Postseason wrestling is off to a wild start, with Ellsworth taking fourth place as a team at Individual Sectionals to advance to Team Sectionals, six boys qualifying for Individual State and six girls helping Pierce County dominate the girls Hudson Regional.

“We gutted it out. Got some victories there at the end that we needed for us to be able to move on,” Ellsworth Head Coach Carson Huppert said. “Now we’ve just got to show up next weekend.”

Ellsworth had leaned on its depth all season long, which shined on the main stage at the Osseo-Fairchild Sectional. The Panthers saw 10 wrestlers place in the top seven out of the seven out of the 14 weight classes. Those placements were Hunter Bench winning at 113, Parker Lampman taking third at 106, Sawyer Van Horn third at 215, Brycen Streich fourth at 132, Matthew Lundstrom fourth at 165, Breken Young fourth at 190, Hunter Halverson fifth at 175, EJ Langer sixth at 120, Jace Anderson sixth at 126 and Henry Penn seventh at 150.

Bench, a sophomore for the Panthers, had a bit of a scare in the quarterfinals, narrowly beating Prescott freshman Adyn Allsop 9-7, but secured a pin in the semifinals and tech fall in the finals to etch his name into the State bracket. Bench is 26-11 this season, playing a key role in the Ellsworth lineup as an underclassman.

“He wrestled very well. He showed up when the lights were shining,” Huppert said. “He had a little first round scare, and he just pushed, wrestled through that.”

Team Sectionals is Saturday in Black River Falls, where Ellsworth’s first dual will come against Regis/Altoona.

“Sometimes you get that added pressure because it’s just them. There’s no one to back you up if you were to fail,” Huppert said of Individual Sectionals. “When it’s time to shine in a dual meet setting, they tend to wrestle a little bit better… They lay it all on the line for their teammates and friends.”

Prescott was also in Osseo-Fairchild, taking 11th as a team. Freshman 106-pounder Bryce Feran took second to qualify for State. Senior Luke Maier just missed the cut at 157 with a third-place finish.

“Bryce has an incredible work ethic and drive for success. He is a true leader on and off the mat. That’s great to see coming from a freshman. He learns so much from every opportunity. Right now he is wrestling better than he has all year, that’s been the goal. Improve everyday and take advantage of the opportunities in front of you. The State tournament is almost here and Bryce is ready for it,” Prescott Head Coach Nick Zajac said.

The Cardinals had a youth movement this season, with five freshmen competing at Sectionals. They became better and better as the year went on, but they are not halting the steady improvement during the offseason.

“We had guys wrestle very well, some came up a little short. Whatever the outcome was, everyone on the team was in each other’s corner the entire day. This is a team that pushes each other and is there for each other. They have shown all year long that they are only getting better. This is a sign of what’s coming. We are a resilient young team, and they are putting in the time needed to be successful,” Zajac said.

In Independence/Gilmanton, Spring Valley/Elmwood took fifth as a team to narrowly miss out on Team Sectional qualification. Top five finishers were Asher Turner (first at 165), Jack Steinmeyer (first at 215), Doost Kaker (third at 157), Tyler Vanasse (third at 285), Landon Forster (fourth at 126), Sam Schmitt (fourth at 144) and Austin Fesenmaier (fifth at 113). Turner, a junior, and Steinmeyer, a senior, booked trips to State.

“Having two individual champions in Asher Turner and Jack Steinmeyer means a great deal to our team. It reflects the commitment they have shown all season and gives our entire program something to take pride in. Their success sets the bar for everyone in the room and shows what can be accomplished with consistency and belief. Sending those two to State brings confidence to our team and gives our younger wrestlers clear examples of what the standard looks like,” SVE Head Coach Ryan Turner said.

SVE had a big year, getting back to a full lineup and toppling some significantly larger schools along the way.

“This was an important season for us getting back to a full lineup and competing at a high level, but we do not see it as a destination. Unfortunately, losing Austin Krentz, one of our best wrestlers and a senior captain, to a season ending injury certainly impacted our ability to place even higher as a team. At the same time, this season showed us what we are capable of when we commit to the process. The focus moving forward is to build depth, continue developing our wrestlers, and raise our standards every day so this year becomes a foundation for continued growth rather than a stopping point,” Turner said.

River Falls took eighth at the Menomonie Sectional, with junior Jacob Hutchins winning the 190 bracket and junior Oliver Larson placing second in the 132 bracket to qualify for State. The Wildcats also saw strong placements from Waylon Deaton in third at 126, Brexton Hoernke taking third at 150 and Rieder Loomis taking fourth at 144.

“Oliver and Jacob had great showings over the weekend. To make it through our Sectional is a big deal, they did what they have done all year and took each match as its own. In the post-season it doesn't matter what it looks like, you just need to find a way to win and move on (it takes what it takes). I think they are both in positions to have success at the State Tournament and I am excited to watch them,” River Falls Head Coach Cam Loomis said.

While seeing the team season come to an end is always difficult, the Wildcats have a lot to look forward to in the road ahead.

“We will return every starter we had from the Sectional tournament and everyone on our roster but one. We had a lot of new faces in the lineup this year and they learned as the season went on.  As the season came to a close you could see them learning what it took to win and how they needed to compete. Now that our team is done for the year, we will flip the page and prepare for next year which should create some excitement with everyone coming back,” Loomis said.

While boys wrestling goes directly into Sectionals, the girls competed at Regionals on Friday. Each county team sent girls to compete in Hudson, with SVE’s freshman Delia Larson (185), River Falls’ junior Olivia Luther (100) and sophomore Providence Kretzmann (145), and Prescott’s senior Addy Allsop (114), freshman Alina Bauman (152) and sophomore Savannah Whiting (235) each winning their brackets.

River Falls, Prescott and SVE will each send their champions to Friday’s Sectional at Ladysmith.

Individual State for both the boys and girls is Feb. 26-28 at the Kohl Center.