All five high schools within Pierce County sent at least one wrestler to the WIAA Individual State Wrestling Tournament in Madison, which began on Thursday, Feb. 24, and concluded late in the afternoon on Saturday, Feb. 26.

In total, the five high schools – and four wrestling teams – had eight student-athletes qualified for the state tournament. River Falls sent four, including Travis Moelter at 113 pounds, Tyler Haydon at 160, Gavin Kohel at 182 and Vito Massa at 285. Ellsworth sent two, including Ivan Veenendall and Anthony Madsen. Prescott sent senior Sam Murphy and Spring Valley/Elmwood sent senior Max Schmitt.

Half of the wrestlers going to state from Pierce County were a product of Kevin Black’s River Falls High School wrestling program. Two of them, Moelter and Haydon, lost in the first round. Moelter lost a 2-1 decision to Luke Kamish of New Richmond and Haydon lost a 7-2 decision to Judah Hammen of Kaukauna. Coach Black spoke about their losses in the opening round.

“They were tough first-round matches for both of them,” Black said. “We knew they were going to have to wrestle really well and be really prepared. The lights were big, the moment was big, and neither of them wrestled up to their ability levels.”

Black stated that Haydon figured out the pressure and the emotion too late and that Moelter had the nerves get the best of him. For Moelter, a first-round loss was nothing to be ashamed of. He had a brutal road just to qualify for the state tournament, which included being plagued by injury throughout the last two months of the season.

“The adversity that he overcame just to get to the state tournament, I mean, he broke his arm in January,” Black said. “He stayed focused, kept his weight under control and did all of those things. But when he got back on that mat, he wasn’t 100%. Not being (fully healthy) I think messed with his thought process going down there.”

While Moelter and Haydon were firstround exits, both Kohel and Massa won their opening matches and continued into the second round of the tournament. In the first round, Kohel advanced via pinfall over Caleb Rysewyk of Nicolet. Kohel secured a 4-1 decision victory over Ashton Fischer of Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln.

Kohel’s tournament came to an end in the semi-final round against Connor Mirasola of West Bend West, the wrestler who went on to win the 182-pound state championship on Saturday afternoon.

Massa cruised through his bracket and ended up winning the 285-pound state championship over Griffin Empey of Stoughton. Massa was the only wrestler from Pierce County to bring home a state championship this season.

Ellsworth, Prescott, and Spring Valley/ Elmwood results The Ellsworth Panthers sent the aforementioned Veenendall and Madsen to state in the Division 2 brackets of 160 and 170 pounds respectively. Veenendall won his first match of the tournament against Breylin Goebel of Darlington in a 10-5 decision. In the secondround match, Veenendall lost to Braeden Scoles of Kewaskum, who went into the match with a perfect 54-0 record and ended up winning the state championship.

As for Madsen, he had stiff competition in the 170-pound bracket. He lost his first-round matchup against Brandon Meister of Spooner/Webster. After the tournament, Ellsworth wrestling head coach Mark Matzek spoke about the competition and the experience in Madison.

“Wrestling at the state tournament is an unparalleled experience,” Matzek said. “Veenendall and Madsen were able to compete in the middle of the Kohl Center in front of thousands of people. Madsen had a tough firstround opponent whom he had just lost to at sectionals.”

While Madsen had a tough draw in the opening round of the tournament, he helped Veenendall prepare for the rest of his matches over the weekend. Matzek spoke about Veenendall and his career as an Ellsworth wrestler.

“Ivan’s wrestling career is a great story,” Matzek said. “He started wrestling in eighth grade. His first year on varsity was last year and he had a .500 record for the season. His hard work and mindset paid off for him (this year). He had 35 wins and placed in the state tournament.”

According to Matzek, Veenendall’s road to state wasn’t easy. He defeated three opponents at the regional and sectional tournaments that he had previously lost to. He also conquered the #2 ranked wrestler in the state in the truewrestleback match at sectionals. Matzek made one final comment about Veenendall’s career.

“His work ethic, coupled with his belief in his coaches, provided him the self-confidence to etch his name in the wall of our wrestling room,” Matzek said.

Prescott also sent a wrestler to state in Cardinal senior Sam Murphy, who competed in the Division 2 bracket as a 152-pounder. It was Murphy’s first time qualifying for the state wrestling tournament. Prescott head coach Jordan Poirier spoke about Murphy’s qualification.

“This has been his goal since the start of last season,” Poirier said. “He came really close last year after placing third at sectionals. This was his first trip to the state tournament.”

Last season he came within one place of going to state. In any other season, he would have made it last year. Typically, the top four in each sectional go to state as individuals. However, because of COVID-19, the WIAA only sent the top two from each bracket.

That made this 2021-22 season Murphy’s first state appearance. In his first match of the tournament, Murphy wrestled Owen Wasley of Saint Croix Central. The match went the distance, and in the end, Wasley secured a last-second 8-7 victory over Murphy.

The last school that sent a wrestler to state was Spring Valley/Elmwood, which sent senior Max Schmitt in the Division 3 bracket of 152 pounds. Schmitt got pinned in just under four minutes by Will Bieber of Coleman. Spring Valley/Elmwood wrestling head coach Gable Frandsen spoke about Schmitt’s first state appearance in his senior season.

“All of us coaches knew Max (Schmitt) had the ability to qualify for the state tournament, but we also knew that he had to wrestle very well to achieve it,” Frandsen said. “Max qualified for the state tournament by beating Cody Wagner from Mondovi in the semi-finals of the sectional tournament.”

According to Frandsen, Schmitt had wrestled Wagner twice throughout the regular-season competition. In those matches, Schmitt and Wagner split, with Wagner winning the first meeting and Schmitt winning the second encounter. Their third meeting at sectionals was a 3-2 victory where Schmitt punched his ticket to the state tournament.

While wrestlers from Pierce County had a variety of results, all of the teams sent at least one wrestler to the state tournament. Whether it was a first-round exit or a state championship, teams from Pierce County had successful wrestling seasons.

River Falls junior Gavin Kohel wrestles against Ashton Fischer of Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln in the second round of the 182-pound Division 1 Individual State Wrestling Tournament bracket. Photo by John McLoone

Ellsworth senior Ivan Veenendall grapples during the 2021-22 WIAA Individual State Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 26, at the Kohl Center in Madison. Photo by John McLoone