Wrestlers to watch
Charlie Covert, sr., Slinger: His first state appearance ended in a sixth-place finish, making him the No. 2 returner in the 285-pound class in Division 1.
Jake Deates, sr., Kenosha Bradford. The two-time state qualifier is recovering from a football injury and hopes to return to competition in January at 170 pounds. He took fifth at the weight last year at state.
Jack Ganos, soph., Arrowhead: His freshman year nearly netted a state championship. He went 39-9 and reached the 113-pound final in Division 1 before falling to Hortonville’s Eric Barnett.
Hayden Halter, soph., Waterford: He went 52-2 as a freshman at Burlington and won the 106-pound Division 1 state title in impressive fashion. Before scoring a 5-1 decision over Stevens Point’s Justin Groshek in the final, he won two of his other three matches at state by either pin or major decision.
Dajun Johnson, jr., Whitefish Bay: The two-time state qualifier in Division 1 at
152 pounds reached the quarterfinals last season, but wrestled back to claim a third-place finish. He won 71 matches his first two seasons and will compete at 160 this year.
Parker Keckeisen, sr., Nicolet: After a disappointing loss in the 170-pound D1 final as a sophomore, the Northern Iowa recruit didn’t lose a match last season, capping the year with a technical fallvictory over Holmen’s Kalyn Jahn in the final.
Tommy Larson, jr., East Troy: The twotime state qualifier in Division 2 was the 106-pound champion last year and will compete at 113 this year. He went 50-4 and has 90 wins in two seasons.
Aidan Medora, jr., St. John’s Northwestern/Brookfield Academy: A finalist at 126 pounds in Division 2 as a freshman, he came back last season and went undefeated on the way to winning the 132-pound crown. He outscored the competition, 50-22, at state.
Keegan O’Toole, jr., Arrowhead: What do you do after winning your second straight WIAA title? How about win a national championship? O’Toole did just that by winning the 138-pound freestyle title at the Junior National Championships in Fargo, N.D. He went 91-5 in his first two seasons.
Josh recruit Otto, has sr., come Arrowhead: a long way, The Wisconsin from failing freshman to win to winning a match the at state 152-pound as a Division 1 title with a 52-1 record last season.
Jake Skrundz, jr., Burlington: He jumped from 126 to 145 last season and advanced to the Division 1 state semifinals before finishing sixth. He started the season at 160 but will eventually drop tp 152.
Jalen Spuhler, jr., Hartford: He advanced to the D1 quarterfinals at 113 as a freshman and was fourth last season at 120. He started this year competing at 132.
Dan Stilling, sr., Elkhorn: Third at 132 pounds in Division 1 as a sophomore, he took third in the weight class last season. He’ll compete at 145 this season.
Azarian Waits, jr., Milwaukee Marshall: The returning state qualifier at 195 pounds has a chance to really shine in a division he'll be one of the top competitors returning.
Jacob Zupke, sr., Homestead: The defending North Shore champion opened the year by winning the 195-pound title at Slinger’s Gunslinger Invite, but will return to 182 pounds where he’ll be one of the top returners in Division 1.