Hoppe, Smazal punch tickets to state tourney
By Nathaniel Underwood
Tristen Smazal and Jacob Hoppe will be representing the Abbotsford/Colby wrestling team at the Division 2 State Tournament in Madison this coming week after placing in the top-two at the sectional meet in Amery this past Saturday. There were six total co-op wrestlers that competed at sectional competitions this year, with Matt Jakel and Alix Colby joining their teammates in Amery and Makenna Herrmann and Kori Geiger competing in the girls sectional tournament in Ladysmith last Friday.
It will be the second trip to the state tournament for Smazal, who also qualified in 2023 as a freshman, and the first for Hoppe. The pair were able to move on after continuing their dominant seasons in Amery. Smazal grabbed the sectional title in the 126-pound weight-class while Hoppe secured second-place in the 175-pound bracket.
Smazal’s state-worthy performance started with a matchup against Miles Kelly of Saint Croix Falls in the quarterfinals. The A/C junior wasted no time taking the lead, almost instantly bringing his opponent to the mat for the bout’s first takedown. Kelly managed to quickly escape, but Smazal kept up the aggression, securing two more takedowns and a two-point nearfall by the end of the first to open up an 11-2 lead. A quick escape and takedown to start the second expanded his advantage and a second takedown earned him an 18-3 technical fall victory and a spot in the semifinals.
The win set up a matchup with Jack Olson of Chetek-Weyerhaeuser/Prairie Farm. Once again, it was Smazal setting the pace, taking the initiative with an early takedown. Olson eventually managed an escape, but another takedown for Smazal in the opening period put him up 6-1. The escape turned out to be the only point granted to Olson over the entirety of the match as Smazal controlled the final two periods, scoring four in the second and three in the third to take a 13-1 major decision and move on to the championship bout.
Smazal’s final opponent of the day was Osceola’s Hunter Kromrey. While he did not immediately jump out to an early lead with a quick takedown like he had in his first two matches, Smazal still managed to register the title bout’s first points, earning a takedown of Kromrey with about 30 seconds left in the first. Kromrey pulled a bit closer with an escape in the second, but Smazal answered by taking his opponent to the mat for a second time.
Up 6-2 heading into the last round, Smazal executed a quick reversal to secure a solid six point lead early in the round. A flurry of scoring followed, largely to Smazal’s benefit, as he went on to outscore Kromrey 10-4 in the third and earn a 16-6 major decision victory. The title win was the junior’s best finish at the sectional tournament after taking fourth in 2024 and third in 2023.
Meanwhile, Hoppe battled his way through his own bracket to secure his spot at the state tournament. In the opening round, the senior faced off against Mondovi/ElevaStrum’s Ethan Odegard. Hoppe got on the board first with a takedown midway through the first. A key four-point nearfall near the end of the period gave him a commanding 7-0 lead and an escape early in the second expanded his advantage. However, Odegard surged late, rattling off seven straight points by notching a takedown in the third and using the positioning to force a four-point nearfall. Hoppe avoided the pin and managed to escape, but was still in danger of losing the match if Odegard could manage a takedown. After some sparring, a clutch takedown with fifteen seconds left all but sealed the match for Hoppe, allowing him to escape with a 12-7 decision.
Hoppe’s semifinal match against Ellsworth’s Blake Nelson was an equally nail biting affair. After neither wrestler was able to take an upper hand in the first, Nelson notched the first points of the bout 20 seconds into the second period, registering a reversal to go up 2-0. Hoppe managed an escape, but still found himself trailing by one heading into the third.
Once again, the two battled to a stalemate, an outcome that suited Nelson perhaps too well. Ellsworth's wrestler was penalized with just 30 seconds remaining in the contest, knotting the score at 2-2. A quick escape by Hoppe suddenly put him ahead by one and a final takedown with four seconds remaining sealed his victory and a spot in the finals.
Saint Croix Fall’s Griffin Marko awaited him there. A definitive seven-point swing at the very end of the first round turned out to be match-deciding; a takedown for Marko with 15 seconds left in the period turned into a four-point nearfall before the end of the round. Hoppe got back over half of the points with a four-point nearfall in the second but only earned a pair of penalty points in the third the rest of the way, ultimately suffering a 9-6 decision defeat. Because Ellsworth’s Nelson won the third place match, Hoppe was awarded second-place for having beaten Nelson earlier in the day.
The second place finish for Hoppe was a marked improvement over his placement at last year’s sectional
See SECTIONAL WRESTLING/ Page 20
PREPARING FOR THE TAKEDOWN - Jacob Hoppe secures Modovi/Eleva-Strum’s Ethan Odegard’s leg as he tries to force his opponent to the mat during the pair’s quarterfinal matchup at the sectional tournament in Amery this past weekend. Hoppe went on to win the match and take second overall, advancing to his first state tournament in the process.
STAFF PHOTO/MATT FREY
TAKING COMMAND - Tristen Smazal racks up the points against Saint Croix Falls’ Miles Kelly during the sectional meet on Saturday. Smazal grabbed his first sectional title later that day and secured a place at his second state tournmanet of his career.
STAFF PHOTO/MATT FREY Sectional wrestling
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meet, where he was felled in the quarterfinals.
In the 138-pound weight class, Jakel came up just one spot short of securing his own ticket to Madison, finishing in fourth.
The junior earned the co-op boys’ sole pin of the sectional tournament in his quarterfinal match against Somerset’s Alvin Peterson. After a first round takedown and nearfall earned him a 7-4 lead heading into the second period, Jakel took advantage of his opponent’s choice to start the next round in neutral. Halfway through the period, the A/C junior brought his opponent down and quickly used his position to pin Peterson, earning a victory by fall at the 3:43 mark.
He then faced off against Amery’s Antonio Sowell in the semifinals. A takedown by Sowell in the first period turned out to be a difference maker in an extremely low scoring match. Jakel was only able to notch two escapes over the course of the bout and was relegated to the consolation bracket after falling in a 4-2 decision.
A familiar opponent awaited him there. Northwestern’s Logan Jones, who Jakel had beaten the week prior at the regional tournament, stood between him and the third place match. A takedown and a threepoint nearfall in the first round put Jakel ahead 6-0, but a pair of takedowns for Jones in the second tightened the score. Holding onto a slim 8-6 lead, Jakel dominated the final period. He earned a takedown and then followed it with a pair of four-point nearfalls to completely swing the outlook of the match, giving him a 196 decision and allowing him to move on to the third-place match.
There he had to face off against Henry Penn of Ellsworth. Penn proved to be a formidable opponent, racking up 14 points in the first period before ending things with a three-point nearfall in the second to end Jakel’s day with a 17-0 technical fall defeat.
Colby faced off against Saint Croix Falls’ Dominci Viebrock in his sole match in the 132-pound bracket. The sophomore initially took the lead with a takedown near the end of the first and was able to hold on to it for much of the second, but a late reversal and nearfall for Viebrock put him up 5-3 heading into third. Colby could not work his way out of Viebrock's control in the final period and was ultimately pinned at the 5:13 mark, ending his day in the quarterfinals.
In the girls’ sectional, Herrmann finished one spot short of earning her own state tournament berth, taking third in the 126-pound weight class.
She started her day in Ladysmith by facing off against the hosting Lumberjacks’ Adrianna Der. An early penalty put Der ahead but Herrmann swiped the lead with the match’s first takedown. A last second escape by Der ended the first with Herrmann holding a 3-2 advantage. The A/C senior ended things in the second, earning her takedown before pinning her opponent three-and-a-half minutes into the bout.
Herrmann then faced off against three straight opponent’s that she had faced at the regional tournament in Merrill the week before. The first was Hudson’s Natalie Klavetter in the semifinals. A pair of escapes for the co-op wrestler were not enough as Klavetter claimed victory by fall by pinning Herrmann at the 1:48 mark.
The loss set up a match up against Amery's Hannah Rosenberg, who Herrmann had defeated the week prior. Rosenberg used a strong performance to hold a 6-4 lead heading into the final round, but Herrmann turned the tables in the third, racking up nine points before eventually defeating the Amery wrestler by fall at the 5:35 mark.
The win allowed her to move on to the second-place match with a chance at state on the line. Merrill’s Kendell Klug awaited her there and proved to be just as difficult an opponent as she had been the first time the two faced off. Herrmann could not get much traction against the Bluejays wrestler, who held her scoreless over the course of their match. After a pair of takedowns and four-point nearfalls in the first and second, Klug ended the bout with a reversal to start the third, claiming a 16-0 technical fall victory.
Wrestling in the 235-pound weight class, Geiger faced off against Ezibella Savage of the Luck/Frederic/Grantsburg/ Siren co-op squad in the quarterfinals. Savage was able to convert a takedown in the first into a pin, ending Geiger’s day early.
Smazal and Hoppe will continue their 2024-25 campaign in Madison on Thursday, Feb. 27. Division 2 preliminaries are set to begin at approximately 6 p.m. with the quarterfinals to follow at 8 p.m. Consolation bracket quarterfinals and regular semifinals will then be held on Friday, Feb. 28 and the finals will take place on Saturday, March 1.
NO ROOM FOR ESCAPE - Matt Jakel makes his move against Somerset’s Alvin Peterson at the sectional tournament. The junior would come out the bout victorious, pinning Peterson in the second period. STAFF PHOTO/MATT FREY
