Halopka punches ticket to state tourney

By Nathaniel Underwood

Tanner Halopka earned a spot at the state tournament in Madison for the third time in his career after grabbing third place in the 157-pound weight class at the Division 2 sectional meet held in Tomahawk this past Saturday. Eight Abby-Colby wrestlers participated in the event, with six members taking part in the boys’competition and two battling in the girls’ brackets.

Halopka’s return to Madison means that the senior has qualified for the finals in all three of the seasons that he was able to do so in. As a freshman, Halopka grabbed fifth place at the state tournament in the 138-pound weight class and then he placed fourth in the 145-pound bracket as a sophomore. While he was out for his junior season with an injury, Halopka made sure that he would once again be wrestling at the Kohl Center with his performance on Saturday. TheAbby-Colby senior started his day with a quarterfinal matchup with Carter Bighley (Somerset). Halopka made quick work of his opponent, earning a quick takedown before pinning him early in the first round.

He seemingly had little issue with his semi-final opponent either. While it took three rounds for Halopka to earn the win by fall over Osceola’s Reed Church, he was in control of the entire match. Church only managed a single point on an escape in the second round, but Halopka seemingly had his opponent right where he wanted him for the duration of the bout. Three takedowns and a pair of three-count nearfalls had the A-C senior up 12-1 heading into the third round, where he finished the job and pinned Church at the 4:54 mark.

While he had dominated his first two matches, the finals looked like they were going to be a different story. Halopka would have a rematch from the prior week’s regional final, going up against Medford’s Gage Losiewicz. The bout between the pair seven days earlier had gone right down to the wire, with a nearfall late in the match giving Halopka the edge.

Saturday’s final was even tighter. Losiewicz was able to take a two-point advantage by forcing a takedown at the end of the first and the two battled to a stalemate through most of the next two rounds. A third round takedown from Halopka evened the score, however, forcing the match into overtime. Losiewicz was able to gain the upperhand this time, however, and came up with the key takedown in the first overtime to take a 4-2 sudden victory and the sectional crown.

An injury cut Halopka’s second place match short, giving the win to Griffin Marko of Saint Croix Falls, but his two wins were still enough to earn him third place and a trip to Madison.

Tristen Smazal was one victory away from joining his teammate and scoring his second state appearance in as many years. A single point was all that separated Smazal from a third place finish, but he could not quite pull it off as a last second escape from his opponent in the third place match ended his day in Tomahawk.

A first round 7-5 decision victory over Osceola’s Logan Meyer pushed Smazal on to the semifinals, but he could not best Lane

See SECTIONALS/ Page 16

PUSHING TOWARDS MADISON - Tanner Halopka pins his first round opponent at Saturday’s D-2 sectional tournament in Tomahawk. He placed third to move on to the state tourney in Madison. STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD Sectionals

Continued from page 9

Anderson of Amery in the contest, falling in an 8-4 decision to be pushed into the consolation bracket.

Smazal bounced back in his next match, dominating in his victory over Walter Hrobic of Tomahawk. He held a 13-2 lead before eventually pinning Hrobic late in the match and securing his spot in the third place match.

There the Abby-Colby sophomore faced off against Brady Gesler (Chetek-Weyerhaeuser/ Prairie Farm). The pair battled it out for three rounds and looked to be evenly matched. After no score in the first round, Smazal took an early lead with a reversal in the second. Gesler answered with a reversal of his own but an escape set things back to neutral and gave Smazal the lead back. However a takedown with three seconds left in the period by Gesler gave him the advantage heading into the third and final round.

After electing to start with bottom positioning, Gesler managed an escape to pull out to a 5-3 lead. Smazal was not finished, forcing a takedown to tie the score with just 17 seconds left, Gesler was able to force his way free with a last ditch effort and take the win and ending Smazal’s season.

Alix Colby and Erik Martinez were dealt two losses by fall during their sectional matches and Jacob Hoppe and Matt Jakel were eliminated after their first round decision losses when their opponents could not pick up wins in the semifinals.

Makenna Herrmann and Anay Espino were also bounced in the first round of their respective sectional bouts, with Herrmann falling in a 10-6 decision to Paige Haff (Saint Croix Falls) and Espino getting pinned by Hailey Pelkey (McDonell Catholic/Elk Mound).

Halopka’s season will continue on Thursday, Feb. 22 with his first match of the state tournament in Madison. His first round opponent is slated to be Ethan Brissette of Peshtigo. Brisette, also a senior, is 37-4 this season and took third place in the sectional held in Oconto Falls after winning his regional tournament in New London. If he can win, he will face off against Winneconne’s Brody Hart, who is thus far undefeated this season and took second place at 138 pounds in Madison last year. The Division 2 preliminaries for the boys individual tournament will start at 7 p.m.

SNEAKY MANEUVER - Jacob Hoppe attempts to slip out of his opponent’s grasp during his sectional match in Tomahawk.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD