A/C matmen garner Cloverbelt honors
Halpoka & Grewe are champions
Senior Carter Grewe and sophomore Tanner Halopka began their postseason in the best possible way, picking up titles in the 195 and 145 weight classes at the Cloverbelt Conference Championships in Cadott on Saturday.
The two Abbotsford/Colby wrestlers were the heavy favorites going in, but they were not the only wrestlers hoping to earn some conference accolades. Of the six wrestlers who represented the co-op, all six placed inside the top five of their respetive weight classes.
Abby/Colby finished fifth out of nine teams on Saturday, tallying 101 points. Cadott won the title with an overwhelming final score of 232 to Neillsville/ Greenwood/Loyal’s 198. Regis/Altoona finished third with 176 points.
Tanner Halopka cruised through the day to pick up his title in Cadott, earning a bye in the quarterfinals. He pinned his semi-final opponent in 50 seconds, and then won his title bout with a pin of Alex Poirier of Bloomer/Colfax in 5:55.
Halopka earned 26 team points for Abby/Colby, and improved his record to a sensational 41-1 going into this Saturday’s WIAA D-2 regional in Neillsville.
Carter Grewe was even more dominant in his title run on Saturday. Grewe also earned a first round bye, and then smoked Brok Mccann of Bloomer/Colfax in the semis, winning in 21 seconds.
From there, Grewe took down Dan Polzin of N/G/L with a pinfall in 2:40 for his conference title at 195. Grewe is now 38-2 heading into regionals.
Brayden Meyer had a excellent day in Cadott, placing third in the 152 weight class. Meyer won his quarterfinal match in 57 seconds, but lost a 13-0 major decision in the semifinals.
Meyer rebounded nicely with a pinfall victory in 1:39 to earn a spot in the third place match. Meyer made short work of Liam O’Connell of Regis/Altoona, pinning his opponent in 3:56 for 18 points.
Talon Severson and Levi Dommer picked up a pair of fourth place finishes in the 170 and 220 weight classes.
Severson won his quarterfinal match in only 44 seconds, but was pinned in the semis. Severson received a bye in his next match that sent him to a third place duel with Dane Luchterhand of N/G/L.
It was a tight contest, but Severson could not get the best of Luchterhand, falling in a 5-0 decision. Severson did earn 11 team points, and improved his 2021-22 reacord to 23-15.
Dommer’s day got off to a slow start. he was pinned in 2:10 in the quarterfinal, then received a bye and topped Wyatt Wulf of Thorp/Owen-Withee in 3:38. From there Dommer was pinned by Cole Hanson of Spencer in 1:20.
Dommer picked up 14 points, and improved to 20-18 for the year.
Jacob Hoppe placed fifth in the 160 weight class. Hoppe lost his first two matches via pinfall, but he regrouped to defeat Nash Culligan of Regis/Altoona in 2:03 to earn seven team points and to enter the WIAA D-2 regionals with a 19-15 record.
With the Cloverbelt Championships over, it’s make or break time for the coop’s wrestlers as the WIAA regional meets begin this weekend.
The co-op will travel to Neillsville on Saturday, Feb. 12, for a WIAA D-2 regional meet. The top three wrestlers in each weight class will then advance to the WIAA D-2 Amery sectional for a chance to punch their ticket to state.
Antigo, 15-12
The Abbotsford/Colby wrestling co-op managed to fit in one final regular season dual meet last week just before the playoffs could began.
The co-op took a trip to Antigo to take on the Red Robins in a non-conference dual that kept the grapplers mat skills sharp as they headed into the Cloverbelt Championships on Saturday.
The co-op won their dual with Antigo by a final score of 15-12. Jacob Hoppe pushed his match with Jayson Arrowood into the third period, but was pinned at the 5:31 mark in the 152 weight class.
Brayden Meyer picked up six points for the co-op when he pinned Dontae Mohr in 1:23 in the 160 weight class. Talon Severson added three more points with a 14-9 decision over Robert Hagerty in the 170 weight class.
Colby High senior Carter Grewe didn’t need much more than a minute to win his match with Wyatt Beiber in the 195 weight class, pinning his opponent in 1:14. Levi Dommer had the shortest match of the meet. Unfortunately, he was on the losing end of it, suffering a pinfall loss to Brady Vanderweerd in just 22 seconds in the heavyweight division.
WHAT’S GOING ON? -Abby/Colby’s Brayden Meyer’s vision is obscured by his headgear as he works to wiggle out of a hold from Regis/Altoona’s Liam O’Connell in the third place match of the 152 weight class. Meyer finished fourth at the Cloverbelt Championships in Cadott.
JUST WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING - Tanner Halopka prevents Alex Poirier of Bloomer-Colfax from getting away in the 145 pound finals. Halopka won the match, improving to a sterling record of 41-1 as he heads in the wrestling postseason.TRG PHOTOS/DEAN LESAR
