Luepke, Zschernitz win sectional titles, Ackman also moves on to state

By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

AMERY — The Spencer/Columbus Catholic wrestling team will have three athletes compete at next week’s state tournament after their performance at the WIAA Division 2 individual wrestling sectional Saturday at Amery High School.

Spencer/Columbus junior Hunter Luepke won the 195-pound sectional title to qualify for the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament for the third-straight season.

Luepke (36-2) pinned Ty Sanford of Prescott with one second remaining in the first period to win the championship match.

Sophomore Logan Zschernitz and freshman Ashton Ackman will be making their first appearances at the state meet, which will be held Feb. 23-25 at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Zschernitz (37-3) won the 285-pound title match, beating Nick Rueth of Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal 5-1.

Ackman (35-7) ended up second at 106 pounds. He won the third place match by technical fall over Andrew Olson of Osceola 17-2 and won the second-place wrestleback by injury default.

Spencer/Columbus’ fourth sectional qualifier, Bryce Shaw, came up just short of a state bid. Shaw (19-10) lost a third-place match to Dalton Smith of Stanley-Boyd/Owen-Withee 6-4.

Ackman will face Quintin Gehrmann (33-5) of Jefferson in a Division 2 preliminary round match Thursday night. By virtue of their sectional titles, Luepke and Zschernitz earned byes into the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon.

(Hub City Times Sports Reporter Paul Lecker is also the publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com.)

2017 WIAA Division 2 Individual Wrestling Sectional

Feb. 18, at Amery High School

Team scores: 1. Ellsworth 204; 2. Melrose-Mindoro/Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 93.5; 3. Spencer/Columbus Catholic 71; 4. Prescott 49; 5. Medford 44; 6. Amery 42; 7. Bloomer/Colfax and Rice Lake 38; 9. Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal 37; 10. Stanley-Boyd/Owen-Withee 34; 11. St. Croix Central 29; 12. Baldwin-Woodville 28; 13. Spooner 27; 14. Chetek-Weyerhaeuser/Prairie Farm 24; 15. Barron 23.5; 16. Hayward/Northwood 18; 17. Northwestern 15; 18. Luck/Frederic/Grantsburg/Siren, Osceola and Somerset 11; 21. Abbotsford/Colby and Ashland 0.

*Top three finishers in each weight class qualify for WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament, Feb. 23-25 at Kohl Center, Madison

106 pounds

Championship: Charlie Stuhl (ELL) def. Ethan Tulip (PRES) by injury default.
Third place: Ashton Ackman (SC) won by technical fall over Andrew Olson (OSC) 17-2.
Second-place wrestleback: Ackman (SC) def. Tulip (PRES) by injury default.

113 pounds

Championship: Dane Higgins (MED) def. Jack Marley (MMGET) 7-3.
Third place: Jacek Nickowski (BW) def. Matthew Peterson (ELL) 3-0.

120 pounds

Championship: Sawyer Storm (ELL) def. Julian Purney (MMGET) 6-2.
Third place: Mike Smith (AM) def. Alex McCray (BW) 13-11.
Second-place wrestleback: Purney (MMGET) pinned Smith (AM) in 2:47.

126 pounds

Championship: Owen Matzek (ELL) pinned Steven Moncada (SOM) in 0:57.
Third place: Les Lakey (MMGET) def. Jordan Bonte (BW) 6-3.
Second-place wrestleback: Lakey (MMGET) def. Moncada (SOM) 6-5.

132 pounds

Championship: Sam Stuhl (ELL) pinned Mitchel Harmon (BC) in 1:16.
Third place: Calen Kirkpatrick (NW) pinned Jacob Summers (MMGET) in 0:44.
Second-place wrestleback: Harmon (BC) def. Kirkpatrick (NW) 10-5.

138 pounds

Championship: Jared Lansing (ELL) def. Tim Coyne (HN) 6-4.
Third place: Dalton Smith (SBOW) def. Bryce Shaw (SC) 6-4.

145 pounds

Championship: Cole Skelton (ELL) def. Shawn Waalen (AM) 7-5, SV-1.
Third place: Noah Massie (BAR) def. Preston Carlson (MED) 6-0.

152 pounds

Championship: Chase Schmidt (RL) def. Sam Burzynski (SBOW) 9-6.
Third place: Jeff Maynard (MMGET) won by technical fall over Chase Melton (SPO) 17-2.
Second-place wrestleback: Burzynski (SBOW) def. Maynard (MMGET) 11-4.

160 pounds

Championship: Anders Lantz (ELL) def. Kolten Hanson (MED) 3-2, TB-1.
Third place: William Waldofski (BAR) def. Eric Hoofstatter (SBOW) 8-6.

170 pounds

Championship: Stephen Buchanon (NGL) def. Sam Newell (CWPF) 12-7.
Third place: Carl Oman (AM) def. Matthew McNurlin (PRES) 2-0, SV-1.
Second-place wrestleback: Newell (CWPF) def. Oman (AM) 7-6.

182 pounds

Championship: Jacob Singer (ELL) pinned Cole Olson (BC) in 4:00.
Third place: Dakota Schultz (LFGS) def. Daniel Chuchwar (CWPF) 7-6.

195 pounds

Championship: Hunter Luepke (SC) pinned Ty Sanford (PRES) in 1:59.
Third place: Ryan Larson (SCC) def. Cole Toenjes (ELL) 5-2.

220 pounds

Championship: Dakotah Daffinson (MMGET) pinned Joshua Carroll (SPO) in 0:49.
Third place: Jacob Bugella (RL) pinned Dillon Kimmen (PRES) in 3:09.
Second-place wrestleback: Carroll (SPO) pinned Bugella (RL) in 3:47.

285 pounds

Championship: Logan Zschernitz (SC) def. Nick Rueth (NGL) 5-1.
Third place: Mike Freund (ELL) pinned Hunter Schmidt (SCC) in 1:43.