Tomah captured its third consecutive MVC title Thursday night by defeating Sparta 37-27 on its home mat. Sparta had its chances, but fell short in the end. Seth Harelson lost a back-and-forth match at 171 pounds while Morgan Leis lost a match that was close before getting pinned. It was a tough night for Sparta, but the Spartans were right there and had their chances. Full results are below…
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125 — Derick Johnson decisioned Tyler Von Haden (Tomah) 9-2
130 — Scott Pierce (Tomah) pinned Cody Olson 2:18
135 — Zach Taylor (Tomah) pinned Morgan Leis 4:22
140 — Matt Tourdot pinned Derek Scott (Tomah) 1:58
145 — Jacob McGinnis (Tomah) Nick Anderson 1:43
152 — Joey Organ (Tomah) pinned Jordan Stanek 2:50
160 — Mike Jacobsen decisioned Josh Vollmer (Tomah) 10-3
171 — Dustin Christner (Tomah) decisioned Seth Harelson 7-6
189 — David Pierce (Tomah) decisioned Brandon Amundson 5-1
215 — Kevin Schmitz pinned Darrik Johnson-Reisinger (Tomah) 1:31
285 — Trevor Hutson decisioned Josh Van Gundy (Tomah) 1-0
103 — Kevin Betthauser (Tomah) major decisioned Tom Tourdot 13-3
112 — Derek McDonald pinned Zurik Adler (Tomah) 3:10
119 — Ian Duncan (Tomah) decisioned Adam Simpson 5-1
Final: Tomah 37 – Sparta 27
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Tomah won 8 matches to Sparta’s 6. Tomah also picked up 4 pins to Sparta’s 3. Those differences coupled with Tomah’s ability to pick up a major decision victory at 103 and their one-point victory at 171 made the difference on the night. The Timberwolves’ lineup is pretty solid from top to bottom and it was going to take a near perfect night for Sparta to pull it off and they just about did that. Congrats to the Spartans on their 2nd place finish in the MVC.
Tomah has not lost a conference dual meet since the 2003-04 season. Holmen had a similar run in the MVC from 1993-94 to the 1996-97 season where they went 20-0 in conference action during those four seasons. Tomah’s streak might be more impressive considering the addition of La Crosse Aquinas during the 1997-98 season. Over the past four years, Tomah has gone 24-0 in conference, but my bet is that streak will end next year. Tomah loses a lot of talent to graduation and they will have to face Sparta in Sparta next year.
The loss pushes Sparta’s dual record on the year to 10-4 on the year and 5-1 in conference. Sparta takes one day off before heading back to the mat for Saturday’s MVC/Coulee Tournament. Check back here Saturday night for results from there.
Congrats to Sparta on a great year!
Sparta and Tomah are about as evenly matched teams as you will find in the state of Wisconsin. Although, Tomah won the MVC duel meet championship last night the Spartans have every right to walk with their heads up! The match could have went either way. Tomah’s wrestlers and coaches breathed a sigh of relief narrowly getting by Sparta.
Every wrestler gave it his all last night. Kudos to Derick, Matt, Mike, Kevin and Derek for their awesome wins. Special mention to Trevor for defeating Josh Von Gundy. Trevor handled a much bigger wrestler that would have been a problem for many other heavyweights.
I wish you all continued success at the conference meet in Arcadia. I look forward in seeing you wrestle at the regionals in Sparta. Train hard, wrestle hard and except nothing less than perfection from yourself. Best to you all!
Rick Brohmer