Here is the gallery of photos from the dual against Lodi back in the middle of February.  I think that wraps up the photos I have taken this year for the most part.  There are a few from the firetruck taking the state qualifiers through downtown Sparta and there are some videos to be posted, but as for large galleries like this, I think we are all caught up.

I’m going to be putting together a video with a bunch of videos from this year.  It’ll be posted here so keep checking back for that.  It should be up in time for the end-of-the-year banquet.  Until then, check out the gallery below!!!

Sparta vs. Lodi – Images by Derek Montgomery

I was looking over some of the stats from this season when it dawned on me–Matt Tourdot didn’t get scored on that much so I went back and looked some more and called my dad, Mike Montgomery, to confirm some statistics and he emailed back confirming what I already thought, which will probably surprise you.

Tourdot did not give up a takedown until the first match of sectionals and gave up only one reversal which was in the state semifinals.  That was 44 straight matches without being taken down and 48without allowing a reversal.  Every other point he surrendered were from escapes.  Just more evidence of how dominating a season Tourdot put together.

On another note, you can purchase copies of this year’s Sparta-Tomah dual complete with commentary from Greg Hagen of Hagen Sports Network in Tomah.  If you want a copy, the cost is $15, which includes shipping and handling.  You can send a check with your request to PO Box 711, Tomah, WI 54660.  I’d recommend contacting Greg at (608) 372-4060 before ordering to sort out all the details.  Thanks to Pat Stevenson for letting me know this.

And finally, Lodi photos should be coming in a few days!

It’s a little late, but here are some photos from way back at the end of January when Sparta traveled to Rochester, MN and won the Rochester Tournament.  You will find a mix of both varsity and junior varsity wrestlers in the gallery below because both teams traveled to this tournament. Images from Sparta’s team sectional dual with Lodi will come later this week…

Rochester Tournament 2010 – Images by Derek Montgomery

Spartan alum and current Kenosha Tremper head coach Joel Dutton put three of his wrestlers on the podium at this year’s state tournament.  At 103 pounds, Tyler Rice placed 2nd while at 119 pounds, Dominic Garcia also came home with a 2nd place showing.  At 285 pounds, Najee Parker finished 6th.  On a team level, Tremper finished with a 32-5 dual record and barely missed qualifying for team sectionals after finishing just 7.5 points back of champion Milton.  Milton fell in the state team finals to Wisconsin Rapids and was ranked 2nd for most of the year in division one according to Wisconsin Wrestling Online.  I think that just illustrates how underrated this Tremper team was all season long.

Here are some photos of Dutton getting animated during the semifinals on Friday evening.  Great match, but I don’t think the kid with the Nintendo DS over Dutton’s shoulder caught one second of it.  The kid in the red jacket is another story…

We will have more photos and video this week.  I’m finally done taking my breather from a very busy couple weeks leading up to the state tournament so keep checking back here for more updates and information about the end-of-the-year banquet.

I posted an entry on my photo blog at http://www.drockphoto.com with my favorite images from this year’s state tournament.  You can check that out by clicking here…

To see the full extent of what I photographed all three days at the Kohl Center, check out the links below…

• State Wrestling Day One
• State Wrestling Day Two
• Finals:  Matt Tourdot vs. Cody Endres
• Day Three:  The Finals

This was a season to remember for Sparta and for Matt Tourdot.  On a team and individual level, it was one of the best Spartan teams to ever step onto the mat.  Eight Spartans finished with more than 30 wins while Bryce Nowaczyk finished with 29 and Brandon Rickert (27) and Toby Mosley (24) would have surpassed 30 had injuries and sickness not kept them out of a few matches and tournaments.  Of the 14 weight classes, Sparta had 12 guys finish with more than 20 wins.  Four guys earned a trip to the state tournament and Matt Tourdot finished 50-0 to win the 215-pound division two state championship.

On the team side, the Spartans went undefeated through the regular season running up a record of 17-0 before falling to Lodi 31-25 in the team sectional.  The team won five tournaments and won five duals against teams that garnered votes in the Wisconsin Wrestling Online and Crossface team rankings.  Finishing the year with a 17-1 record, the Spartans recorded the highest winning percentage of any Spartan squad since the 1987-88 season when Scott Zurfluh’s team went 7-0-2.  And in what might be the most important victory of the year, the Spartans defeated Tomah 41-20 to win the MVC championship and snap the Timberwolves’ 35-match conference winning streak.

Finally, Matt Tourdot set a number of records.  Here are a few of them…

• Most wins in a single season:  50
• First Spartan to reach 50 wins in a season
• Career wins:  Tourdot finished his four years with 159 career wins passing Jared Rickert’s record of 153.  He tied the career mark with his win at the team sectional against Lodi and broke it after his first win at the sectional tournament.
• Career pins:  88.  Tourdot absolutely destroyed this record.  Jarrod Ebert held the previous record with 70 for 14 years before Tourdot changed that.
• Single season pins:  34.  Tourdot also smashed Ebert’s record of 29 in a single season.  The impressive thing about Tourdot is how he recorded the pins.  Of his 34 pins, 30 were in the first period.  The other four were in the second period.  22 pins came under one minute with one coming in at 13 seconds.  The fact that he dominated so many opponents and accumulated so little mat time in those 34 matches and still was able to wrestle strong for six minutes all three matches at the state tournament is testament to Tourdot’s work ethic in the practice room.
• Tourdot also became Sparta’s second wrestler to complete an entire season undefeated.  Dave Garritson went 32-0 during the 1992-93 season to win the division one state championship at heavyweight.

It was a great year for the Spartans and I had an awesome time covering these guys, taking photos and running the blog.  Next year’s team looks to be pretty solid as well as they return seven guys with 30+ win potential.

Finally, check out the photo gallery of Matt Tourdot’s state championship match against Lodi’s Cody Endres below…

WIAA State Finals – Tourdot – Images by Derek Montgomery

We plan to have video up here soon of the finals match between Tourdot and Endres so keep checking back for that.  I still have to upload galleries from the Rochester Tournament and the team sectional against Lodi so we aren’t done yet with all the photo action!

I’m not lying when I say I was pretty tired after this weekend.  On top of following all of Sparta’s wrestlers, I was taking pictures for the Duluth News Tribune (yes, they actually know other sports exist outside hockey) as well as the Eau Claire Leader Telegram so my plate was full at the state tournament this weekend.  So when Sunday came, I was ready to just relax.  Today is a different story.  I’ll be compiling some stats from the season, finishing up all the photos from the state tournament and uploading a few videos.  So check back here this evening for some of that.

Matt Tourdot became Sparta’s first state champion since Troy Lietzau in 1996 and the first Spartan ever to reach 50 wins in a season after he defeated Lodi’s Cody Endres 7-0 to win the 215-pound division two state championship.  More to come tomorrow, but here are a few photos from tonight’s finals match.  Congrats Matt on a great season!

Matt Tourdot can do what no other Spartan has ever done by doing something he has already done this year.  Tourdot will look to become the first Spartan state champion since Troy Lietzau in 1996 and the first Spartan ever to win 50 matches in a year.  To do so, he will have to defeat Lodi’s Cody Endres and he did just that last weekend topping Endres by pin in 2:30 in the sectional semifinals.

Tourdot defeated previously unbeaten Cody Wedde 7-3 to advance to the division two state championship at 215 pounds.  The win improved Tourdot’s record to 49-0 on the year and set a new team record for most wins in a single season.  The previous record holder was Jared Rickert with 48 wins during the 2006-07 season.

At 189 pounds, Jordan Stanek saw his year end with two losses today.  In the quarterfinals, Stanek fell to Mosinee’s Dylan Iczkowski 9-0.  In the consolation bracket, Stanek’s season and career came to a close with an 11-0 loss to Melrose-Mindoro/G.E.T.’s Jorey Dobbs.  Stanek finishes the year with a 44-7 record.  The 44 wins are third most in team history behind Rickert’s 48 in 2006-07 and Tourdot’s yet-to-be-determined total this year.

I’ve uploaded a bunch of photos from today’s action and you can check those out below.  Also, check out the video of Tourdot’s quarterfinal win over Pewaukee’s Kent Girmscheid and Jordan Stanek’s match against Mosinee’s Dylan Iczkowski.

Let’s start off with the photos.  The first 24 are of Stanek and Tourdot while the rest are from other matches throughout the day…

2010 State Wrestling Day Two – Images by Derek Montgomery

And here is a video of Tourdot defeating Girmscheid 5-0…

Finally, here is a video of Stanek’s match against Iczkowski…

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Matt Tourdot will wrestle for the state championship Saturday evening.  The finals round starts at 600pm, but with Tourdot being one of the last weight classes, I wouldn’t expect him to take the mat until sometime around 9pm.  I may briefly update the web site with the results shortly after the match is over, but I’m going to be heading home fairly quickly after the end of his match so a full update with video and photos may have to wait until Sunday morning.

Here are some images from Adam Wiedl, Brandon Rickert and Jordan Stanek’s matches at the state tournament.  The first 16 are of Wiedl, Rickert and Stanek while the rest are from other matches.  Expect another gallery like this tomorrow night after Friday’s action.

2010 State Wrestling Day One – Images by Derek Montgomery