“He had a tough match in the finals, but he’s down at state for the second time. He has to get two or three wins to put his name on the wall,” said Matzek.

At 220, Anschutz was greeted by a firedup Matzek when he won his third place match to qualify.

“It was fun to see Kyle Anschutz go as a sophomore. It’s tough as a sophomore in these upper weights to get through to the state tournament. It’s very hard to do. I’m proud of Kyle for doing that,” said Matzek.

Peterson won in double overtime with a reversal to advance to the title match.

“Logan Peterson getting some revenge in the finals on that kid that pinned him last week, that was cool to see,” said Matzek.

Overall, Matzek was pleased with his team’s performance.

“The other kids fought hard too. It just wasn’t their year.

“This sectional is tougher than it was when I cam back six years ago, I’ll tell you that. Six years ago when I came back, we had a team very much like this and we qualified eight or nine kids. This Sectional is a whole lot tougher. To move five guys through is an accomplishment.”

As a whole, Ellsworth finished second in points out of the 24 schools represented at the sectional.

At 106, sophomore Eli Rohl competed in one match at the Sectional meet, falling 12-0. At 120, senior Cole Nelson scored a 12-6 decision in round one before falling to eventual champion Blaine Brenner in the semifinals. He won his first consolation match but lost in the battle fir third place.

At 132, Poellinger won his first match and lost his second. He stormed back with two major decisions to claim third place.

At 138, Stuhl had two pins and a major decision to keep his post-season slate perfect.

At 145, junior Braden Matzek lost to the eventual champ in his first match and then lost to another state-qualifier in his first consolation match. At 152, Huppert advanced to the finals with a major decision before losing in the title match. He ended up third overall after losing a second-place wrestle-back.

At 160, sophomore Eli Rohl lost his first match to the eventual champion and fell in his first consolation match to another state qualifier.

At 170, sophomore Ryan Matzek faced the eventual champion in found one and lost a decision. He fell in his first consolation match by an 8-1 decision.

Anschutz, at 220, pinned his first opponent before taking on eventual champ Jake Rau of Medford. Rau won, sending Anschutz to the consolation side of the bracket, where he picked up a 10-3 win in his first match, setting the stage for a fight to get to Madison. Anschutz pinned his way to the Kohl Center in 2:44.

At 285, Peterson worked hard to get to the championship match for that Regional rematch and captured a 5-3 decision to claim the championship.

Photos by John McLoone.

Photo by John McLoone.