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Sparta will be sending four wrestlers to state after Jon Bailey, Jaden Winchel, Brett Von Ruden and Hayden Krein all qualified Saturday in Tomah. The four have combined for 12 state tournament appearances making this among the most experienced contingent of Spartan state qualifiers in the program’s history. Jon Bailey and Hayden Krein led the way with individual championships while Jaden Winchel and Brett Von Ruden both finished as runner-ups.
Jon Bailey was dominant at 113 pounds with a first-match pin in 28 seconds, a 15-0 technical fall in the semis and a 7-0 victory over Sauk Prairie’s Dylan Herbrand (39-7) in the finals. This will be Bailey’s second state tournament appearance.
At 145 pounds, Jaden Winchel advanced to the finals before falling to La Crosse Central’s Jaden Van Maanen 18-6. It was the third meeting between Winchel (38-3) and Van Maanen this year and all of Winchel’s losses on the year have come at the hands of Van Maanen. Winchel won his wrestleback 9-1 to secure his fourth state tournament appearance.
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Junior Brett Von Ruden is off to state for the third time in three years.
At 152 pounds, Brett Von Ruden was prepared to send you over the edge if you have heart issues. His day opened easily enough with a 9-0 victory in the opening match before he embarked on three matches that all came down to the final seconds. In the semifinals, Von Ruden fell 6-4 in sudden victory to eventual sectional champion Nate Lorenz (42-2) of Waunakee. Von Ruden won his wrestleback over Tomah’s Casey Curran 6-5 by scoring three points in the final 30 seconds to avenge a regional loss to the Tomah senior. In the second place match, Von Ruden won 3-1 in overtime to advance to state. This will be Von Ruden’s third state tournament appearance.
At 160 pounds, Hayden Krein advanced to state for the third time with three pins in three matches. All three of his pins were in the first period. He pinned Holmen’s Kalyn Jahn in 1:57 to win their third meeting of the year. Krein had previously defeated Jahn by decision in the finals at Bi-State and in the finals at Regionals one week ago.
For Blake Brooks, Kyle Erickson and David Hayes, their shot at a trip to the state tournament will have to wait another year. Brooks and Hayes both fell in their opening matches with Brooks losing a 7-6 nailbiter. Hayes ran up against one of the top wrestlers in the state in his opening 138-pound match in Sauk Prairie’s Drew Fjoser. Erickson won his opening round match before falling to MVC opponents Tanner Schultz from Holmen and Jacob Obert from Central. Both Hayes and Erickson will be seniors next year while Brooks will be a junior.
At 170 pounds, Matt Fahning dropped his opening round match to conclude his senior season with a 29-12 record. Thank you for all your hard work over the years and dedication to the Spartan wrestling program.
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Winchel became the third Spartan wrestler to qualify for the state tournament all four years.
State Tournament Matchups
Sparta will have their work cut out for them in the opening rounds at the state tournament. At 113 pounds, Jon Bailey will face off against Kenosha Bradford/Reuther’s Cole Ramos (44-4) before likely facing top-ranked and defending state champion Brady Koontz of Stevens Point. At 145 pounds, Jaden Winchel kicks off against Germantown’s Waymon McNeal (43-2). If he wins, he likely has 2nd-ranked Garrett Model of Stoughton (43-5).
At 152 pounds, Von Ruden opens up against Waukesha West’s Shane Gantz (38-1). And at 160 pounds, Hayden Krein will wrestle Kenosha Bradford/Reuther’s Jake Deates (35-3). On the same side of the bracket as Krein is his 2016 152-pound state final opponent Tyler Dow of Stoughton (48-2). There is a lot that could happen, but that could be a Friday-night matchup as both Krein and Dow are ranked 1-2 by Wisconsin Wrestling Online.
Be sure to follow the Sparta Wrestling Facebook page for the latest results and details about how Spartan wrestlers are doing. You can also follow along on Trackwrestling. Just so everyone knows, it’s Mike Montgomery who is putting in the time and effort updating the Facebook page during the tournament. Be sure to thank him when you have a chance.
Rare company
Don’t take for granted the success of Sparta’s individual wrestlers. It is unprecedented in program history. Winchel is Sparta’s third four-time qualifier joining John Roddick and Brock Polhamus in that exclusive club. Von Ruden and Krein are the 9th and 10th three-time state qualifiers. Bailey has qualified for two state tournaments in two years and looks to be on pace to join the three-time and four-time club if he keeps wrestling like he does.
There have been hundreds upon hundreds of wrestlers to pass through this program and it might be easy to take for granted all the recent team and individual success, but history shows this recent trend is special, which means we should not overlook how great these individuals and teams have been. A lot of that is owed to their natural talent and hard work, but the support of coaches, parents, the school, fans and the city cannot be overlooked. Everybody has a hand in helping this team and these individuals reach this level.
Congrats to Jon, Jaden, Brett and Hayden on qualifying for state and to Blake, Kyle, David and Matt for advancing to sectionals. We will have a state tournament viewing guide, interview with the qualifiers and more to come this week in advance of the state tournament kicking off on Thursday.
Full sectional results are below…
106 – Blake Brooks (28-13) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Championship Bracket – Guillermo Tellez (Madison Memorial) 11-4 won by decision over Blake Brooks (Sparta) 28-13 (Dec 7-6)
113 – Jon Bailey (35-5) placed 1st and scored 21.50 team points.
Championship Bracket – Jon Bailey (Sparta) 35-5 won by fall over Jesus Quechol Ramirez (Middleton) 10-18 (Fall 0:28)
Championship Bracket – Jon Bailey (Sparta) 35-5 won by tech fall over Rylee Rensberry (Holmen) 25-10 (TF-1.5 4:13 (15-0))
1st Place Match – Jon Bailey (Sparta) 35-5 won by decision over Dylan Herbrand (Sauk Prairie) 39-7 (Dec 7-0)
132 – Kyle Erickson (25-17) placed 4th and scored 8.00 team points.
Championship Bracket – Kyle Erickson (Sparta) 25-17 won by fall over Kyle Johnson (Sauk Prairie) 23-16 (Fall 5:04)
Championship Bracket – Tanner Schultz (Holmen) 35-5 won by major decision over Kyle Erickson (Sparta) 25-17 (MD 12-1)
3rd Place Match – Jacob Obert (La Crosse Central) 25-10 won by decision over Kyle Erickson (Sparta) 25-17 (Dec 8-4)
138 – David Hayes (24-12) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Championship Bracket – Drew Fjoser (Sauk Prairie) 33-4 won by fall over David Hayes (Sparta) 24-12 (Fall 1:48)
145 – Jaden Winchel (38-3) placed 2nd and scored 19.00 team points.
Championship Bracket – Jaden Winchel (Sparta) 38-3 won by fall over Damian Benitez (Middleton) 11-9 (Fall 5:04)
Championship Bracket – Jaden Winchel (Sparta) 38-3 won by fall over Bryce Bierman (Reedsburg Area) 17-18 (Fall 4:36)
1st Place Match – Jaden Van Maanen (La Crosse Central) 45-0 won by major decision over Jaden Winchel (Sparta) 38-3 (MD 18-6)
2nd Place Match – Jaden Winchel (Sparta) 38-3 won by major decision over Ben Statz (Waunakee) 35-14 (MD 9-1)
152 – Brett Von Ruden (29-12) placed 2nd and scored 14.00 team points.
Championship Bracket – Brett Von Ruden (Sparta) 29-12 won by major decision over Jacob Hendrix (Madison La Follette) 25-18 (MD 9-0)
Championship Bracket – Nate Lorenz (Waunakee) 42-2 won in sudden victory – 1 over Brett Von Ruden (Sparta) 29-12 (SV-1 6-4)
3rd Place Match – Brett Von Ruden (Sparta) 29-12 won by decision over Casey Curran (Tomah) 30-11 (Dec 6-5)
2nd Place Match – Brett Von Ruden (Sparta) 29-12 won in sudden victory – 1 over Bryant Schaaf (Sauk Prairie) 25-13 (SV-1 3-1)
160 – Hayden Krein (32-1) placed 1st and scored 24.00 team points.
Championship Bracket – Hayden Krein (Sparta) 32-1 won by fall over Harrison Schreiber (Madison West) 16-25 (Fall 1:33)
Championship Bracket – Hayden Krein (Sparta) 32-1 won by fall over Brady Fry (Reedsburg Area) 30-17 (Fall 1:07)
1st Place Match – Hayden Krein (Sparta) 32-1 won by fall over Kalyn Jahn (Holmen) 40-8 (Fall 1:57)
170 – Matt Fahning (29-12) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Championship Bracket – Preston Webster (Waunakee) 31-11 won by fall over Matt Fahning (Sparta) 29-12 (Fall 3:10)
