Isaacson, Risler, Zamora represent Area at state wrestliing meet
The Mondovi/Eleva-Strum (MES) boys wrestling team advanced one wrestler to the state tournament in Madison at the Kohl Center this weekend, starting the afternoon Thursday, Feb. 27.
Sophomore Aiden Isaacson (44-7) fought his way back from a semifinal loss at 285 pounds to qualify in Division 2 from the Amery Sectional last Saturday, Feb. 22 by first beating Matea Garcia (4-7) of Baldwin-Woodville with a pinfall in :22 seconds, then outlasting Lakeland's Tyrone Moore (17-14) for a 1-0 decision in the third place match.
While Isaacson fell in the second place match by a close 4-3 score to St. Croix Falls' Logan Brockman (45-3), he still will be wrestling starting this Thursday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. in Madison with his first round opponent, as a No. 9 seed is No. 8 seeded sophomore Jackson Meyer of Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal (42-12). The winner gets No. 1 seed Hunter Vander Heiden of Freedom (55-1) in the quarterfinals Thursday night starting at 8 p.m.
Blaine Severson (12-4) almost made it the same way Isaacson did. The MES senior won is first match over Wyatt Karl of Spencer/Marshfield Columbus by fall in 3:01. He then lost in the semifinals to Joe Petherbridge of SCF in 1:27, won his consolation semifinal match against Spooner/Webster's James Nauertz in 2:16 but lost in the third place match 7-1 to St. Croix Central's Hayden Buckel.
Other MES wrestlers competing in the Amery Sectional, junior Ethan Odegard lost his first round match to Jacob Hoppe of Abbotsford/Colby 12-7 and then lost in the consolation semifinal to Blake Nelson of Ellsworth 13-7 to finish the season at 42-9 at 175. Senior Alex Coffey (31-14) lost his only match at sectionals top Maple Northwestern's Bryce Ronchi (31-19) by 15-0 technical fall at 190. MES finished 11th in the team standings with 25 points out of 23 teams with entries.
Isaacson will join MES teammate Layla Risler, who won the WIAA Girls Wrestling Eau Claire North Sectional title last weekend at 145 lbs. Her first match at state is also this Thursday She'll be seeded 7th in the weight class at state and her first opponent on Thursday, March 27 in the late afternoon will be No. 10 seed Teagan Simpson of Oregon, a senior with a 42-6 record.
Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/Fall Creek Tri-County co-op wrestler senior Aaliyah Zamora makes it back to the state meet for the first time since she was a sophomore. She also qualified from the Eau Claire North Sectional Tournament where she was a runner-up at 107 lbs. Her first round match at state this Thursday afternoon, Feb. 27 will; be against No. 3 seed freshman Alexa Thomas of Lake Geneva Badger (29-2). Zamora is the No. 14 seed and starting this season all wrestlers will get two matches at state.
The 82nd Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Individual Wrestling Tournament and the fourth Girls Individual Wrestling Tournament will be held in conjunction Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 27-March 1, at the Kohl Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis. Ticket prices per tournament session are $11 plus online fees. Tickets are available on-line on the WIAA website prior to any respective session with the printing of the ticket by the purchaser. Tickets are also available at the Kohl Center during the tournament.
The 2025 Individual Wrestling Tournament will produce the first girls team champion in State history. A girls team champion and runner-up will be recognized based on results of individual performances from the schools represented in the tournament. Girls are scheduled to compete in their first team-formatted State Tournament in 2026-27.
There are 14 former champions in the girls tournament field. One wrestler attempts to become the first girl in State Tournament history to win four State championships in a career. Senior Hailie Krueger of New London won the 152 title last year, and she captured the 145 title in 2022 and 2023. She is the top seed in the 152 bracket this year with a 46-0 record, and she has compiled a 129-2 mark during her career. Junior Taylor Whiting of Lena is attempting to win her third State championship. She has earned the gold medal at the 107-pound weight class the past two seasons. She qualifies this year at 114 as the #1 seed with a 13-0 record. Junior Carley Ceshker of Badger is also in pursuit of her third title after earning the title at 138 last season and at 126 in 2023. She was issued the top seed in the 138 bracket with a 32-0 mark this season and remains perfect in her career at 66-0. Senior Madison Burns of Ashland is another qualifier with sights on a third title. She has won the 235 championship the past two seasons after finishing fifth at that weight in 2022, and she enters action this week as the top seed at 235 with a 34-0 record. Senior Brooke Corrigan of De Pere returns for another attempt at a second title. She finished runner-up last season at the 100-pound weight class after earning the crown in 2023. She is the #1 seed in the 100-pound weight class with a 7-0 record in limited matches this season. Senior Ava Gardner of Marshfield won the 100 title last season after placing third in the weight class in 2023. She moves up to 107 this season and is seeded second with a 33-2 mark. A pair of former champions may be on a collision course to battle for the title at 120. Top-seeded Angie Bianchi, a junior from Two Rivers, moves up from 114 where she earned the gold medal after placing second in 2023. She enters competition with a 23-0 record. Junior Emjay Neumann of Manitowoc Lincoln, the returning champion at 120 following a runner-up finish in 2023, is seeded second with a 39-4 record this year. Junior Madi Peach of Milton returns to defend the title she won at 126 last year. As the top seed in the bracket, she has yet to lose a match this year with a 37-0 mark. At 132, junior Lillie Banks of Menasha returns in pursuit of her second-straight title. She also advanced to the final at the weight class in 2023 and finished runner-up. Banks is 42-1 this season and has received the #1 seed in the bracket. Sophomore Harlow Skenandore of Pulaski captured the 145 title as a freshman in 2024. Her 26-0 record this year earned her the top seed. At 152, perhaps the biggest challenge for Krueger to win her fourth title is second-seeded Madalyn Sokolski, a senior from Bonduel. She placed third last year at 145 after winning the 138 title in 2023. Sokolski has compiled a 30-3 mark this year. Another 2023 champion seeking a return to glory is senior Cyriana Reinwald of Horicon. She won the championship at 165, and she returns to that weight as the seventh seed with a 40-3 record. Sophomore Brooke Huffman of Wittenberg-Birnamwood is the returning 185 champion. She is seeded first with a 30-0 record, giving her a 71-0 record in her two seasons. There are three qualifiers with undefeated records entering the tournament. Apart from the returning champions, others that have lost a match this year are freshman Daelin Cody of Princeton/Green Lake (31-0) at 114, sophomore Erika Sleznikow of Marshfield (32-0) at 126 and senior Isabelle Olesen of Oak Creek (19-0) at 152, who placed second at 152 last year.
In the boys' Division 2 field, there are five former champions, including one that is pursuing his fourth championship and two seeking their third title. Senior Danny Heiser of Evansville is seeking to become the 30th wrestler to win four championships in a career. He won the 150 title last year, the 132 crown in 2023 and the 120 championship in 2022. He is the #1 seed in the 157 bracket this season with a 49-0 record. Junior Haakon Peterson of Dodgeville is in pursuit of his third straight title after winning at 113 last year and at 106 in 2023. He is 50-0 heading into the tournament as the #1 seed in the 144-pound bracket. Senior Tristan Steldt of Fennimore is also seeking a third championship. Not only does he move up a weight class, but he also moves up a division. Steldt won the Division 3 title at 157 in 2024 and at 160 in 2023 following a third-place effort at 138 in 2022. He received the #1 seed with a record of 36-3. Sophomore Shane Rochon of Dodgeville moves up to 113 following last season’s gold medal performance at 106. He is seeded first in the bracket with a record of 53-2. Owen Seffrood, a senior from Darlington/Black Hawk, wrestles at 150 this season after conquering the 144 bracket last year. He seeks his second championship to go with a third-place standing at 138 in 2023 and a runner-up finish at 132 in 2022. Seffrood is the top seed with a 44-0 record.In addition to undefeated former champions in Division 2, the other wrestlers without a loss are sophomore Bryston Scoles of Kewaskum (52-0) at 150, who placed third at 138 last season; and junior Max Matthias of Two Rivers (43-0) at 190, who was third at 190 last year and at 182 in 2023; and junior Cael Leisgang of Seymour (43-0) at 215, who was fifth at that weight last season.
State Tournament brackets and the tournament schedule are available by accessing the Trackwrestling.com site or go to the wrestling webpage at vwww.wiaawi.org
The championship final matches of all three divisions will be aired live on the WIAA State Television Stations WKOW 27.2, WAOW 9.2, WQOW 18.2 and WXOW 19.2, WVTV 24.1 in Milwaukee and WLUK (FOX)/WCWF(CW) in Green Bay/Appleton. The live programming will begin at 5 p.m. The finals will also be streamed live on the Network stations’ websites. All mats of the pre-finals matches and the third- and fifth-place matches will be streamed live on WIAA.TV with a subscription to the NFHS Network. To purchase a subscription to the live programming for $11.99 per month, log-on to www.wiaa.tv or www.nfhsnetwork.com and click on the subscription button at the top right of the page.
The WIAA helped put together the preview of thew upcoming state tournament.
