Area wrestlers bring home 12 state crowns
MADISON – Sixteen Milwaukeearea wrestlers took the mats at the Kohl Center on Saturday for the conclusion of the WIAA boys and girls individual state tournaments with 12 taking their place atop at the podium as champions.
Seven champions won their respective weight class in Division 1, while Kewaskum’s Braeden Scoles finished off a four-peat of in Division 2. Division 3 saw two undefeated champions from Kenosha in junior Drew Dolphin at 106 pounds from Kenosha Christian Life and sophomore Co’Ji Campbell from Kenosha St. Joseph winning his second straight title after moving up to 120 pounds.
For the first time, the girls tournament took place on the same mats in Madison as the boys tournament, as Badger won a pair of titles in the first official year of the program.
Division 1
Perhaps spurred by the Wolbert family in attendance, the crowd found an early underdog to root for in the final bout at 120 pounds.
With the other mats done for the round, the attention of the Kohl Center rested squarely on freshman Kellen Wolbert of Oconomowoc (47-0) as he fought through a tightly contested match with Ben Bast (44-4) of West Bend West.
Bast had climbed to a 6-2 lead with an escape early in the third period. However three takedowns by Wolbert, including one scored with a second remaining helped force overtime with the match tied at eight. After a scoreless first overtime period, chants of “Kellen” gained steam as the freshman looked to put an exclamation point on an undefeated season. An escape for Wolbert led to a 9-8 win, and a title that satiated a raucous crowd early in the meet.
“It was really cool, I did not expect that at all, but it added fuel to the fire,” Wolbert said, adding he could not have imagined this type of season coming in to high school. “It was just a dream that you couldn’t reach, but now it’s possible, and it’s accomplished.”
A pair of future Minnesota Golden Gophers won back-to-back titles at 160 and 170 pounds.
Homestead junior Charlie Millard (52-2) won a 9-1 majority decision to take the 160-pound title over Marshfield senior Garrett Willuweit (49-7) after finishing as the state runner-up at 152 pounds a season ago.
“Right after I took second, I just knew I had to come back and win it this time. I couldn’t bear to take second again,” Millard said.
Germantown senior Ethan Riddle (52-2) followed suit with a dominant 14-5 majority decision victory over Shawano senior Caden Young (47-6).
“I really wanted this one more so than last year,” Riddle said. “I tried to like savor the experience more being here last year. Last year was more about getting the gold, this year was more about being the last time being here and I just really wanted to take the experience all in.”
Both were more than complimentary of each other after taking center stage in consecutive matches.
“That definitely played a factor a little bit,” Millard said about his friendship with Riddle playing a part in his college decision. “I just felt like I connected with the coaches and they feel like a program on the come-up. They’re gonna be really good in a few years and I just wanted to be a part of that.”
“Dude, I’m just so pumped,” Riddle said with a big smile. “Charlie’s such a good dude and all the people I’ve met there, I really feel like I’m gonna flourish there.”
Junior Connor Mirasola (53-2, 195) of West Bend West did not stop to smell the roses atop the podium after his D1 victory by pin in 32 seconds over Ryder Depies of Merrill for a third-straight D3 title. After taking his obligatory podium photos, Connor rushed back to mat 1 and took a seat in a coach’s chair as his brother Cole (53-2) competed for the title at 285. Being there for each other is nothing new to the Mirasolas.
“We make each other better every day. Push each other, have fun with it,” Connor said. “We’re going to push each other to reach our goals at the next level.”
Meanwhile Cole, having seen teammates including his brother win titles before him in recent years, took to the mat with a purpose in the final bout of the night. The junior defeated Griffin Empey of Stoughton, 19-9, in a match he controlled throughout for his second-consecutive state title. Cole won at 195 as a sophomore.
“I just felt like there was no way I could have lost, because I was beating him in the hand fight, everything pretty much,” Cole said.
Cole said their mother, Robbie, often gets too nervous to watch, an added bit of motivation for the brothers to dispatch their opponents quickly.
“She gets scared, but I think she can watch,” Cole said. “It’s a bit easier (winning quickly), but with these highstakes matches, state final, she gets pretty nervous.”
With a season in high school to go for the Penn State verbal commits, the work begins for Connor’s quest for a four-peat and Cole’s third-straight title.
“Yeah, we’ll be ready to go tomorrow, start training freestyle, which I like,” Connor said.
Division 2
Kewaskum senior Braeden Scoles (52-0, 160) was the lone remaining area wrestler in D2 on Saturday but played a part in a historic evening. Scoles’ 19-4 win over Owen Wasley of St. Croix Central earned him a fourth state title, making him one of four four-time state champions crowned.
Brayden Sonnentag of Cadott (D3132), Greyson Clark of Kaukauna (D1138) and Rhett Koenig of Prairie du Chien (D2-138) all finished with their fourth titles as well, making Scoles the 26th wrestler in WIAA state history to reach the milestone.
Despite the elite distinction, Scoles said he simply felt privileged to be in the position to achieve it.
“I don’t think about being a fourtime (champion). I don’t identify as that. I guess I’m one of the lucky ones who has gotten the opportunity, so I’m thankful for that,” Scoles said.
The senior will wrestle for the University of Illinois next year and said he has been looking to make the most of his final opportunities at the high school level on and off the mat.
“I’ve spent the last four years with the same people every day, twice a day, working out, wrestling, getting better. It’s just crazy that it’s finally over,” Scoles said.
“This season I’ve been trying to appreciate things more, just soak in the little moments with all these people that I won’t see next year.”
Division 3
In Division 3, Kenosha Christian Life junior Drew Dolphin won the school’s first-ever state championship on the mat at 106 pounds in a 6-5 decision that came down to the final seconds to cap off a perfect 54-0 campaign.
Two matches later on the same mat, Kenosha St. Joseph sophomore Co’Ji Campbell finished off a second consecutive state title-winning season with a 12-6 decision victory to finish off a 45-0 season after winning the 113-pound title a year ago.
“It’s amazing, man. I’ve been training my whole career for this,” Campbell said. “The goal is to be a four-peater, but I gotta take this one at a time.”
Campbell, who played both football and wrestled last season for the Lancers, wanted to lean into his wrestling career a bit more heading into his sophomore year.
“Last year, I played football and didn’t really focus on wrestling in the offseason. It was kinda hard to switch back up last year because I didn’t have as much training or anything going on,” Campbell said. “I only had like, two moves (laughs). This year, after I won it last year, I said, ‘I can’t play football (laughs). At least not this year. I wanna strictly focus on wrestling.’ This year, I wanted to prove that I’m one of the best in the state.”
Girls
On the girls side, two Badger wrestlers were crowned state champions, Carley Ceshker (126 pounds) and Ella Creighton (185).
Ceshker dominated in a 9-1 majority decision to finish off her shortened season at 8-0, while Creighton (24-4) pinned Clintonville sophomore Keela Deering (13-6) at the 3:54 mark to make a 2-for-2 night for Badger in the first girls tournament held in the Kohl Center.
“It was cool to finally be able to wrestle with the boys. The setup was really cool. I loved it,” Ceshker said. “This was great. For some reason, this season felt extremely long (laughs), but to be able to end it like this on such a high note, it’s great. It’s been awesome,” Creighton said.
At 152 pounds, Oak Creek sophomore Isabelle Olesen (7-1) finished as state runner-up for the second straight season after an 18-4 majority decision defeat to Osseo-Fairchild co-op senior Breanna Weir (12-0), while Wisconsin Lutheran freshman Izabella Riebe (21-7) also finished as state runner-up at 235 pounds following a pinfall defeat at the hands of Ashland sophomore Madison Burns (17-0).