Two Hornets place at State

Cadott junior Kaleb Lodahl (113 pounds) flips Mineral Point’s Elliot Kate in the first round of the State tournament in Madison, Feb. 22. Photo by Matt Frey

By Ginna Young

The Cadott boys wrestling program saw three compete at the WIAA State tournament Feb. 22-24, going up against the best in Division 3 at Madison.

Starting in the first round at the Kohl Center, junior Kaleb Lodahl (113 pounds) kicked off the competition for the Hornets, facing Mineral Point’s Elliott Kite, winning over him with a technical fall, in 4:45. Lodahl then went up against Jaxon Bogacz, of Bonduel, in the quarterfinals, winning with a 10-2 major decision.

He then took on Aquinas’ Jake Fitzpatrick in the semi-finals, but fell, by a 16-4 major decision. That sent Lodahl to the consolation bracket, where he wrestled Gavin Slark of Markesan, getting the victory, before meeting Lukas Orioff, Pecatonica- Argyle. Lodahl also dropped that match, giving him fourth place and a spot on the podium.

“This year’s young team never ceased to amaze me,” said coach Josh Spaeth.

Senior Axel Tegels (215) also placed for the Hornets, starting off with a bye to move him to the quarterfinals, where he went up against Boyceville’s Zach Hellendrung, winning with a 6-4 decision. In the semis, Tegels faced Blair-Taylor’s Jackson Shramek, who won, sending Tegels to the consolation bracket, where he fell to Gilman’s Taydyn Angell.

Tegels then wrestled against Wesley Egan, of Parkview-Albany, dropping that match, to claim sixth place.

“I knew it would be a rebuilding year, after losing so many State qualifiers from our line-up to graduation,” said Spaeth.

Senior Caden Kingston (175) was also in action at the State competition, wrestling against Riverdale’s Rylee Wanek, who won in a 7-5 decision, ending Kingston’s run.

“I was very pleased with our wrestlers’ performance at the State tournament,” said Spaeth. “All of our athletes gave an awesome effort. I can’t wait to see what next year has in store for Cadott wrestling.”