Badger State Invite

Badger State Preview

by Derek on December 21, 2011

Sparta’s varsity squad will wrestle their last matches of 2011 Friday when they travel to the Alliant Energy Center in Madison for the Badger State Invite. Joining Sparta in the tournament hosted by Stoughton will be Campbellsport, Horicon, Iowa Grant, Janesville Craig, Lomira, Madison Lafollette, Menomonee Falls, Merrill, Oak Creek, Owatonna MN, River Valley, Sauk Prairie, Stoughton, Sycamore IL, Waterford, Waukesha South, Waukesha West and Waunakee.

Sparta will see some tough competition from all three divisions. According to Wisconsin Wrestling Online, the following teams at the tournament come in ranked or receiving votes: Merrill – 6th D1, Sauk Prairie – 9th D1, Stoughton – HM D1, Iowa Grant – 6th D3 and River Valley – 12th D2. Sparta will want to pay close attention to wrestlers from River Valley as they will be in Sparta’s sectional tournament.

Just as there is no shortage of tough competition at Badger State, the same can be said for the individuals. Here is a peek at some of the ranked wrestlers wrestling at Badger State:

  • 106 – Dylan Winchel – Sparta 9th D2, Caleb Smith – Stoughton 6th D1,
  • 113  -  Nick Stahl – Campbellsport HM D2, Bill Holz – Menomonee Falls 13th D1, Bill Prochniewski – Waukesha South 3rd D1,
  • 120 – Ryan Costello – Campbellsport 3rd D2, Austin Schmidt – Horicon 12th D3, Logan Mills – Iowa Grant 7th D3, Tyler Schardschmidt – Lomira 7th D2, Scott Arneson – Marrill HM D1, Seth LaBodda – Oak Creek 14th D1, Kody Azarian – Waterford 4th D1, Brandon Wade – Waukesha West 7th D1, Jake Paschke – Waunakee 13th D1,
  • 126 – Garrett Schmelling – Merrill 7th D1, Nick Urso – Stoughton 6th D1,
  • 132 – Marcus Reinhardt – Merrill 9th D1, Austyn Alt – River Valley 3rd D2, Austin Fjoser – Sauk Prairie 6th D1,
  • 138 – Rashaun Sparks – Campbellsport 6th D2, Tucker Sarbacker – Iowa Grant 10th D3, Matthew Reinhardt HM D1, Nick Lechnir – River Valley 10th D2, Brandon Sprecher – Sauk Prairie HM D1, Derek VonRuden – Sparta 9th D2, Joe Nelson – Stoughton HM D1,
  • 145 – Jacob Yelinik – Iowa Grant HM D3, Garrett Keller – Lomira HM D2, Joe Crook – River Valley HM D2, Mike Miller – Sauk Prairie 13th D1, Austin Christenson – Waterford 6th D1,
  • 152 – Zack Mulrooney – Janesville Craig HM D1, Mason Reinhardt – Merrill HM D1, Seth Liegel – River Valley 2nd D2, Toby Mosley – Sparta 11th D2, Cody Nannemann – Waterford 13th D1, Kyle Johnson – Waukesha South 4th D1,
  • 160 – Brandon Pierick – Iowa Grant 7th D3, Ray Paul – Merrill 6th D1, Jared Schaaf – Sauk Prairie 9th D1,
  • 170 – Logan Bollant – Iowa Grant 2nd D3, Ethan Cook – Lomira 11th D2,
  • 182 – Blake Welu – Iowa Grant 1st D3, Josh Regazzi – Oak Creek 8th D1, Kyle Burkhalter – Sparta 6th D2,
  • 195 – Taylor Flasch – Campbellsport 12th D2, Spencer Lowery – Madison LaFollette 10th D1, Noah Lassa – Merrill 4th D1, Caleb Sisbach – Sauk Prairie 11th D1, Dillon Dewey – Stoughton 8th D1, Josh Wipperfurth – Waunakee 6th D1
  • 220 – Tyler Schmidt – Merrill 6th D1, Michael Gamboa – Sauk Prairie 7th D1,
  • 285 – Grant Collins – Merrill 12th D1, Mike Heard – Oak Creek 5th D1, Jessie Nelson – Stoughton 3rd D1

That’s a lot of ranked wrestlers. The 120 pound weight class with nine ranked wrestlers looks particularly loaded. Also looking strong are the 138 pound weight class with seven ranked wrestlers, 145 with five ranked guys, 152 with six and 195 with six.

Only one wrestler comes in ranked at the top of his weight class, but five more come in the top three. Iowa Grant’s Blake Welu at 182 pounds is the top ranked wrestler in division three. After that comes Iowa Grant’s Logan Bollant at 170 pounds at no. 2 in his weight class in division three. River Valley’s Seth Liegel also comes into the tournament ranked second at 152 pounds in division two. After that we have a few guys ranked third in their weight classes. Those include Waukesha South’s Bill Prochniewski at 113 in division one, River Valley’s Austyn Alt at 132 pounds in division two and Stoughton’s Jessie Nelson at 285 pounds in division one.

Merrill leads all teams with nine ranked wrestlers followed by Sauk Prairie and Iowa Grant with six, Stoughton with five and Sparta, Campbellsport and River Valley with four apiece.

Badger State is a tournament that Sparta has done pretty well at since first appearing in 2008. That year the Spartans took 5th, followed by 4th in 2009 and 4th again last year.

We will have results throughout the day here on Spartanwrestling.com of Friday’s action at Badger State. Go Spartans!

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The Spartans finished 4th Thursday at the Badger State Invite behind team champs Owatonna (239 points), Sauk Prairie (186) and Campbellsport (161).  Host Stoughton was one spot back of the Spartans in 5th place.

Nick Winchel and Tom Tourdot each took home individual titles to lead the Spartans.  Tourdot’s championship came in dramatic fashion as he won 4-3 in double overtime over the sixth-ranked wrestler in Minnesota’s Class AAA, which is equivalent to division one in Wisconsin.  At 130 pounds, Nick Winchel was rarely pushed throughout the day as he picked up a pin in his first match, a six-point victory in his second match, a major decision victory in his third match and a 4-1 victory in the finals.

Toby Mosley and Morgan Leis each went 3-1 on the day to bring home third place.  Leis’ only loss was by a score of 1-0 in the semifinals.  In his 3rd place match, Mosley squeaked out a 1-0 win to improve to 14-4 on the year.  At 140 pounds, Michael Murnane avenged his first-round 10-6 loss to Matt Hampson of Oak Creek by pinning Hampson in 4:24 in the 7th place match.

There were only two matches between Spartan and River Valley wrestlers on the day.  At 103 pounds, River Valley’s Denver Hood defeated Dylan Winchel 19-12 and at 125, Joe Crook of River Valley took down Derek VonRuden 9-2 in the fifth place match.  These matchups were important to note as these teams may very likely meet at team sectionals in February.

To see how each Spartan did on the day, check out the stats below.  To see how every wrestler did in every match on the day, click here.

103  –  Dylan Winchel, 7th Place, 3-2
112  –  Tristan Zurfluh, 8th Place, 2-3 with a pin
119  –  Bryce Nowaczyk, 8th Place, 2-3 with two pins
125  –  Derek VonRuden, 6th Place, 3-2 with two major decisions
130  –  Nick Winchel, 1st Place, 4-0 with a pin and major decision
135  –  Paul Vantassel,  7th Place, 3-2 with a pin and major decision
140  –  Michael Murnane, 7th Place, 3-2 with two pins
145  –  Toby Mosley, 3rd Place, 3-1 with a pin
152  –  Morgan Leis, 3rd Place, 3-1 with a pin
160  –  Alex Hemmersbach, 8th Place, 2-3 with a pin
171  –  Xavier Lopez, Did Not Place, 1-2 with a pin
189  –  Kyle Burkhalter, Did Not Place, 0-2
215  –  Tom Tourdot, 1st Place, 4-0 with two pins
285  –  Chris Beeler, 4th Place, 2-2 with two pins

Next up for the Spartans is the Spartan JV Tournament six days from now on Wednesday, December 29th here in Sparta.  Head on up to the high school to check out the action if you can.  The varsity is off until Tuesday, January 4th when they take on Weston at home.

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Badger State Invite updates…

by Derek on December 23, 2010

6:2o pm —  Some final results are starting to trickle in from Madison.  Dylan Winchel won his 7th place match by 3-1 decision while Tristan Zurfluh lost a one-point decision in his 7th place match to finish 8th overall.  At 119, Bryce Nowaczyk was shutout 3-0 in his 7th place match.

At 125 pounds, Derek VonRuden took sixth after falling 9-2 in the 5th place match to Joe Crook of River Valley.  At 130 pounds, Nick Winchel brought home an individual title by defeating the sixth-ranked wrestler in division three in Jake Yelinek by a 9-2 score.  Congrats to Nick on the title.  More updates will be coming soon…

4:55 pm —  Sorry everyone for the lack of updates, but I just realized it was December 23rd and I had yet to go Christmas shopping.  I’m back now and here are some updates from Madison…

Owatonna, the third-ranked team in Class AAA in Minnesota (large schools), is running away when it comes to team scores.  Owatonna has 226 points followed by Sauk Prairie with 159, Campbellsport with 142 and the Spartans with 131 points in fourth place.

Individually, Nick Winchel and Tom Tourdot are heading to the finals.  Each are 3-0 on the day.  Winchel gets Iowa Grant’s Jake Yelinek who is 8-1 on the year as a junior in the finals.  Yelinek is ranked 6th in division three according to Wisconsin Wrestling Online.  Tourdot gets Owatonna’s Logan Barrett who is 8-0 on the year as a senior.  Barrett checks in as the 8th-ranked wrestler in Class AAA in Minnesota.

Morgan Leis lost a 1-0 decision at 152 pounds in the semifinals while Toby Mosley dropped a 6-2 decision in his semifinal.  At 285 pounds, Chris Beeler lost a close 5-3 decision in that semifinal.

12:oo pm —  Sparta has completed one round at the Badger State Invite and they find themselves in second place with 28 points behind Owatonna who leads the 17-team tournament with 32 points.  In third place with 27 points is Sauk Prairie and two points back in fourth place is Stoughton with 26 points.

The Spartans went 8-6 in the first round.  In those eight wins, Sparta picked up five pins and two major decisions.  The only match between Sparta and River Valley took place at 103 where Dylan Winchel dropped a 19-12 decision to Denver Hood.

Winners included Derek VonRuden, Nick Winchel, Paul VanTassel, Toby Mosley, Morgan Leis, Alex Hemmersbach, Tom Tourdot and Chris Beeler.  Kyle Burkhalter is in at 189 for Clinton LaBeause.

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Sparta will travel south to Madison for the Badger State Invite Thursday.  Joining Sparta at the invite will be Brookfield Central, Campbellsport, Iowa Grant, Janesville Craig, Little Chute, Lomira, Madison Lafollette, Menomonee Falls, Oak Creek, Owatonna, River Valley, Sauk Prairie, Stoughton, Waterford, Waukesha South and Westosha Central.

There are a number of solid teams at the tournament.  Five teams, Sparta included, come into the tournament ranked according to the latest Wisconsin Wrestling Online polls.  They include Stoughton (Honorable Mention – D1), Campbellsport (7th D2), River Valley (10th D2) and Iowa Grant (9th D3).  The Spartans are currently 8th in division two.

Any matchups with River Valley should be of particular interest to the Spartans.  River Valley and the Spartans are the top-ranked teams in each of their regionals and on paper should be the teams to advance out of those regionals to the team sectionals.  At the team sectionals in Mauston, they would face each other in the first dual of the night.

As usual, you can check Spartanwrestling.com throughout the day for updates on the Spartans’ progress and also on Trackwrestling.com.

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Spartans 4th at Badger State

by Derek on December 23, 2009

Sparta finished fourth–just 5.5 points back of 2nd–at the Badger State Invite Saturday with 151 points.  Host Stoughton won the invite with 208 points.  Finishing just ahead of the Spartans were Iowa Grant with 152.5 points and Franklin with 156.5.

The Spartans had six wrestlers finish in the top five.  Leading the way once again for Sparta was Matt Tourdot who managed to find 2:46 of wrestling on the day.  Tourdot stormed through the tournament picking up pins in 43 seconds, 24 seconds and in the final he took undefeated Steve Sizer of West Bend West down in 1:39.  Sparta’s other finalist, Morgan Leis, ran into a wall against Tyler Veling of Brookfield Central falling by pin in 1:52.

At 119 pounds, Brandon Rickert made his return from sickness and made it count.  Rickert finished 4-1 on the day picking up two pins and beating Kody Azarian of Waterford twice with the second victory a double overtime one to lock up 5th place.  At 130 pounds, Toby Mosley continued an outstanding season by finishing in third place defeating Brandon Frederick of Waterford by pin in 1:28.

For a full match-by-match rundown of how Sparta did, click here.  Or if you just want the abbreviated version, check that out below…

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103  –  Bryce Nowaczyk, 8th Place, 2-3 with two pins
112  –  Adam Wiedl, 6th Place, 3-2 with a pin and a major decision
119  –  Brandon Rickert, 5th Place, 4-1 with two pins
125  –  Nick Winchel, 7th Place, 3-2 with two pins
130  –  Toby Mosley, 3rd Place, 3-1 with a pin
135  –  Derek VonRuden, 8th Place, 2-3 with a pin
140  –  Logan Denasha, Did Not Place, 0-2
145  –  Nick Anderson, Did Not Place, 0-2
152  –  Morgan Leis, 2nd Place, 3-1 with a pin
160  –  Tom Tourdot, 6th Place, 3-1 with a pin and a major decision
171  –  Brandon Brueggen, 5th Place, 4-1 with two pins
189  –  Jordan Stanek, 5th Place, 4-1 with two pins and a major decision
215  –  Matt Tourdot, 1st Place, 4-0 with three pins
285  –  Steve Stevenson, Did Not Place, 1-2 with a pin

Team Scores: Stoughton 208, Franklin 156.5, Iowa Grant 152.5, Sparta 151, Oak Creek 148

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The Spartans will now enter an extended break before returning to action January 9th at the Lancaster Tournament.  In the meantime, the JV will wrestle at their own invitational on Tuesday, Dec. 29th at Sparta High School.  There will be a photo gallery from that tournament.

Keep checking back here over the holidays as we plan on uploading some videos, new sections on the site and more.

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December 23, 2009

Badger State Invite Updates…

6:28 pm —  Sparta is making a move in the standings, but it will still be very hard for them to catch Stoughton.  Sparta is currently in fifth place with 130 points–only eight points back of 2nd place Oak Creek.  That’s a far cry from an hour ago when they were nearly 30 points back [...]

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