By Reagan Hoverman

To say that it has been a successful year for high school wrestlers in Pierce County likely wouldn’t do the studentathletes justice. In total, all five high school wrestling teams are sending athletes down to compete in the state wrestling tournament after they all qualified in their respective individual sectional brackets on Saturday, Feb. 19.

The River Falls High School wrestling team is sending the most individuals to state out of any school in Pierce County. The Wildcats had four wrestlers qualify on Saturday morning including junior Travis Moelter at 113, senior Tyler Haydon at 160, junior Gavin Kohel at 182, and senior Vito Massa at 285.

The Wildcat wrestlers competed in the Division 1 Individual Sectional wrestling tournament at the Eau Claire North High School. River Falls head wrestling coach Kevin Black spoke about the tournament and how his athletes competed.

“The last couple of weeks our guys have performed really well,” Black said of his wrestlers. “They performed well at regionals, well at team sectionals, even though we got beat that night, and at individual sectionals. We just wrestled well. It was a lot of really thoughtful planning by the coaching staff. We spent a whole lot of time behind the scenes making sure our guys felt the best.”

According to Black, he and his coaching staff have adjusted how they train athletes as they get further in the postseason wrestling tournaments. In the past, he would continue pushing his kids physically and try to improve them. Now, he makes sure his wrestlers are fully rested and feel fresh going into their matches.

With fresh wrestlers and a lot of talent on the roster, Black sent four individuals to Madison. He spoke about how this is going to be a new experience for those student-athletes.

“Last year was the COVID year, so we weren’t in Madison, and the year before we sent nobody to state,” Black said. “This is new for all of these guys. It’s not new for us as coaches and we’ve got them taken care of, but it’s a new experience for all of them. We’re going to need to appreciate that they’re going to have some big eyes, but we will build into our daily plan and give them some space for that stuff.”

While four wrestlers got to Madison, Black thought that

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there was a chance potentially six or seven individuals from the team could make it to state if they got the right matchups at sectionals or just wrestled really well on that day.

“When we went into individual sectionals, four (qualifiers) looked like a safe predictor,” Black said. “We had three or four others that really believed in it and we believed in them. Whether it was poor matchups or a tough bracket, they weren’t able to get through. Four is a good number, but there are some kids that will be watching from the stands who expected to be there too.”

Black said that while there will be opportunities to enjoy the time in Madison and enjoy the venue, it’s a business trip. The Wildcat wrestlers are going down to Madison to compete at the highest level, not just have a free vacation.

“We’re there to compete,” Black said. “They will go into the arena, compete when they compete and then we leave the arena. We have high expectations for them, and they have high expectations too. We’ve brought people down in the past who just want to check off the box that they were a state qualifier. This group isn’t that. They want to win state titles.”

Prescott senior Sam Murphy qualifies While Prescott’s wrestling program as a whole struggled to overcome injuries this year, a couple of wrestlers stood out and one – senior Sam Murphy – even qualified for the state wrestling tournament in Madison.

Murphy competed in the Division 2 Individual Sectional tournament at Amery on Saturday, Feb. 19. He wrestled in a competitive 152-pound bracket that featured several stateranked wrestlers. Prescott head coach Jordan Poirier spoke about Murphy’s sectional performance.

“Sam (Murphy) had a tough first match with a wrestler who beat him a couple of weeks ago at conference,” Poirier said. “He wrestled him tough and was beating him for most of the match. He ended up winning the next two matches to qualify by pinning and winning 7-1 in the final match.”

Earlier this season at the senior night wrestling meet against Baldwin-Woodville, Murphy spoke about how he wanted to make a run in these wrestling playoffs and by punching his ticket to Madison, he’s done exactly that.

“This has been (Murphy’s) goal since the start of last season,” Poirier said. “He came really close last year after placing third at sectionals. With COVID, they only took the top two. This is his first trip to the state tournament.”

According to Poirier, all of Murphy’s technical wrestling aspects are sound. The biggest thing to get him prepared for the state tournament is to have him mentally prepared.

“The biggest thing this week is being mentally prepared,” Poirier said. “The technique and conditioning are already set in place, but mentally it’s a different type of atmosphere once you’re in the Kohl Center. Mentally coaching him through this week is the best preparation for him.”

Murphy was battling injury at the meet and almost didn’t wrestle after his first loss.

“I was feeling a little dizzy, and one of the assistant coaches told me it was up to me if I kept going. I thought about it and one of my friends told me that I’d always regret it if I stopped right there. It was grat advice,” he said. “This week I’m just going to work hard and see what I can do. I’m looking forward to getting down there and competing.”

While Murphy qualified for state, others came close, including Prescott’s Benny Olson, who competed in the 106-pound bracket against tough competition. Poirier spoke about Olson’s wrestling this season.

“Benny wrestled really well in all four of his matches,” Poirier said. “He had some tough matchups with two kids who ended up being state qualifiers. Overall, this season, he did a lot of positive things. He continually improved every single day and made some tremendous gains throughout the season.”

Ellsworth sends two, Spring Valley/Elmwood sends one The Ellsworth Panthers and Spring Valley/Elmwood wrestling teams are also sending wrestlers down to the state tournament in Madison this weekend. For Ellsworth, the two qualifiers are senior Ivan Veenendall and junior Anthony Madsen.

Both Veenendall and Madsen competed in the Division 2 Sectional wrestling tournament in Amery on Saturday, Feb. 19. Veenendall competed in the 160-pound bracket and Madsen competed in the 170-pound bracket. Ellsworth wrestling head coach Mark Matzek recapped the day. “I was proud of all nine wrestlers who competed on Saturday,” Matzek said. “This team ran into some stiff competition at sectionals. Ivan (Veenendall) and Anthony (Madsen) were able to weather the storm and come out with state berths.”

In addition to the two state qualifiers, Ellsworth had a couple of close calls. William Penn and Louie Jahnke were one place away from state. Matzek said it was hard on them for getting so close and coming up just short. He also spoke about a couple of the seniors who competed on Saturday.

“Captains and seniors Ryan and Ian Matzek had a couple of tough draws,” Mark Matzek said. “They battled tough and finished their careers in a purple singlet.”

While some wrestling careers are over, both Madsen and Veenendall have lofty goals for their continued wrestling postseason experience in Madison. Mark Matzek spoke about them getting to state and the expectations.

“If you would ask me if Veenendall and Madsen are surprises, I would say not at all,” Mark Matzek said. “They’re two of the hardest workers and most dedicated wrestlers in the room. Both of them have the goal of getting on the podium at state. This is the first time for both of them wrestling at the state tournament. There will be some nerves for sure, but both guys need to remember that competing is a celebration. There is nothing more fun or exciting than celebrating this.”

Spring Valley/Elmwood also sends one to state. Max Schmitt of the SV/E wrestling team competed in the Division 3 Sectional wrestling tournament in Saint Croix Falls on Saturday, Feb. 19.

Schmitt competed in the 152-pound bracket and ended up with a third-place finish as an individual. His first match was against James Burhn of Phillips, a match that Schmitt won 17-5. In his second match, Schmitt pinned Cody Wagner of Mondovi.

Schmitt lost to Tristan Drier of Cadott who ended up winning the 152-pound bracket. Schmitt lost an 8-2 decision in the second-place match against Tommy Quinn of Cameron, meaning Schmitt

Prescott senior Sam Murphy has his arm raised in victory after competing in the Division 2 Sectional wrestling tournament in Amery on Saturday, Feb. 19. Photo by John McLoone

River Falls junior Travis Moelter competes in the Division 1 Sectional wrestling tournament at Eau Claire North High School. Moelter was one of four River Falls wrestlers who qualified for the state tournament in Madison later this week.Photo by John McLoone