Tomah left regionals with six individual champions along with four runner-ups and 11 sectional qualifiers to win the team title over Sparta by 30 points. Sparta wound up with two individual champions, five runner-ups and 12 sectional qualifiers.
Sparta’s Jared Rickert and Jeff Dolan led the way winning titles at 140 and 152 pounds respectively. Michael Jacobsen, Trevor Hutson and Kevin Schmitz all advanced to the finals before losing close matches. All three easily won their wrestlebacks. Colin Burns-Gilbert capped off a nice day of wrestling winning his wrestleback match for second place in overtime at 135 pounds. Since dropping to 135 pounds, Burns-Gilbert is 8-2 during this week’s Regional and last week’s MVC/Coulee Tournament.
Full team results can be found below:
103 – Derek McDonald, 3rd Place, 2-1 with a pin and tech fall
112 – Adam Simpson, 3rd Place, 2-1 with a major decision
119 – Aaron Kast, 4th Place, 1-2
125 – Jenna Ahnen, 4th Place, 2-2 with a pin
130 – Matt Tourdot, 3rd Place, 2-2
135 – Colin Burns-Gilbert, 2nd Place, 3-1
140 – Jared Rickert, 1st Place, 3-0 with a pin and tech fall
145 – Jordan Stanek, 6th Place, 1-2
152 – Jeff Dolan, 1st Place, 3-0 with a major decision
160 – Seth Harelson, 5th Place, 2-2 with two pins
171 – Michael Jacobsen, 2nd Place, 2-1 with two pins
189 – Trevor Hutson, 2nd Place, 3-1 with two pins
215 – Quincy Degenhardt, 2nd Place, 3-1 with two pins
285 – Kevin Schmitz, 2nd Place, 3-1 with a pin and a major decision
The day was marked by a number of controversial calls. Mr. Controversy himself, Quincy Degenhardt, found himself on the receiving end of two of those. One such call in the quarterfinals was simply the result of a lot of action happening so fast that the referee was unable to get all the calls out much to the dismay and disagreement of Tomah fans.
The second call happened when Degenhardt was rolling a guy and in the process of the roll the official called a pin. It appeared as if the motion of the roll was never broken and if any shoulders were flat, it wasn’t a hair past the two seconds required. To the surprise of everyone in the gym except the official himself, the match ended with Degenhardt claiming a first period pin.
Below is an image of the shocked Mark Knapmiller of Holmen after the strange call.
With Tomah’s team title, they will move onto Team Sectionals Tuesday at Portage to face DeForest. Sparta will wrestle Saturday at DeForest with the top two placewinners in each weight class advancing to the State Tournament.
Congratulations to every member of the Sparta Wrestling Team for a fine season. You have been one of the best wrestling teams in our wrestling history. We have 12 wrestlers to the sectionals. Lets hope we can get 12 wrestlers to the state tournament.
To the seniors you have shown outstanding leadership and a willingness to win. All of you should be very proud of how you conducted yourself as team leaders.
Jenna, you’ve been an inspiration to all female athletes. We sincerely hope other young women decide to give wrestling try. We wish you the best in the very near future both on the mat and on the softball diamond.
Good luck in Deforest! We look forward to each of you getting to the next level!
Rick Brohmer
Sparta will get them next year!!!!