4:39 pm — With 313 points, Sparta remains atop the team standings ahead of Lancaster’s 285 points. It’s a two team race now as third place Dubuque Walhert finds itself 112.5 points back of the Spartans with 200.5 points.
Since we last updated you, Dylan Winchel dropped his third place match to Viroqua’s Justin McClelland 11-0, John Roddick won 10-2 over River Ridge/Cassville’s Bart Kluesner, Brock Polhamus was pinned in his final against Lancaster’s Kyle Mezera in 1:14, Tristan Zurfluh won his third place match against Lancaster’s Joe Crosby 12-10, Derek VonRuden defeated Lancaster’s Daniel Rice for 3rd by a score of 5-1 and Paul Vantassel won 5-0 in his third place match against Riverdale’s Carl Portwine, Michael Murnane.
3:15 pm — Sparta now leads Lancaster 297.5 to 271. Dan Dawley won his consolation match over Dubuque Senior’s Mitch Powers by pin in 2:28 while Lancaster’s Curtis Olson pinned Logan Degenhardt in 46 seconds at 220. With 26.5 point separating Sparta and Lancaster, the three matches between the two teams will be critical toward the final team score.
2:55 pm — There are a number of matches between Spartan and Lancaster wrestlers coming up. At 120 pounds, Brock Polhamus meets Kyle Mezera in the finals. At 126 pounds, Tristan Zurfluh will wrestle Joe Crosby. At 132 pounds, Derek VonRuden will wrestle Daniel Rice and at 220, Logan Degenhardt will wrestle Curtis Olson. In Sparta’s 43-24 victory over Lancaster earlier this year at the Reedsburg Dual Invite, VonRuden defeated Rice 7-3.
In further consolation round action, Bob Ragan lost 12-2 to Dubuque Walhert’s Gavin Gremmel while Greg Skon pinned Boscobel’s Jake Groom in 1:43. The wins push Sparta’s team score to 283.5 points to Lancaster’s 248.
2:45 pm — With a perfect consolation round, the Spartans have extended their lead over Lancaster to 274.5 – 241. Since our last update, Tristan Zurfluh won his match 4-0 over Dubuque Senior’s Jordan Petersen, Derek VonRuden pinned Fennimore’s Justin Mulrooney by in 2:02, Paul Vantassel defeated Boscobel’s Logan Jones 4-1, Michael Murnane tech falled Boscobel’s Eric Mindham 21-6 and Toby Mosley beat Dubuque Senior’s Jack Freese 5-0. Robert Ragan, Greg Skon, Dan Dawley and Logan Degenhardt have yet to wrestle their consolation matches this round.
2:27 pm — And like that, the Spartans are in the lead. Sparta now holds a 243-241 advantage over Lancaster as many of the consolation matches play out. Chris Beeler became Sparta’s third finalist with a 3-0 victory over Fennimore’s Ryan Ashmore. Dylan Winchel won his consolation match with a 16 second pin over Ty Davidson of Fennimore. Davidson was no slouch either as he entered the match with Winchel sporting a 17-6 record. Finally, at 113, John Roddick picked up a pin in his consolation match defeating Lancaster’s Tyson Wolf by pin in 1:35.
1:50 pm — Midway through the day, Lancaster holds a solid lead over 2nd place Sparta. Lancaster checks in with 227 points to Sparta’s 194. Dubuque Walhert is third with 161 points.
Brock Polhamus and Kyle Burkhalter are in the finals while Dylan Winchel, John Roddick, Tristan Zurfluh, Derek VonRuden, Paul Vantassel, Michael Murnane and Toby Mosley are all going for third with one loss on the day.
The difference in team scores between Sparta and Lancaster is due partly to Lancaster winning their matches against Sparta. In the semifinals, Lancaster’s Cole Martin defeated Dylan Winchel by pin in 4:48, Trenton Cornell major decisioned Paul Vantassel 11-3 and Ethan Soderstrom defeated Toby Mosley by pin in 1:05. The only Spartan victory against Lancaster today came at 125 in the quarterfinals when Tristan Zurfluh dropped Joe Crosby 11-1. Lancaster also has at least five individuals in the finals. Matches at 220 and 285 have yet to be wrestled. On that token, Chris Beeler has yet to wrestle his semifinal match.
In the finals, Brock Polhamus has Lancaster’s Kyle Mezera (22-1) while Burkhalter has Fennimore’s Logan Chappell (21-3). Sparta has a good chance to make up the gap in points with Lancaster if they fare well in their third place matches.
Sparta has seven guys going for third and Beeler will either be going for third or first depending on his semifinal match. For Lancaster, they have five individuals going for first, another going for third and two more who have yet to wrestler their semifinal matches.
