The Spartans have faced their fair share of top competition this year. They wrestled Minnesota’s Simley, one of the top teams in the country in mid-January at the Bob Swalla Memorial Duals in Kasson-Mantorville earlier this year. They followed that dual by taking the top ranked team in Minnesota Class A, Jackson County Central, to the wire in a 35-27 loss. In the opening round of the WIAA team state tournament, the Spartans would see more of that competition.
Facing arguably the best team in Wisconsin, Sparta fell 56-12 to the 46th ranked team in the country in Luxemburg-Casco (LC). LC defeated the division one state team champions, Wisconsin Rapids, in a dual earlier in the season. After the dual with Sparta, LC went on to defeat Ellsworth 41-13 in the team state finals.
Two of the bright spots for the Spartans in the dual against LC were Dylan Winchel and Brock Polhamus’ pins for the Spartans. The win for Dylan was his 48th of the year, which tied him for second all-time with Jordan Stanek for most wins in a single season. Winchel was two wins short of Matt Tourdot’s record mark of 50.
With the loss to LC, the Spartans finish the year with a 20-4 dual record. We’ll be posting a recap of the season along with videos of the entire duals against Evansville/Albany and Lodi from team sectionals. Lots on top here in the next week.
Congrats Spartans on a great season! You’ve overcome two straight years of losses at team sectionals and now the work begins to maintain what was accomplished this year and to continue to improve going forward. With the support that was shown this year and the talent returning, there is no reason this cannot continue for a long time!
What an awesome ride this year. There were so many unknowns coming into the year. Great job by the coaches and wrestlers in responding to every challenge. Proud to be a fan of Sparta Wrestling!!