Sectional successes

Neillsville-Greenwood-Loyal freshman Luke Dux sailed through the competition at the Feb. 22 WIAA Division 2 individual wrestling sectional, winning all three of his matches to earn a trip to the state tournament in Madison. At right, Dux tries to tip Northwoods freshman Tommy Brown’s shoulders toward the mat in the 106-pound finals. Dux rolled to the 7-0 decision to improve his season record to 34-4. Fellow NGL freshman Gunner Hoffmann (middle right) is also headed to Madison, at 220 pounds, with a 37-2 season record after placing second at Osceola. He had three first-period pins, but lost a 4-3 decision to defending state champion Jake Rau of Medford in the finals. Hoffmann had already beaten Rau twice this season. At middle left, Spencer-Columbus sophomore Treyton Ackman holds onto the leg of Luck/Frederic/Grantsburg/ Siren’s Taedon Nichols in the semifinals at 120 pounds. Ackman had the match tied at 5-5 after two periods, but Nichols owned the third period to get the 12-7 win. Ackman still got third place at Osceola, and heads to Madison for the second straight season with a 40-5 record. At lower right, NGL senior Nathan Buchanan saw his career come to an end as he placed fourth at 170 pounds at the sectional. He is pictured pinning St. Croix Central’s Braeden Bloom in a sectional quarterfinal, but he then ran into eventual sectional champion Carter Paulson of Rice Lake. Buchanan’s senior season ended with a 32-8 record. NGL freshman Keeghan Anding (lower left) also qualified for the sectional, but got only one match as he dropped a 6-0 decision at 126 pounds to Ellsworth senior Bailey Poellinger. His season record was 26-13.