Duellman knocking on state’s door after winning regional title

WIAA DIV. 3 WRESTLING

Sophomore Troy Duellman won his first regional championship and qualifi ed for his second sectional appearance, while the wrestling seasons ended for Cornell-Gilman-Lake Holcombe’s Preston Fredrickson and Braeden Person Saturday at the WIAA Division 3 Cadott regional tournament.

Duellman will compete in the 145-pound bracket this Saturday at the WIAA Division 3 St. Croix Falls sectional, where a top-three finish would qualify him for his first state appearance next weekend in Madison. Duellman sits at 30-10 after his 2-0 day at Cadott.

Wrestling as the top seed in a sixman regional bracket, Duellman drew a first-round bye and then took care of Glenwood City’s Jonas Draxler (9-10) in an 11-0 major decision in the semifinal round. Duellman then shut out Cadott senior Ethan Duck 6-0 in the championship match. Duck (18-11) later beat Draxler 5-0 in the second-place wrestleback to secure his spot in the sectional tournament.

A fifth-place sectional finisher last year at 132 pounds this year’s 145-pound runner-up in the Lakeland Conference, Duellman looks to have a solid shot of advancing from the sectional, where the top three finishers in each weight class will go to state.

The bracket favorite is 16-1 Tyler Sunday, a sophomore from Clear Lake, who won the Lakeland Conference title, pinning Duellman in the final. Sunday is on the other side of the bracket and Duellman wouldn’t see him until the championship if both wrestlers get off to suc- cessful starts.

Duellman opens with 21-9 freshman Griffin Marko of St. Croix Falls, the runner- up in the Cameron regional this past weekend behind Sunday. The quarterfi- nal winner will face either Blair-Taylor sophomore Ryan Flynn (19-17) or Bruce junior Harold Garcia (20-19) in the semifi nals. Sunday faces Duck in his first match. The other quarterfinal has Phillips junior Jesse Bruhn (22-10) facing Whitehall senior Brian Flores (6-9). Duellman has pinned Garcia and Bruhn twice this season.

Fredrickson, a freshman, came up one spot short of advancing from Cadott Saturday, taking third at 126 pounds. Wrestling in a five-man bracket, he drew a bye into the semifinals, where he was pinned in 1:28 by second-seeded Breckin Burzynski (25-5) of Stanley-Boyd. Fredrickson pinned freshman Logan McVeigh (6-6) of Glenwood City in the third-place match in 3:13, but with Burzynski losing 10-1 to Brayden Sonnentag (37-1) of Cadott, he was unable to earn a second-place wrestleback and finished the year 17-11.

Person, a junior, was the second seed in a six-man bracket at 152 pounds. After a bye got him to the semifinals, he was knocked off by pin in 2:33 by Spring Valley- Elmwood senior Max Schmitt (19-10). Person’s year ended at 26-14 when he was pinned in 1:30 by Glenwood City’s Thomas Moede (21-16) in the third-place match.

Schmitt went on to lose 8-3 to Cadott’s Tristan Drier (39-2) in the final, but beat Moede 13-2 to earn second place.

Cadott won the tournament with 271 points and advanced to Tuesday’s WIAA Division Cadott team sectional, where the Hornets dominated Whitehall 69-9 in the semifinals but lost 35-31 to St. Croix Falls in the sectional final.

Glenwood City was second with 217 points, followed by Boyceville (192.5), Stanley-Boyd (91), Spring Valley-Elmwood (76), Thorp/Owen-Withee (72) and the Wolfpack (42).

WIAA Div. 3 St. Croix Falls sectional bracket

145 pounds Tyler Sunday, 16-1, So., Clear Lake vs. Ethan Duck, 18-11, Sr., Cadott Jesse Bruhn, 22-10, Jr., Phillips vs. Brian Flores, 6-9, Sr., Whitehall Troy Duellman, 30-10, So., Cornell-Gilman- Lake Holcombe vs. Griffin Marko, 21-9, Fr., St. Croix Falls Ryan Flynn, 19-17, So., Blair-Taylor vs. Harold Garcia, 20-19, Jr., Bruce