Osceola’s Isaac Dunnom in the semifinals. While Colby outscored Dunnom 6-2, the Chieftains’ freshman turned the tables in the second period and managed a pin at the 2:54 mark. Colby was then shutout in the third place match against Shell Lake’s Tanner Bandoli, who took the 6-0 decision.
Hoppe dominated in his first round victory over Eau Claire Memorial’s Conor Govek, scoring a 15-0 technical victory over his opponent. He recorded four nearfalls in the match and while he was not able to completely finish off Govek, Hoppe was in control of the match from the onset. He then matched up with Matheo Ngbemeneh (Somerset) in the semifinal match. Hoppe took an early lead, recording two takedowns in the first period, but was pinned later in the match to be relegated to the third place match. Cadott’s Caden Kingston turned out to be a tough opponent, and while the pair were even in scoring, putting up five points each Kingston was able to record a pin in the waning moments of the second period to take the third place spot.
Aiden Burt lost both of his 215-pound bouts, losing by fall in his first round battle with Dawnson Nordquist (Turtle Lake/Clayton) and dropping a 7-1 decision to Josh Nutt (Phillips) in the ninth place match to take 10th overall. Ayden Michlig placed 12th in the 138-pound bracket, falling to Cadott’s Owen Fasbender before defeating Ladysmith’s Agustin Flores in the consolation bracket. Lucas Lodel of Reedsville dealt Michlig a second loss in his next match and Adrik Dix (Eau Claire Memorial) took the final match via medical forfeit.
Bloomer/Colfax Duals
The team picked up a pair of conference victories over Bloomer/Colfax and Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/Fall Creek last Thursday. Abby-Colby came out on top 48-24 against Bloomer/Colfax and 48-18 versus Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/ Fall Creek.
In the first matchup, theAbbotsford-Colby co-op scored the final 24 points to claim the run away victory. Tristen Smazal defeated Ayden Anderson with a fall at the 3:24 mark, Matt Jakel pinned Zeke Anderson thirty seconds into their bout and Alix Colby came up with a win over Jacob LaGesse, winning by fall at the 3:12 mark. A forfeit for Ayden Michlig in the 138-pound weight class rounded out the streak.
Aiden Burt also picked up a win for the coop, defeating Kendra Hamman by fall early in the first period of their match.
The Abby-Colby team only surrendered three matches against Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/Fall Creek. Jacob Hoppe pinned Noah Krueger at the 1:08 mark to give the A-C team their first win. Matt Jakel won by fall over Abby Moss to go 2-0 on the day and teammate Alix Colby joined him by defeating Reeve Bucholz at the 3:07 mark.
Five of Abby-Colby’s victories over Osseo-Fairchild/ Augusta/Fall Creek came via forfeit, with Smazal, Michlig, Alex Sundermeyer, Tanner Halopka and Frankie Rodriguez all notching forfeit wins.
The team will host a pair of Cloverbelt foes on Thursday, January 18 in their next bit of action. The triangular will include the Altoona/Eau Claire Regis co-op and the Neillsville/ Greenwood/Loyal squad and will begin at 4:30 p.m.
