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
