Four Wega-Fremont wrestlers place at state
By Greg Seubert
The fourth time turned out to be the charm for Cian Fischer.
A 14-4 win over Stratford’s Manny Drexler gave the Weyauwega-Fremont senior the Division 3 120-pound championship Feb. 23 at the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament in Madison.
It’s the first state championship for Fischer, who made it to state all four years. He opened the tournament by pinning Cedar Grove-Belgium’s Cael Erickson in 2:21 in the quarterfinals and advanced to the finals for the second year in a row with a 14-3 major decision over Kenosha Christian Life’s Javis Pinter.
The win over Drexler gave Fischer a 47-0 record, but he wasn’t the only Weyauwega-Fremont wrestler going after a state championship.
Junior Carter Greening advanced to the 113-pound title match, but dropped a 17-1 decision to Coleman’s Koltin Grzybowski. Grzybowski needed 4:34 to wrap up the technical fall and win his third straight state championship.
Three other Weyauwega-Fremont wrestlers also competed at state and two of them joined Fischer and Greening on the medal podium.
Seniors Justin Kempf and Tyler Wetzel placed fourth at 132 and fifth at 182, respectively, while Logan Kicherer competed at 145.
The Indians placed fourth among Division 3 teams with 74 points between Stratford, Coleman and Fennimore.
“Fourth place is the highest we have ever finished in the state tournament standings,” coach Tim Potratz said. “We have finished fifth two times in the past, but this is the best finish ever. All five of the boys wrestled well. We won 11 matches against only six losses and had the most pins – seven – of any team in the tournament.”
Fischer became the fourth state champion in program history and recorded 25 pins and a school record 102 takedowns.
“Cian has worked very hard to become a state champion and he left no doubt who the best wrestler was at his weight class,” Potratz said. “He placed third, fourth and second the last three years and he was highly motivated to win this title. He is totally dedicated to being the best he can be at everything he does, whether it is wrestling, academics or his out-of-school activities.”
Greening pinned Lancaster’s Carter Lull in the preliminary round, picked up a 15-2 major decision over Poynette’s Cash Stewart in the quarterfinals and pinned North Crawford/Seneca’s Raiden Steele in 2:17 in the semifinals.
Twenty-three of his 40 wins came by pin.
“Carter placed third at state last year and this year, he moved up one spot,” Potratz said. “Carter was absolutely on a mission to dominate all weekend. He is so tough on top and has the ability to impose his style on his opponents and he never seems intimidated by a big match on the big stage.”
Kempf pinned Waterloo’s Carlos Garcia in 1:49 in the preliminary round and handed Cornell/Gilman’s Sam Pickerign a 7-5 loss in the quarterfinals. That win placed Kempf in the semifinals, where the eventual runner-up, Random Lake’s Tristan Hammen, pinned him in 5:32. He wrapped up fourth place with a pair of wins in the wrestleback round. He pinned Cedar Grove-Belgium’s Quinn Hoopman in 1:21 before falling to Fennimore’s Aidan Nutter 3-2 in the third-place match to end his season with a 49-7 record.
Kempf finished his season with a 45-6 record.
“He battled through a lower back and rib cage injury to win three matches in the tournament over Waterloo, Cornell/Gilman and Cedar Grove/Belgium,” Potratz said. “He lost in the semifinals and lost a close 3-2 decision against in the bronze medal match.
“Justin is a three-time state qualifier and two-time All-State wrestler, but he wrestled with more guts this weekend than he has in maybe any other tournament in his career,” Potratz said. “He is so much fun to watch wrestle because he is so dynamic in his attacks. He is willing to go for any move at any time to win and he has no fear.”
A sectional championship gave Wetzel a bye in the preliminary round and he opened the tournament by pinning Cadott’s Ethan Tegels in 3:24. He fell to Lancaster’s Troy Klein, the eventual runner-up, 10-3 in the semifinals and dropped a 7-2 decision to Bonduel’s Isaac Banker in the wrestleback round.
That loss placed Wetzel in the fifth-place match and he ended the season with a 45-9 record by pinning Boscobel’s Chase Beinborn in the fifth-place match.
He finished his senior season with a 44-7 record and a team-high 28 pins.
“Tyler has always had the talent, but this year he was determined to get to state and win,” Potratz said. “All season, Tyler took on the best competition and not only won, but pinned a lot of really good kids. He was our anchor, along with Austin Bartel in the upper weights that allowed our team to have such great success this season. He also took on the role of team comedian and played that role very well.”
Kicherer fell to Random Lake’s Joey Bock 7-5 in the preliminary round to end his season at 37-12.
“He had a great senior season that saw him make the finals of five tournaments, win his second conference title and qualify for the state tournament,” Potratz said. “After not going to state as a junior, Logan put in the work to make himself better and earned a trip to state as a senior.”
Potratz said the trip to state capped off one of the program’s most successful seasons.
“Overall, we had a great state tournament,” he said. “When you get five kids to state and four of them make the semifinals, that’s a great showing.
“They work hard at practice, compete hard in matches and have fun together on and off the mat,” he added. “The entire Weyauwega-Fremont wrestling community is proud of their accomplishments.”