Sparta had one of their more impressive victories over Tomah in recent memory Thursday night. The Spartans won 10 of 14 matches and racked up five pins to power their way to a 45-11 victory in Tomah and secure 2nd place in the MVC.  It is the sixth straight year the Spartans have finished second or better in the MVC.

After Sparta took a 12-0 lead, Tomah battled back to within 15-11, but then Michael Beeler started a string of six Spartan wins that included four pins to lock up the victory. Picking up pins for the Spartans were Toby Mosley, Michael Beeler, John Roddick, Tristan Zurfluh and Derek VonRuden.  Full results are below…

138  –  Paul Vantassel defeated Tanner Dworak (Tomah) 4-3
145  –  Michael Murnane defeated Drew Miller (Tomah) 10-4
152  –  Toby Mosley pinned Patrick Cullen (Tomah) 3:40
160  –  Jacob Dubord (Tomah) defeated Bob Ragan 6-3
170  –  Jordan Reisinger (Tomah) defeated Greg Skon 7-5 in overtime
182  –  Mike Von Haden (Tomah) defeated Kyle Burkhalter 3-1
195  –  Dan Dawley defeated Garrett Serna (Tomah) 6-5
220  –  Lucas Stromberg-Windau (Tomah) defeated Logan Degenhardt 7-3
285  –  Michael Beeler pinned Dakota Stevies (Tomah) 3:20
106  –  Dylan Winchel defeated Patrick Adler (Tomah) 6-5
113  –  John Roddick pinned Katen Moser (Tomah) 1:41
120  –  Brock Polhamus defeated Logan Pollack (Tomah) 7-4
126  –  Tristan Zurfluh pinned Dylan Hanson (Tomah) 3:14
132  –  Derek VonRuden pinned Trenton Littlegeorge (Tomah) 1:54
SPARTA 45 – Tomah 11
Tomah penalized one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct at 160 pounds

This Spartan senior class accomplished some great things against Tomah. They went 3-1 in four years and ended Tomah’s run of six straight MVC championships.  Now, that senior class must turn their attention to getting themselves and the rest of the team ready for the tournament season.  The Spartans are off until next Saturday, February 11th when they travel to West Salem for the WIAA division two regional. The team champion of that regional will then wrestle in a team sectional in Wisconsin Dells on February 14th.

The win over Tomah pushes the Spartans’ dual record to 18-3 on the year and 5-1 in the conference. Congrats Sparta!

9:37 pm  –  Tristan Zurfluh continued Sparta’s dominance over the Timberwolves with a pin of Tomah’s Dylan Hanson in 3:14. Score is now Sparta 39 – Tomah 11.

9:32 pm  –  Brock Polhamus just defeated Logan Pollack 7-4 to increase the Spartans’ lead to 33-11.

9:24 pm  –  Thanks to John Roddick’s pin at 113 over Katen Moser in 1:41 and Jacob Dubord’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Sparta will win their third straight dual over Tomah. Roddick’s pin puts the Spartans up by 19 with three matches to go at 30-11.

9:19 pm  –  Dylan Winchel increased Sparta’s lead to 24-11 with a tough 6-5 victory over Tomah’s Patrick Adler.

9:11 pm  –  Michael Beeler comes up big for Sparta with a pin in 3:20 over Tomah’s Dakota Stevies. Sparta is now up 21-11 with five matches to go.

9:03 pm  –  Tomah’s Lucas Stromberg Windau countered Sparta’s win at 195 with a 7-3 victory over Logan Degenhard to pull the Timberwolves to within four of Sparta at 15-11.

8:56 pm  –  At 195 pounds, Daniel Dawley stopped Tomah’s win streak at three with a 6-5 victory over Garrett Serna. Score is now Sparta 15, Tomah 8.

8:47 pm  –  At 182 pounds, Tomah’s Mike Von Haden defeated Kyle Burkhalter 3-1. Score is now Sparta 12, Tomah 8.

8:41 pm  –  Tomah has been penalized one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct on Jacob Dubord. Score is now Sparta 12, Tomah 5.

8:39 pm  –  Make that two in a row for Tomah. At 170 pounds, Tomah’s Jordan Reisinger defeated Greg Skon 7-5 in overtime. Score is now Sparta 12, Tomah 6.

8:31 pm  –  At 160 pounds, Tomah’s Jacob Dubord defeated Bob Ragan 6-3. Score is now Sparta 12, Tomah 3.

8:23 pm  –  Hello everyone. We’re three matches into this year’s Sparta-Tomah dual and Sparta leads 12-0. The match started at 138 pounds and saw Paul Vantassel eek out a 4-3 victory over Tomah’s Tanner Dworak. Michael Murnane followed that with a 10-4 decision over Drew Miller before Toby Mosley pinned Patrick Cullen at 152 pounds to give the Spartans a 12-0 lead.

Badgerstatewrestling.com has posted videos of the finals at this year’s Sparta Invite. That means you can watch Dylan Winchel, Derek VonRuden, Paul Vantassel, Toby Mosley, Bob Ragan and Kyle Burkhalter wrestle.  Links have been added to the video page and are below if you need a break from work or school and want to watch some wresting.

• Dylan Winchel vs. Austin McCartney (Westfield)
• Derek VonRuden vs. Michael Chadwick (Neillsville)
• Paul Vantassel vs. Trey Theisen (New Lisbon)
• Toby Mosley vs. Damien Luchterland (Neillsville)
• Bob Ragan vs. Mitchell Pohlman (Neillsville)
• Kyle Burkhalter vs. Blake Welu (Iowa-Grant)

This week’s wrestler profile is senior 152-pounder Toby Mosley. Mosley will enter Thursday’s dual against Tomah with a 35-7 record on the season and an honorable mention ranking in division two according to Wisconsin Wrestling Online.

Name:  Toby Mosley
Year/Grade:  Senior
Sports involved in: Cross Country and Wrestling
Wrestling highlights:  Regional champ, Wisconsin National Team Member, 2x National All-American
Cumulative GPA:  3.512
Favorite subject:  Pottery
Three words to describe me:  Studly. Confident. Intelligent.
I got my start in sports: Wrestling in first grade
I wish I could wrestle (team or individual):  In the Olympics
My most memorable moment in sports:  Placing fifth at nationals
I like about high school sports:  The competition
I enjoy wrestling because:  The best are on the team. No politics involved.
Advice:  Don’t screw up.
My role model is:  Jim Gruenwald
Most inspirational teammate:  Michael Murnane
My family also includes:  Mom Shawn, Dad Larry and a brother, two dogs.
Words to live by:  Get money, get paid.
Favorite athlete:  Henry Cejudo
Favorite team:  Oklahoma Sooners
Favorite opponent:  Jesse Thielke
Favorite movie:  Pumping Iron
Favorite TV show:  Blue Mountain State
Favorite food:  Steak
Favorite restaurant:  P.F. Chang’s
Favorite sport on TV:  Football
Favorite place to visit:  Washington D.C.
I want to visit:  Germany
Top five songs on my iPod:  Monster by Kanye West, Sexy and I know It by LMFAO, How Can We Be Lovers by Michael Bolton, Undead by Hollywood Undead, No. 5 by Hollywood Undead
Favorite website:  Youtube
Radio pre-set:  Z93
I drive:  Toyota Celica
Dream car:  McClaren F1LM
I like Sparta High School because:  It’s pretty neat.
I wish we could compete against:  Bears
I wish I could meet:  Arnold Schwarzenegger
Dream date:  Long walks on the beach
Dream gift:  The world
My perfect day:  Playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 

While the varsity was wrestling at the Bob Swalla Memorial Duals, Sparta’s varsity reserve and JV were wrestling at a varsity reserve meet in Sauk Prairie and “JV State” in Tomah.

The varsity reserve tournament was a dual format. Wrestling in Sauk Prairie were Justin Marx, Zak Marcellus, Vasily Sharp, Austin Feltner, JD Julson, Margo Degenhardt, Dillon Erickson, Lucas Peters, Walker Polhamus, Erik Larsen, Chase Bernett and Joseph Benish.

The Spartans wrestled five duals in Sauk Prairie against other reserve teams. Here’s how they did…

• Sauk Prairie 42  –  Sparta 31
• Lodi 50  –  Sparta 34
• Sparta 48  –  Sugar River/Verona 19
• Sparta 36  –  Aquinas 18
• Sparta 45  –  Milwaukee Washington 30

It was a good day for the Spartans as the varsity reserve finished with a 3-2 record and were competitive in their two losses. A bit farther north we saw five Spartans in action at “JV State” in Tomah.  Here’s how those guys did…

106 – Corey Zimmerman’s place is unknown and has scored 2.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Corey Zimmerman (Sparta) won by decision over Caitlyn Kaz (Chippewa Falls) (Dec 4-2)
Quarterfinal – Fue Yang (Holmen) won by pin over Corey Zimmerman (Sparta) (Pin 1:20)
Cons. Round 2 – Cody Pacyna (Stevens Point) won by pin over Corey Zimmerman (Sparta) (Pin 4:05)

138 – Isiah Ortiz’s place is unknown and has scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Mark Sebree (Stevens Point) won by tech fall over Isiah Ortiz (Sparta) (TF 17-2)
Cons. Round 1 – Isiah Ortiz (Sparta) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 – Isiah Ortiz (Sparta) received a bye () (Bye)
Consolation 1st – Dylan Schielke (Merrill) won by pin over Isiah Ortiz (Sparta) (Pin 0:31)

152 – Keith Ender’s place is 6th and has scored 4.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Keith Ender (Sparta) won by decision over Toua Yang (Holmen) (Dec 13-7)
Quarterfinal – Zach Henry (Baraboo) won by major decision over Keith Ender (Sparta) (Maj 8-0)
Cons. Round 2 – Keith Ender (Sparta) won by injury default over Sonny Xiong (Holmen) (Inj.)
5th Place Match – Justin Martell (Chippewa Falls) won by pin over Keith Ender (Sparta) (Pin 4:25)

152 – Cody Devorak’s place is unknown and has scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Steve Fehlberg (Merrill) won by decision over Cody Devorak (Sparta) (Dec 12-7)
Cons. Round 1 – Cody Devorak (Sparta) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 – Cale Whitehead (Wausau East) won by decision over Cody Devorak (Sparta) (Dec 5-2)

170 – Randall Giraud’s place is unknown and has scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Riley Fichter (Baraboo) won by pin over Randall Giraud (Sparta) (Pin 0:21)
Cons. Round 1 – Gage Borchardt (Wausau East) won by major decision over Randall Giraud (Sparta) (Maj 12-2)

With the varsity reserve dual in Sauk Prairie and the junior varsity tournament in Tomah, that concludes all non-varsity wrestling for the 2011-12 season. Congrats to those wrestlers on a fine season. Now they will continue to practice and get the varsity in shape for the upcoming Tomah dual and the tournament season that follows.

Both Dylan Winchel and Brock Polhamus finished the day at 4-0 for the Spartans.

The Spartan were 2-2 on the day in their first trip to the Bob Swalla Memorial Duals in Kasson, Minn. The victories included one over Byron and another over the 11th-ranked team in Minnesota’s Class AAA, which is equivalent to division one in Wisconsin. The losses included one in the championship round to Simley, the 11th ranked team in the country and to Jackson County Central, the top ranked team in Minnesota Class A.

In pool action, the Spartans pounded Byron 50-19 before taking down Centennial 42-23 to advance to the championship bracket. In the first match of the championship bracket, the Spartans drew Simley and were down only 10-9 through five matches before Simley turned it on in the middle and upper weights en route to a 50-16 victory. That meant the Spartans would face Jackson County Central for third place. Sparta led the entire dual until the final two weights as JCC used the strength of their upper weights to move past Sparta with a 35-27 victory. This was definitely a different level of competition than the Spartans are used too, but it was good competition.

Individually on the day, the Spartans performed as follows…

106  –  Dylan Winchel, 4-0 with two pins
113  –  John Roddick, 2-2 with a pin and major decision
120  –  Brock Polhamus, 4-0 with a pin
126  –  Tristan Zurfluh, 1-3 with a pin
132  –  Derek VonRuden, 3-1 with a major decision
138  –  Paul Vantassel, 1-3
145  –  Michael Murnane, 3-1 with two major decisions
152  –  Toby Mosley, 3-1 with a tech fall
160  –  Bob Ragan, 0-4
170  –  Greg Skon, 3-1 with three pins
182  –  Kyle Burkhalter, 2-2 with two pins
195  –  Daniel Dawley, 1-3
285  –  Mike Beeler, 0-4

Full results for each dual are below…

Sparta 50  -  Byron 19
106  –  Dylan Winchel pinned Alex Bertram (Byron) 1:47
113  –  John Roddick maj. dec. Ryan Thompson (Byron) 12-1
120  –  Brock Polhamus dec. Isaac Marolt (Byron) 6-0
126  –  Jake Bieber (Byron) pinned Tristan Zurfluh 4:46
132  –  Derek VonRuden dec. Isaac Jestus (Byron) 6-0
138  –  Brett Bradford (Byron) maj. dec. Paul Vantassel 11-0
145  –  Michael Murnane maj. dec. Tanner Long (Byron) 9-1
152  –  Toby Mosley won by forfeit
160  –  Brian Bertram (Byron) dec. Robert Ragen 8-4
170  –  Greg Skon pinned Nick Douglas (Byron) 5:17
182  –  Kyle Burkhalter pinned Matt Hintz (Byron) 5:51
195  –  Daniel Dawley won by forfeit
220  –  Logan Degenhardt won by forfeit
285  –  Mike Szynal (Byron) pinned Mike Beeler 2:17

Sparta 42  -  Centennial 23
106  —  Dylan Winchel pinned Mike Mischke (Centennial) 1:22
113  —  Matt Mulberry (Centennial) pinned John Roddick 4:47
120  —  Brock Polhamus dec. Amakale Tilleskjor (Centennial) 4-3
126  —  Tristan Zurfluh pinned Austin Miller (Centennial) 4:35
132  —  Derek VonRuden dec. Nate Stott (Centennial) 7-5
138  —  Paul Vantassel dec. Tom Handley (Centennial) 4-2
145  —  Mike Murnane maj. dec. Jake Solberg (Centennial) 13-4
152  —  Toby Mosley tech. fall Wes Hendrickson (Centennial) 22-6
160  —  Will Noll (Centennial) maj. dec. Robert Ragan 11-1
170  —  Leaf Palmer (Centennial) dec. Greg Skon 7-5
182  —  Kyle Burkhalter pinned Jake Nelson (Centennial) :32
195  —  Justice Davis (Centennial) maj. dec. Daniel Dawley 12-2
220  —  Logan Degenhardt pinned Spencer Huffman (Centennial) 3:51
285  —  Andrew Gustafson (Centennial) pinned Mike Beeler 3:31

Simley 50  -  Sparta 16
106  —  Dylan Winchel dec. Cortez Arredondo (Simley) 8-2
113  —  Kyle Gliva (Simley) tech. fall John Roddick 23-8
120  —  Brock Polhamus dec. Rudy Delao (Simley) 5-0
126  —  Juan Torres (Simley) maj. dec. Tristan Zurfluh 17-9
132  —  Derek VonRuden maj. dec. Austin Monsrud (Simley) 8-0
138  —  Mack Short (Simley) pinned Paul Vantassel 4:50
145  —  Jake Short (Simley) pinned Mike Murnane :34
152  —  Nick Wanzek (Simley) tech. fall Toby Mosley 17-2
160  —  Logan Busch (Simley) dec. Robert Ragan 8-4
170  —  Greg Skon pinned Steven Rud (Simley) 3:47
182  —  Micah Barnes (Simley) pinned Kyle Burkhalter :31
195  —  Cody Hazelett (Simley) pinned Daniel Dawley :39
220  —  Jack Ryan (Simley) dec. Logan Degenhardt 12-5
285  —  Matt Kadrlik (Simley) pinned Mike Beeler 1:05

Third Place Bout
Jackson County Central 35  -  Sparta 27
106  —  Dylan Winchel dec. Kyle Edlin (JCC) 8-3
113  —  John Roddick pinned Scott Rinquist (JCC) 1:04
120  —  Brock Polhamus pinned Dakota Rossow (JCC) 1:24
126  —  Jordan Biehn (JCC) dec. Tristan Zurfluh 5-4
132  —  Elliot Jurries (JCC) dec. Derek VonRuden 8-7
138  —  Keegan Moore (JCC) dec. Paul Vantassel 9-4
145  —  Mike Murnane dec. Paden Moore (JCC) 10-6
152  —  Toby Mosley dec. Luke Norland (JCC) 10-4
160  —  Darick Vancura (JCC) tech. fall Robert Ragan 18-2
170  —  Greg Skon pinned Nate Guggisberg (JCC) 3:10
182  —  Cooper Moore (JCC) pinned Kyle Burkhalter 1:34
195  —  Pat Hanson (JCC) pinned Dan Dawley :51
220  —  Jack Ziemer (JCC) dec. Logan Degenhardt 2-0
285  —  Alex Tewes (JCC) pinned Mike Beeler 1:03

The Spartans wrestled tough against some great teams Saturday. Simley is going to beat 99% of the teams they wrestle yet the Spartans showed they wouldn’t get steamrolled and were competitive in half the matches. Sparta could have defeated the top ranked small school team in Minnesota.  They were just a couple one-point decisions from swinging the dual and Sparta showed they could deliver a beatdown to one of Minnesota’s top large school teams in Centennial.

The Spartans also faced some very tough individual competition Saturday. In the dual with Simley, Mike Murnane was pinned by Jake Short in 34 seconds. Short is ranked 5th  n the nation at 145 pounds. At 152, Simley’s Nick Wanzek tech falled Toby Mosley. Wanzek is currently 14th in the nation at 152. In the dual with Jackson County Central, Kyle Burkhalter lasted only 1:34 against Cooper Moore who entered the match ranked 9th in the country at 170.

It wasn’t all bad for Sparta. In the Jackson County Central dual, Dylan Winchel handled Kyle Edlin 8-3. Edlin entered the match ranked no. 9 in MN Class A. VonRuden wrestled Elliot Jurries tough at 132 to the tune of an 8-7 loss. Jurries came into the match with VonRuden ranked 7th at 126 pounds. At 145, Michael Murnane defeated JCC’s Paden Moore 10-6 with Moore entering the match ranked 9th at 145 pounds and Toby Mosley pounded JCC’s Luke Norland 10-4. Norland was ranked 5th at 152 pounds.

With the 2-2 record on the day, the Spartans move to 17-3 on the  year. Next up for the Spartans is the annual end-of-the-MVC-season dual with Tomah. That will go down Thursday with the JV starting at 6:15 and the varsity taking the mat at 7:30.

6:23 pm  –  At 220 pounds, Logan Degenhardt lost 2-0 and at 285, Michael Beeler was pinned as JCC used the strength of their upper weights to battle back against Sparta and win 35-27.  We’ll have a full recap of the day’s results later tonight, but the Spartans battled tough in their third place bout against the top ranked team in Minnesota Class A.

6:13 pm — At 182 pounds, Kyle Burkhalter was pinned.  At 190 pounds, Dan Dawley also lost by pin. 27-26 in favor of Sparta with two matches to go. Logan Degenhardt needs to win his match at 220 or Michael Beeler will be forced to win his match against one of the top ranked heavyweights in Minnesota Class A.

6:09 pm  –  At 160 pounds, Bob Ragan was tech falled and at 170, JCC put in an alternate and GregSkon picked up a pin to put the Spartans up 27-14 with four matches remaining.

6:00 pm  –  At 152 pounds, Toby Mosley picked up a solid 10-4 victory over no. 5 ranked Luke Norland to put the Spartans up 21-9. Big matches coming up.  JCC’s two top ranked wrestlers face off against Bob Ragan and Greg Skon. At 170, Cooper Moore is ranked 9th nationally.

5:54 pm  –  After 145, Sparta still leads JCC 18-9.  Mike Murnane picked up a big win over no. 9 ranked Paden Moore by a 10-4 score. At 138, Paul Vantassel lost 9-4 to no. 8 ranked Keegan Moore.  At 126, Tristan Zurfluh dropped a 4-3 decision and Derek VonRuden followed that up with a 9-8 loss at 132. Sparta will need to pick up more points before JCC’s top ranked guys at 160 and 170 wrestle.

5:24 pm  –  After 126, the Spartans lead Jackson County Central 15-3. Dylan Winchel won the opening match of the dual 8-2. Tristan Zurfluh just dropped a 4-3 decision at 126. John Roddick and Brock Polhamus picked up pins for the Spartans at 113 and 120.

4:56 pm  –  Individual results from the Simley dual…

106  –  Dylan Winchel won 8-2
113  –  John Roddick lost 23-7
120  –  Brock Polhamus won 5-0
126  –  Tristan Zurfluh lost 17-9
132  –  Derek VonRuden won 4-0
138  –  Paul Vantasse lost 9-1
145  –  Michael Murnane was pinned in 34 seconds
152  –  Toby Mosley lost 17-2
160  –  Bob Ragan lost 8-4
170  –  Greg Skon won by pin in 3:41
182  –  Kyle Burkhalter was pinned in 31 seconds
195  –  Dan Dawley was pinned in 39 seconds
220  –  Logan Degenhardt lost 12-5
285  –  Michael Beeler was pinned in 1:06

4:50 pm  –  It started off well for the Spartans. After five matches, the Spartans led Simley 10-9, but then Simley’s big guns took over and propelled them to a 50-16 victory over Sparta. On the other side of the bracket, Kasson-Mantorville defeated Jackson County Central 42-30. That means the Spartans will wrestle Jackson County Central for third place.

4:00 pm  –  The Spartans have come out of pool action at 2-0 and will face the 11th ranked team in the country in Simley in the first match of the championship bracket. It’s about to get a little tougher for the Spartans.

What didn’t appear tough for the Spartans was their pool action. Sparta pounded Byron 50-13 and then followed that up with a solid 42-23 victory over the 11th ranked team in Minnesota’s Class AAA.  If Sparta wins, they will wrestle the winners of the Jackson County Central and Kasson-Mantorville dual.  If they lose, they will face the losers of that dual.

Individual results from the Byron and Centennial duals are as follows…

Byron
106  –  Dylan Winchel won by pin in 1:47
113  –  John Roddick won 12-1
120  –  Brock Polhamus won 6-0
126  –  Tristan Zurfluh was pinned in 4:45
132  –  Derek VonRuden won 6-0
138  –  Paul Vantassel lost 11-0
145  –  Michael Murnane won 9-1
152  –  Toby Mosley won by forfeit
160  –  Bob Ragan lost 8-4
170  –  Greg Skon won by pin in 5:17
182  –  Kyle Burkhalter won by pin in 5:51
195  –  Dan Dawley won by forfeit
220  –  Logan Degenhardt won by forfeit
285  –  Michael Beeler was pinned in 2:17

Centennial
106  –  Dylan Winchel won by pin in 1:22
113  –  John Roddick lost by pin in 4:37
120  –  Brock Polhamus won 4-3
126  –  Tristan Zurfluh won by pin in 4:35
132  –  Derek VonRuden won 7-5
138  –  Paul Vantassel won 4-2
145  –  Michael Murnane won 13-4
152  –  Toby Mosley won 22-6
160  –  Bob Ragan lost 11-1
170  –  Greg Skon lost 7-5
182  –  Kyle Burkhalter won by pin in 0:32
195  –  Dan Dawley lost 12-2
220  –  Logan Degenhardt won by pin in 3:51
285  –  Michael Beeler lost by pin in 3:23

Other dual results are as follows…

• Lewiston-Altura 54  –  Waseca 13
• United South Central/Alden-Conger 46  –  Fairmont 36
• Simley 68  –  NRHEG 10
• Jackson County Central 60  –  Waseca 15
• Kasson-Mantorville 50  –  United South Central/Alden-Conger 27
• Jackson County Central 58  –  Lewiston-Altura 24
• Kasson-Mantorville 52  –  Fairmont 12

11:27 am  –  This just in from Larry Mosley who is in Kasson.  The Spartans have won their first dual over Byron 50-19. Next up for the Spartans is 11th-ranked Centennial.  Dual should start soon.

11:01 am  –  The Spartans will avoid Simley, Kasson-Mantorville and Jackson County Central in pool action.  In the Spartans’ pool there is Byron and Centennial.  Sparta will wrestle Byron first followed by Centennial.  Centennial is ranked 11th in Minnesota Class AAA, which is equivalent to division one in Wisconsin.  They have one ranked wrestler in Andrew Gustafson (7th at 285).  Action should be underway against Byron as that dual was slated to start at 10am followed by the Centennial dual at 11:45am.  Below is the pool brackets for today’s tournament…

bob-swalla-2012-brackets

Simley's Nick Wanzek (red headgear) wrestles Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran's Joey Stadnick in the 2011 Minnesota Class AA 145 pound semifinal. Wanzek enters the tournament ranked 14th in the nation at 152 pounds.

Sparta travels to Kasson, Minn. this weekend for the Bob Swalla Memorial Duals hosted by Kasson-Mantorville. The tournament features two nationally ranked teams in Simley (11th) and Kasson-Mantorville (43rd). For comparison’s sake, Kasson-Mantorville is ranked one spot ahead of Luxemburg-Casco who beat Wisconsin Rapids 33-29 earlier this year. Rapids does not show up on the national rankings. It’s definitely a competition upgrade from the Rochester tournament Sparta competed in and won the past two years.

Nationally ranked wrestlers at the tournament include Simley’s Jake Short (5th at 145), Simley’s Nick Wanzek (14th at 152), Jackson County Central’s Cooper Moore (9th at 170) and Kasson-Mantorville’s Broc Berge (17th at 195).

State ranked teams at the tournament include Simley (1st in MN Class AA), Kasson-Mantorville (4th in MN Class AA) and Jackson County Central (1st in Minnesota Class A) and Centennial (11th in Minnesota Class AAA).  The tournament packs state ranked wrestlers too. 41 to be exact if you count Sparta’s six ranked Wisconsin wrestlers.  It’s going to be a tough tournament.

In total there will be ten teams and they are Byron, Centennial, Jackson, Lewiston-Altura, NRHEG, Simley, United South Central/Alden-Conger, Waseca, Fairmont, and Sparta.  Last year Simley defeated Kasson-Mantorville 41-21 to win the tournament. Jackson County Central defeated Zumbrota-Mazeppa 42-36 for third and Stewartville defeated Centennial 40-28 for fifth.  Full dual results from last year can be found by clicking here.

Did you miss ordering team and individual photos this year?  Maybe a relative wants a few pictures or maybe you’d like some reprints?  That’s possible now with the addition of the 2011 middle school and 2011-12 high school team and individual pictures to online galleries.  Click the two links below to browse the galleries and make orders.  The links will always be available under the “Photos” link at the top of the page.

2011 Sparta Middle School Wrestling

2011-12 Sparta High School Wrestling

Note: If you don’t see your middle school wrestler in the online gallery, that’s because I have only uploaded those photos I edited.  There were almost 70 wrestlers getting their picture taken this year so to save time I only edited photos of those wrestlers I received orders for.  If your kid was at picture day, just drop me a note and I’ll upload it to the gallery.

Sparta used eight forfeits to cruise to a 75-3 victory over La Crosse Central Thursday night. The dual was a far cry from Central teams a decade ago that won back-to-back MVC titles. Now, they can’t even put a full team on the mat.  The one bright spot for Central was Ben Thornton’s victory at 113 over John Roddick. Thornton is the top ranked wrestler at 106 pounds in division one and was a state runner up last year.

Results from last night’s dual are below…

120  –  Brock Polhamus pinned James Werner (La Crosse Central) 3:01
126  –  Tristan Zurfluh won by forfeit
132  –  Derek VonRuden  won by forfeit
138  –  Paul Vantassel tech falled Koy Rolff (La Crosse Central) 16-0
145  –  Michael Murnane  won by forfeit
152  –  Toby Mosley pinned Arthur Hoglund (La Crosse Central) 1:56
160  –  Bob Ragan  won by forfeit
170  –  Greg Skon  won by forfeit
182  –  Kyle Burkhalter  won by forfeit
195  –  Dan Dawley  won by forfeit
220  –  Logan Degenhardt  won by forfeit
285  –  Michael Beeler pinned Peter Medinger (La Crosse Cenral) 3:45
106  –  Justin Marx major decisioned Josh Kuhse (La Crosse Central) 9-1
113  –  Ben Thornton (La Crosse Central) defeated John Roddick 8-1
SPARTA 75 – LA CROSSE CENTRAL 3

The Spartans won’t have such an easy road Saturday when they head to the Kasson-Mantorville duals in Kasson, Minn.  Waiting for them is the top ranked Class AA (equivalent to D2 in Wisconsin) team in Minnesota as well as the 4th-ranked team. Full preview to come later.