The Northland will be well represented in this week's 67th Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Individual Wrestling Championship Tournament. Matches begin Thursday and run through Saturday at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Superior High School's Nikola Bogojevic and Northwestern High School's Ryan Miesbauer and Nate Nelson all placed well enough at last week's sectional meet to advance to the state tournament.
Bogojevic, a senior, advanced with a first-place finish at Saturday's WIAA sectional in Merrill. He improved to 44-0 by winning the 285-pound weight class with a pin over David Hamlin of Wausau East and decision wins over Cale Schliesman of Marshfield and Evan Knutson of Wausau West.
"A big congratulations to Niko for his regional and sectional championships," SHS coach Bill Gedde said. "He controlled the entire match against Knutson, who many outside of this region felt was the best heavyweight in the state. Niko had an answer for every bit of offense Knutson could muster and Knutson couldn't keep pace with Niko's relentless attack and power."
Bogojevic entered sectionals ranked No. 1 in the state with Knutson ranked No. 2.
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For Northwestern, Miesbauer won the sectional championship at 215 pounds at Saturday's sectional tournament in Somerset, while Nelson finished third at 130 pounds. The top three finishers in each weight class qualify for state in Divisions 2 and 3.
Miesbauer improved to 39-1 with a tech fall over Chris Ladwig of Abbotsford/Colby; a pin over Cory Deiss and a decision over Frank Dobbs of Melrose-Mindoro/G.E.T.).
Nelson takes a 37-4 record to state. On Saturday, he won a major decision over Zach Raifsnider of Black River Falls, a decision over Luke Nelson of Unity, lost a decision to DJ Yarwood of Ellsworth then lost to Gabe Flandrick of Somerset in the second-place match.
Other Tigers wrestling Saturday were: Wes Snow (140 pounds); Bob Tahtinen (145); William Pedersen (152); and Josh Zinmer (189).
Other Spartans wrestling were Tom Naughton, Nick Kirchoff and Ben Regner.
"Congratulations to Tom, Nick and Ben as well," Gedde said. "They all really wrestled well Saturday with each of them wrestling one of the top wrestlers in the state in each weight class,"
Regner finished the season with 24 wins with Naughton and Kirchoff each having 20 wins.
Sizing up the competition
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In the state meet this year are 26 wrestlers who enter the weekend undefeated. The group includes 10 wrestlers in Division 1, seven in Division 2 and nine in Division 3.
Of the 10 Division 1 wrestlers entering the state tournament with perfect records, two are in the 285 weight class. Bogojevic, at 44-0, holds the better record of the two. The other undefeated competitor at 285 is senior Bill Mitchell of South Milwaukee (15-0).
The competition is just as stiff for the Tiger wrestlers in Division 2. The Division 2 field includes four returning champions, one of whom wrestles in the same class as Nelson.
Senior Zach Zehner of Tomahawk moved up one weight class from 125 last season to 130 this year. He is also one of seven Division 2 wrestlers with a perfect season record. Zehner is 43-0 this season and holds a 92-1 mark over the past two seasons. Both Nelson and Zehner would have to win their first three matches to meet in the finals.
Miesbauer may come up against a pair of undefeated opponent in the 215-pound class. Seniors Cody Wedde of Clintonville (43-0) and Matt Tourdot of Sparta (47-0) are both perfect this season at 215 pounds.
Miesbauer has a first-round bye and wrestles in his first match at 11:15 a.m. Friday. Nelson faces Cullan Morrissey (40-1) of Oconto Falls at 7:15 p.m. Thursday. The winner goes on to wrestle Lucas Lambrecht (31-10) of Sheboygan Falls at 11:15 a.m. Friday.
Bogojevic's first match at state will be at 3 p.m. Thursday against Seth Brandt (31-8) of Reedsburg Area. The winner wrestles again Thursday night and the loser wrestles at 10 a.m. Friday.
WIAA Division 2
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Someset Sectional
Team Scores
1. Ellsworth, 111.5; 2 Neillsville, 50.5; 3. Amery, 48; 4. Cumberland, 41; 5. Bloomer, 37; 6. Unity, 30.5; 7. Stanley-Boyd/Thorp, 30; 8. Chetek/Prairie Farm, 28; 9. Saint Croix Falls, 28; 10. Melrose-Mindoro/G.E.T., 26; 11. Northwestern, 25.5; 12. Ashland, 24; 13. Abbotsford/Colby, 19; 14. Baldwin-Woodville, 18.5; 15. Medford Area, 18; 16. Somerset, 16; 17. Prescott, 10; 18. Rice Lake, 10; 19. Osceola, 8; 20. Spooner, 7.5; 21. Luck/Frederic/Grantsburg, 7; 22. Black River Falls, 4; 23. Durand, 2; 24. Barron, 0; 25. Hayward, 0; 26. Mondovi, 0; 27. West Salem/Bangor, 0.
Northwestern's Results
130 -- Nate Nelson (37-4), third place with eight points; won 9-0 major decision over Zach Raifsnider (BRFs); won 3-2 decision over Luke Nelson (Unity); lost 2-0 decision to DJ Yarwood (Ellsworth); lost 8-3 decision to Gabe Flandrick (Somerset).
140 -- Wes Snow, lost 16-0 tech fall to Damien Luchterhand (Neillsville); pinned by Tyler Weyer (B-W), 5:08.
145 -- Bob Tahtinen, lost 16-3 major decision to Levi Kessel (Ellsworth); lost 9-2 decision to Cecil Philson (Stanley-Boyd/Thorp).
152 -- William Pedersen (31-9), lost 6-2 decision to Jake Radamacher (Saint Croix Falls).
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189 -- Josh Zinmer (27-7), lost 5-2 decision to Jacob Johnson (Unity).
215 -- Ryan Miesbauer (39-1) finished first with 17.5 team points; won 16-1 tech fall over Chris Ladwig (Abbotsford/Colby); pinned Cory Deiss (Ellsworth), 1:48; won 10-7 decision over Frank Dobbs (Melrose-Mindoro/G.E.T.)
WIAA Division 1
Merrill Sectional
Team Scores
1. Wausau West, 119; 2. Merrill, 99.5; 3. Marshfield, 93; 4. Hudson, 84.5; 5. DC Everest, 70.5; 6. Chippewa Falls, 58.5; 7. River Falls, 55.5; 8. Eau Claire Memorial, 28; 9. Rhinelander, 19; 10. Antigo, 18; 11. Superior, 18; 12. Wausau East, 16; 13. Menomonie, 12; 14. Lakeland, 5; 15. Eau Claire North, 0; 16. New Richmond, 0.
Superior's Results
285 -- Niko Bogojevich, first place: pinned David Hamlin, WE, 0:19; won 5-1 decision over Cale Schliesman, Marshfield; won 2-1 decision over Evan Knutson, WW.
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112 -- Tom Naughton, lost by fall to Nate Hettinga, WW, 4:29
119 -- Nick Kirchoff lost by fall to Rickie Pody, Wausua West, 3:31.
215 -- Ben Regner lost by fall to Zach Wendorf, Merrill, 5:57.
