JUNIOR NATIONAL WRESTLING - Losiewicz part of Team Wisconsin, who goes unbeaten in day two
JUNIOR NATIONAL WRESTLING
Medford wrestler Gage Losiewicz won four of nine matches while wrestling for Team Wisconsin in the 2024 Air Force Special Warfare Junior Greco Roman National Duals, held June 19-20 in Tulsa, Okla.
Wisconsin went 3-2 and finished fifth in its initial Pool C competition, putting the team in the Red/Blue Pool on day two. There, Wisconsin went 4-0 to win the pool for a 17th-place overall finish in the tournament.
Losiewicz went 3-2 in the Pool C portion of the competition as his individual success mirrored the team’s success.
In Wisconsin’s 49-14 opening win over North Carolina, Losiewicz won his 165-pound match 7-2 over Troy Shannon, building a 4-0 first-period lead and then tacking on after Shannon scored first in the second period.
In round two, the pool quarterfinals, Kansas Blue edged Wisconsin 35-31, winning the last three matches to overcome a 29-23 deficit. Brady Martin of the Kansas team earned a 10-0 technical fall over Losiewicz in the first period of their match.
Losiewicz took a forfeit win during Wisconsin’s 41-28 win over Louisiana Red in a consolation match. The win put Wisconsin in the consolation semifinals where it lost another close one, 3529. Michigan’s JayDen Williams pinned Losiewicz in the second period at 4:24. This was a close 8-6 match through the first three minutes and Losiewicz got the first point of the second period before a four-point move put Williams back in control.
Wisconsin routed Florida 49-20 in the fifth-place dual with Losiewicz building a 5-0 lead and earning a 5-2 decision over Willie White.
In the day-two placement bracket, Wisconsin opened with a 37-30 win over Virginia Blue. Taven Williams ended the dual with a 9-0 win by technical fall over Losiewicz. Losiewicz came back with a 9-0 first-period victory by technical fall over Arno Makaryan in Wisconsin’s 45-23 win over the California Red team.
Wisconsin’s Breyson Kelley, who is from Florence, got a big 8-0 technical fall in the dual-ending 190-pound match to give the team a 3534 win over Oregon. Losiewicz lost an 8-0 technical fall in that dual to Trae Frederick.
In the bracket championship, Wisconsin won a much closer rematch with Florida 35-29. Wisconsin got technical falls from Jayden Delao of La Crosse Logan-Central at 190 pounds and Henry Vander Heiden of Freedom at 215 pounds to win it at the end. White avenged the previous day’s loss, beating Losiewicz in an 8-0 technical fall.
California Blue took the overall championship, beating Pennsylvania 32-30 in the Gold/Silver Bracket final, while Illinois beat Idaho 40-27 for third, Minnesota Blue beat Oklahoma Blue 34-32 for fifth and Iowa got by Colorado 34-33 for seventh.
Ohio Red beat Washington 41-25 for the Bronze/Copper bracket title and ninth place overall.
In the freestyle tournament the next two days, Wisconsin’s team went 7-0 and won the national championship, beating Ohio Blue in the title dual 33-32 with a pin from Kellen Wolbert of Oconomowoc in the dual’s final match at 138 pounds.
Rib Lake pitcher Bryant Konieczny makes the underhand toss to first baseman Austin Edwards to record a first-inning out after he fielded a ground ball during the Osprey’s 3-2 win over Medford Sunday afternoon in Dairyland League play. Rib Lake sits atop the Small Division with a 3-0 record, holding a half-game lead over 2-0 Interwald, who shut out Spirit 8-0 on Sunday. The other Small Division game involving a local squad, Interwald at Tomahawk, was postponed two weeks to July 6. In the Large Division, Whittlesey and Minocqua worked around the weather to play a pair of seven-inning games Sunday at Mike Roiger Stadium. In game one, the Reds won 6-5 in eight innings. Brandon Loertscher homered and had two hits, Cody Loertscher had three hits and two RBIs and Ben Meyer added a couple of hits. Minocqua had an early 4-0 lead, but the Reds took a 5-4 lead by the fifth before the Wood Ducks tied it in the seventh. In game two, Peter Aerts was the star, hitting three homers for Minocqua in a 10-3 final. He also pitched three hitless and scoreless innings. Whittlesey drew eight walks, but didn’t make Minocqua pay, collecting just two hits off three Wood Duck pitchers. Sunday is a busy day locally with Merrill visiting Whittlesey in the Large Division and Rib Lake going to Westboro, Medford heading to Interwald and Pittsville visiting Spirit in 1:30 p.m. starts. The annual July 3 pre-fireworks contest between Rib Lake and Interwald is set for 6 p.m. at Tannery Creek Park. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
Gage Losiewicz
