WIAA DIV. 3/GIRLS WRESTLING - Angell pins way to title; Madlon advances from the girls regional

WIAA DIV. 3/GIRLS WRESTLING

Cornell-Gilman-Lake Holcombe wrestler Taydyn Angell is in good position to make a return trip to the WIAA Division 3 state tournament in Madison, while freshman Kaitlyn Madlon will take her shot at getting there for the first time in sectional competition this weekend.

Angell, the state’s fourth-place finisher last year at 215 pounds, took his first step toward a return trip Saturday by winning the weight class championship at the Edgar regional. Madlon placed third Friday in one of the WIAA’s 16 first-ever girls regional tournaments. Guaranteed to advance, she went 1-2 in a four-wrestler bracket at Merrill.

Both of the sectional meets are at Ladysmith with the girls going first on Friday, starting at 3:30 p.m. The boys will hit the mats starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Madlon will need a top-two finish to advance, while Angell needs a top-three finish.

The qualifiers

At Edgar Saturday, Angell improved to 37-2 for the year and remained unbeaten against Division 3 wrestlers with three pins.

The top seed in the 10-man bracket, Angell drew a bye into the quarterfinals, where he pinned Auburndale’s Sawyer Malsin in 58 seconds. He faced a solid fourth seed in Jackson Logghe of Glenwood City (26-16) in the semifinals. Angell pinned him for the third time this season in a time of 2:51. Leading 3-1 to start the second period, Angell reversed Logghe and finished the move with a pin.

In the finals, Angell faced secondseeded Jack Steinmeyer of Spring Valley-Elmwood. Angell faced some adversity in this one, trailing 9-2 after one period after three takedowns by Steinmeyer (39-8). Steinmeyer chose neutral to start the second period, Angell took him down 35 seconds in and pinned him to win it.

Those two certainly could see each other again this Saturday.

Angell’s sectional quarterfinal match is against senior Josh Nutt of Phillips (2420), who Angell has beaten twice this season. Logghe is a potential semifinal opponent. He faces Derek Ewald of Cameron (32-19) in his first match.

Steinmeyer brings the top record into the other side of the bracket.

At Merrill Friday, Madlon had little trouble in her semifinal match, where she pinned Chippewa Falls freshman Brenna Urquhart in 1:16 off her first takedown. The win put Madlon in the championship bout with Cadott senior Molli York (27-17), who pinned Madlon in 3:36. It was a close match up to that point. Madlon escaped from a York takedown in the first period and neither wrestler had scored in the second until York, from the top position, got her chance and took it.

In the second-place match, Madlon was pinned in 2:49 by Merrill’s Liberty Fuchs (17-13).

At the sectional, Madlon (18-13) will open with 25-7 junior Lillian Gottwald of Hayward-Northwood. Ashland’s Bella Roman (34-8) and York are also among the top contenders in the weight class.

Rest of the Wolfpack

Wolfpack senior Preston Fredrickson nearly worked his way all the way back to fourth place and a spot in the sectional after a first-round loss at 150 pounds Saturday, but he came up short in the fourth-place match to finish the year 11-12.

Fredrickson had a big second period turn an early deficit into a 12-9 lead over Glenwood City’s Brock Wood in his firstround match. Wood, however, started the third period with an escape, then got a takedown a near fall and then finished the match with a pin at 5:03.

Fredrickson started consolation competition with a pin in 1:06 over Candin Yeager of Stanley-Boyd (24-15). Yeager got the first takedown but Fredrickson escaped, took him down and got the pin to stay alive. He then beat another wrestler with a winning record, Shaylon Blake of Athens (23-18) with a pin at 3:02. He led 5-4 to start the second period and got an escape and takedown, which led to the pin.

In the fifth-place match, Fredrickson pinned Edgar’s Austin Schreiber (18-19) in 1:02. That set up the fourth-place match with Clear Lake’s Magnum Moggo (34-14), who pinned Fredrickson in 5:11 in what was another close match. Two secondperiod takedowns had given Fredrickson an 8-7 lead going into the third period. From the top, Moggo got his pin a little more than midway through the period.

At 285 pounds, first-year senior Lee Zagorski finished the year 18-15 after a 2-2 day.

He started strong, pinning Alex Tzanahua of Durand-Arkansaw in 1:30 after reversing Tzanahua’s initial takedown. Boyceville standout Zach Hellendrung (36-7), the eventual runnerup, pinned Zagorski in 42 seconds in the quarterfinals.

Zagorski stayed alive by defeating Jordan Wulff of Thorp/Owen-Withee (1119) by decision 8-4. Auburndale freshman Alex Becker (29-15) eliminated Zagorski with a 49-second pin.

At 132 pounds, first-year sophomore Lucas Halida finished 15-16 as he also went 2-2. He started by stunning Gavin Frahm of Athens with a pin in 5:34. Halida trailed 6-0 at the time and was working from the top in the third period when he seized his opportunity.

Eventual runner-up Cale Quaintance of Marathon (38-5) pinned Halida in 1:07 in the quarterfinals. Halida stayed in it with a pin in 3:05 over Kyle Pahl of Stanley-Boyd but Clear Lake’s Brennon Colbeth ended Halida’s day with a pin in 1:09.

At 157 pounds, first-year junior Sawyer Winger finished 3-9 with losses by pin to third-place finisher Brody Westrom of Stanley-Boyd (28-21) in 49 seconds and to fourth-place finisher Owen Fasbender of Cadott (35-14) in 43 seconds.

At Merrill at 114 pounds, freshman Aspen Person finished 5-18. She got a tough draw in her quarterfinal match, getting matched up with defending state third-place finisher Iszy Sonnentag of Cadott (34-1), who pinned her in 54 seconds. Person was pinned by Clear Lake’s Jordyn Perry (18-12) in 3:43. The Wolfpack placed 10th as a team at the Edgar regional with 58 points, one more than their Lakeland Conference rival Clear Lake. Stratford won it with 274.5 points and Glenwood City edged Auburndale by a half-point, 223-222.5, to earn the second spot in Tuesday’s team sectional at Clear Lake. Marathon was fourth with 193.5 points.

Madlon and Person combined for 21 points to give the Wolfpack 14th place in the team standings at Merrill, where the host Blue Jays won the team title with 225 points. Hudson (148.5) and Cadott (140) were second and third.

WIAA Div. 3 sectional bracket 215 pounds Carlos Pouliot, So., Unity (37-14) vs. Isaiah Romero, So., Boyceville (31-13) Wyatt Weise, Sr., Barron (20-15) vs. Jack Steinmeyer, Jr., Spring Valley-Elmwood (39-8) Derek Ewald, Jr., Cameron (32-19) vs. Jackson Logghe, Sr., Glenwood City (26-16) Josh Nutt, Sr., Phillips (24-20) vs. Taydyn Angell, So., Cornell-Gilman-Lake Holcombe (37-2) WIAA girls sectional bracket 152 pounds Bella Roman, Sr., Ashland (34-8) vs. Brenna Urquhart, Fr., Chippewa Falls (3-21) Madison Huffman, So., Cameron (16-23) vs. Liberty Fuchs, Jr., Merrill (17-13) Lillian Gottwald, Jr., Hayward-Northwood (25-7) vs. Kaitlyn Madlon, Fr., Cornell-Gilman-Lake Holcombe (18-13) Lorelei Haaf, So., Unity (10-10) vs. Molli York, Sr., Cadott (27-17)

As his head coach Zach Person watches in the background, Wolfpack senior Lee Zagorski has control and works toward a pin of Durand-Arkansaw’s Alex Tzanahua. CASEY KRAUTKRAMER/THE RECORD REVIEW

Cornell-Gilman-Lake Holcombe's Taydyn Angell gets Auburndale's Sawyer Malsin to the mat and works toward a 58-second quarterfinal pin during Saturday's WIAA Div. 3 Edgar regional. Angell won the 215-pound championship. CASEY KRAUTKRAMER/THE RECORD REVIEW