Spartans win Lancaster Invitational

David Hayes is a happy man and so are the Spartans after they dominated the Lancaster Invitational.

With 201.5 points, the Spartan wrestling team won the Lancaster Invitational Saturday topping second place and D3 7th-ranked Iowa-Grant/Highland by 49 points.  Leading the way for the Spartans were champions Jaden Winchel, Hayden Krein and Austin Zwiefel.  Also advancing to the championship matches, but finishing second were Jakob Larson, Jon Bailey, Cole Clark and Brett Von Ruden.  All in all, half the weight classes featured Spartans in the finals.

Jaden Winchel wrestled a total of two minutes and 50 seconds in his three matches. His longest match was his first of the day that ended via pin in 1:48.  That was followed by a 34-second pin of Cashton’s Ty Costello.  In the finals, Winchel pinned Brodhead’s Kaleb Erb in 28 seconds.

At 160 pounds, Hayden Krein won his first match via 32-second pin and his second-match via 18-3 technical fall over Cashton’s Gabe Anderson.  His finals match ended in a 5-2 decision over Iowa’s D2 9th-ranked Kolton Bartow of Dubuque Wahlert.

Austin Zwiefel won the 195-pound bracket.

At 195 pounds, Austin Zwiefel started off his championship day by picking up a pin in 1:33 to open the tournament followed by an 8-4 decision over Lancaster’s Caden Straka.  In the finals, Zwiefel was physically beating his kid when during a crossface, Dubuque Wahlert’s Declan Duffy bit Zwiefel leading to his disqualification.

Sparta’s five runner-ups ran headfirst into some very tough competition.  At 113, Jakob Larson fell by pin in 3:19 to D2 top-ranked Isaac Wiegel of Belmont/Platteville.  At 120 pounds, Jon Bailey fell 5-3 to D3 top-ranked Sawyer Sarbacker of Iowa-Grant/Highland.  Making his varsity tournament debut at 138 pounds, Cole Clark pinned the top seed in his first match before falling in the finals to Dubuque Senior’s Matt Connolly.  At 152 pounds, Brett Von Ruden lost a wild 14-12 decision to D3 second-ranked Max Maylor of Iowa-Grant/Highland.

A little bit of information about Bailey’s loss.  Between this year and last year, Bailey has a combined eight losses.  In those eight losses, none have been by more than three.  He’s lost by one point three times, two points three times and three points twice.  And how good are the guys he has lost to?

• Riley Blair (Fennimore)  –  2016 D3 state runner-up at 120, 2015 D3 3rd place finisher at 106
• Brandon Klein (Stoughton)  –  2016 D1 113-pound state qualifier, ranked 2nd at 132 this year
• Dylan Koontz (Stevens Point)  –  2016 D1 113-pound state champion, ranked 1st at 120 pounds in D1 this year
• Mason Phillips (Eau Claire North)  –  2016 D1 4th-place finisher at 113, 2015 D1 113-pound 5th place finisher, ranked 2nd at 126-pounds in D1 this year
• Dominic Dentino (Arrowhead)  –  2016 D1 106-pound state runner-up, ranked 2nd at 113 pounds in D1 this year
• Eric Barnett (Hortonville)  –  2016 D1 106-pound 3rd-place finisher, ranked 1st at 106 pounds in D1 this year
• Sawyer Hamilton (Ellsworth)  –  ranked 6th at 120 pounds in D2 this year
• Bryce Bosman (Luxemburg-Casco)  –  2016 D2 106-pound state champion, ranked 1st at 120 pounds in D2 this year
• Sawyer Sarbacker (Iowa-Grant/Highland)  –  two-time D3 state qualifier and 2016 Bi-State 120-pound champion, ranked 1st at 120 pounds in D3 this year

There are no moral victories in losses, but it was something that kept popping up in the back of my head that all of his losses were extremely close and all the guys he lost to were extremely good.

Back to Lancaster.  Other top finishers for the Spartans included Blake Brooks finishing 3rd at 106, Kyle Erickson 3rd at 132, Matt Fahning 4th at 170 and Garet Pfaff 6th at 220.  Summarized results are below…

106  –  Blake Brooks, 3rd Place, 3-1 with two pins and a technical fall
113  –  Jakob Larson, 2nd Place, 2-1 with two pins
120  –  Jon Bailey, 2nd Place, 2-1 with a pin and a technical fall
132  –  Kyle Erickson, 3rd Place, 3-1 with a pin
138  –  Cole Clark, 2nd Place, 2-1 with a pin
145  –  Jaden Winchel, 1st Place, 3-0 with three pins
152  –  Brett Von Ruden, 2nd Place, 2-1 with two technical falls
160  –  Hayden Krein, 1st Place, 3-0 with a pin and a technical fall
170  –  Matt Fahning, 4th Place, 2-2 with two pins
182  –  James Gann, Did Not Place, 0-3
195  –  Austin Zwiefel, 1st Place, 3-0 with a pin
220  –  Garet Pfaff, 6th Place, 1-3

Team Scores:

1. Sparta 201.5
2. Iowa-Grant/Highland 152.5
3. Darlington 118.5
4. Cashton 101
5. Dubuque Wahlert 101
6. Brodhead 92.5
7. Lancaster 92
8. Dubuque Senior 87.5
9. Belmont/Platteville 51
10. Boscobel 46.5
11. Madison West 45
12. Cuba City 36
13. Parkview 22
14. River Ridge/Cassville 22

The Spartans are off until Tuesday when they head to Onalaska to face the Hilltoppers.  Congrats Sparta on bringing home your first tournament team title of the season.  Full match-by-match results from Lancster are below…

106 – Blake Brooks (16-7) placed 3rd and scored 17.50 team points.
Quarterfinal – Blake Brooks (Sparta) 16-7 won by fall over Dylan Digman (Dubuque Wahlert) 9-8 (Fall 2:26)
Semifinal – Isaac Cretsinger (Dubuque Senior) 16-6 won by decision over Blake Brooks (Sparta) 16-7 (Dec 5-4)
Cons. Semi – Blake Brooks (Sparta) 16-7 won by fall over Tristen Gilbertson (Belmont/Platteville) 7-6 (Fall 3:34)
3rd Place Match – Blake Brooks (Sparta) 16-7 won by tech fall over Dylan Digman (Dubuque Wahlert) 9-8 (TF-1.5 0:00 (15-0))

113 – Jakob Larson (11-9) placed 2nd and scored 20.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Jakob Larson (Sparta) 11-9 won by fall over Russell Waeffler (Brodhead) 15-5 (Fall 0:42)
Semifinal – Jakob Larson (Sparta) 11-9 won by fall over Alec Zimmer (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 10-9 (Fall 2:47)
1st Place Match – Isaac Wiegel (Belmont/Platteville) 22-2 won by fall over Jakob Larson (Sparta) 11-9 (Fall 3:19)

120 – Jon Bailey (18-3) placed 2nd and scored 19.50 team points.
Quarterfinal – Jon Bailey (Sparta) 18-3 won by fall over Andrew McCarville (Lancaster) 3-10 (Fall 1:18)
Semifinal – Jon Bailey (Sparta) 18-3 won by tech fall over Cayden Milz (Darlington) 8-2 (TF-1.5 0:00 (17-1))
1st Place Match – Sawyer Sarbacker (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 20-1 won by decision over Jon Bailey (Sparta) 18-3 (Dec 5-3)

132 – Kyle Erickson (15-7) placed 3rd and scored 14.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Kyle Erickson (Sparta) 15-7 won by fall over Ben Ryan (Madison West) 7-7 (Fall 1:20)
Semifinal – Kolbe Ubersox (Darlington) 8-1 won by tech fall over Kyle Erickson (Sparta) 15-7 (TF-1.5 0:00 (15-0))
Cons. Semi – Kyle Erickson (Sparta) 15-7 won by decision over C.J. Lange (Dubuque Wahlert) 10-7 (Dec 9-3)
3rd Place Match – Kyle Erickson (Sparta) 15-7 won by decision over Dakota Frazier (Boscobel) 11-9 (Dec 7-0)

138 – Cole Clark (2-2) placed 2nd and scored 18.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Cole Clark (Sparta) 2-2 won by fall over Hunter Bredeson (Darlington) 8-3 (Fall 3:15)
Semifinal – Cole Clark (Sparta) 2-2 won by decision over Collin Lull (Lancaster) 13-9 (Dec 13-6)
1st Place Match – Matt Connolly (Dubuque Senior) 18-3 won by fall over Cole Clark (Sparta) 2-2 (Fall 3:00)

145 – Jaden Winchel (20-1) placed 1st and scored 26.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Jaden Winchel (Sparta) 20-1 won by fall over Adam Runde (Dubuque Senior) 1-9 (Fall 1:48)
Semifinal – Jaden Winchel (Sparta) 20-1 won by fall over Ty Costello (Cashton) 9-7 (Fall 0:34)
1st Place Match – Jaden Winchel (Sparta) 20-1 won by fall over Kaleb Erb (Brodhead) 18-3 (Fall 0:28)

152 – Brett Von Ruden (16-6) placed 2nd and scored 19.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Brett Von Ruden (Sparta) 16-6 won by tech fall over Nathan Siegwarth (Dubuque Senior) 8-13 (TF-1.5 0:00 (25-10))
Semifinal – Brett Von Ruden (Sparta) 16-6 won by tech fall over Byron Brown (Parkview) 10-6 (TF-1.5 0:00 (17-2))
1st Place Match – Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 20-1 won by decision over Brett Von Ruden (Sparta) 16-6 (Dec 14-12)

160 – Hayden Krein (20-1) placed 1st and scored 23.50 team points.
Quarterfinal – Hayden Krein (Sparta) 20-1 won by fall over Harrison Schreiber (Madison West) 2-10 (Fall 0:32)
Semifinal – Hayden Krein (Sparta) 20-1 won by tech fall over Gabe Anderson (Cashton) 12-10 (TF-1.5 0:00 (18-3))
1st Place Match – Hayden Krein (Sparta) 20-1 won by decision over Kolton Bartow (Dubuque Wahlert) 10-5 (Dec 5-2)

170 – Matt Fahning (16-6) placed 4th and scored 14.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Matt Fahning (Sparta) 16-6 won by fall over Jayden Alderson (Boscobel) 5-8 (Fall 1:26)
Semifinal – Zach Kemp (Dubuque Wahlert) 13-4 won by decision over Matt Fahning (Sparta) 16-6 (Dec 5-3)
Cons. Semi – Matt Fahning (Sparta) 16-6 won by fall over Sam Johnson (Madison West) 8-7 (Fall 4:48)
3rd Place Match – Noah Flock (Cashton) 15-6 won by decision over Matt Fahning (Sparta) 16-6 (Dec 10-8)

182 – James Gann (11-9) place is unknown and scored 2.00 team points.
Prelim – James Gann (Sparta) 11-9 won by fall over Jackson Mozena (Madison West) 3-9 (Fall 1:38)
Quarterfinal – Drew Hennessey (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 13-7 won by fall over James Gann (Sparta) 11-9 (Fall 1:22)
Cons. Round 1 – Troy Klein (Lancaster) 11-8 won by fall over James Gann (Sparta) 11-9 (Fall 4:23)

195 – Austin Zwiefel (16-6) placed 1st and scored 24.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Austin Zwiefel (Sparta) 16-6 won by fall over Clint Havlik (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 8-11 (Fall 1:33)
Semifinal – Austin Zwiefel (Sparta) 16-6 won by decision over Caden Straka (Lancaster) 16-7 (Dec 8-4)
1st Place Match – Austin Zwiefel (Sparta) 16-6 won by disqualification over Declan Duffy (Dubuque Wahlert) 13-3 (DQ)

220 – Garet Pfaff (6-12) placed 6th and scored 4.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Trent Davis (Brodhead) 12-10 won by decision over Garet Pfaff (Sparta) 6-12 (Dec 3-2)
Cons. Round 1 – Garet Pfaff (Sparta) 6-12 won by decision over Cole Zenz (Lancaster) 3-11 (Dec 2-0)
Cons. Semi – Fransisco Garcia (Cuba City) 5-6 won by decision over Garet Pfaff (Sparta) 6-12 (Dec 3-0)
5th Place Match – Hunter Thoma (Dubuque Senior) 3-3 won by injury default over Garet Pfaff (Sparta) 6-12 (Inj. 0:00)