WAUSAU, WI- The Shawano Hawks will complete their best season in history by sending more wrestlers to the WIAA State Wrestling Tournament than they have any other year.

Damian Wudtke (113), Wyatt Brandt (126), Gage Timm (195), and Nick Kohn (285) all qualified with second-place finishes at the WIAA Sectional Tournament at Wausau East High School.  All four wrestlers advanced to the Finals.

Shawano finished just two points behind Holmen for a second-place finish in team scores, which would have sent them to Team State. The top two teams moved on to the WIAA Team State Tournament and Marshfield and Holmen will represent the Wausau East Sectional. Marshfield finished with 111 points, Holmen had 106, and Shawano 104. Five teams were in the running for the top two spots for most of the day.

Damian Wudtke earned a pin in the first two rounds, topping undefeated wrestler Connor Krueger of Superior to advance to the finals. Wudtke lost to Easton Cooper of DC Everest by pin in the first period. and because Kruger ended up taking third place, Krueger did not have to wrestle back, locking up the trip to state.

At 126 pounds, Wyatt Brandt took a similar road, advancing to the finals with two wins before losing to Wausau West’s Gaberial Galang by pin. Brandt did not have to wrestle back and finished in second place.

Gage Timm and Nick Kohn both had to wrestle back to earn their ticket to State after losing in the finals. Timm lost to top-ranked Drake Anderson of Bay Port and earned an injury default win in the wrestle back round. Timm finished 3-1 on the day with a pin and a decision win. Kohn lost in the finals to Giard Jones of Menominee and earned a wrestle back win over Madden Connelly of Sparta by pin.

Drake Herm wrestled back to take third place at 106 after losing in the Semifinals to Cole Fitzpatrick of La Crosse Logan. Herm was not able to qualify for a wrestle back and ended his season 15-1.  At 138 pounds, Reef Anthony lost his first match and lost twice more to finish 6th place and 8-8 on the season. Caden Young suffered two losses and placed 5th at 160 pounds. Young won his quarterfinal match but lost to unbeaten Freddy Lehrek of DC Everest in overtime. Young had a rematch with Garrett Willuweit and defaulted the match to injury, ending his run at State. Willuweit was responsible for two of Young’s three losses. Noah Jones and Andrew Popp both lost their first two matches of the day. Jones ended his season 7-5 and Popp ended his season 11-3.

Pulaski was not able to qualify any of their four wrestlers. At 106 pounds, Ethan Eggert finished 5th after losing twice and winning the 5th place match by forfeit. At 132 pounds, Ryan Freward came in as a Regional Champion but lost his first two matches. At 152 pounds Tristan Taylor lost his first match and wrestled back to 5th place, suffering his only two losses of the season. At 220 pounds, Max Burdette lost in the Semifinals to the Sectional Runner-up Orion Boe of DC Everest. Burdette won his third-place match, but never got the chance to wrestle back since he already wrestled Boe earlier in the day.

Division 1 Area State Qualifiers:

113- Damian Wudkte -Shawano (2nd)
120- Shane Corrigan- De Pere (1st)
126- Wyatt Brandt- Shawano (2nd)
145- Jacob Ward- Bay Port (1st)
182- Connor Ramage- Ashwaubenon (1st) , Michael Alexander – De Pere (2nd)
195- Drake Anderson- Bay Port (1st), Gage Timm- Shawano (2nd)
220- Nathan Moyninhan- Ashwaubenon (1st)
285- Nick Kohn- Shawano (2nd)

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HARTFORD, WI – Kaukauna sent 8 wrestlers through to the WIAA State Individual Tournament and once again qualified for the WIAA Team State Tournament by winning the Hartford Union Section over Slinger. Kaukauna has qualified for the Team State Tournament for the ninth straight year and last won in 2017.

Greyson Clark (126), Jager Eisch (132), and Alex Ashauer (220) all advanced to State as Sectional Champions. Brian Winans (120), Logan Stumpf (138), Titus Hammen (152), Griffin Bekish (170), and Trevor Stuyvenberg (182) all advanced as a second-place finish.