The high school wrestling postseason truly brings the best out in everyone, hitting their peak conditions and seeing who can make a run at a State title without losing focus for a single match.

Wisconsin’s Regionals took place over the weekend, with 25 of the county’s wrestlers between the boys and girls qualifying for Sectionals and five winning Regionals.

It all started Friday night with the girls’ Regional, the first of its kind in the state. River Falls and Prescott both traveled to Holmen for the event where there are no divisions, unlike the boys’ league.

River Falls saw three wrestlers advance with Olivia Luther taking second at 100, Providence Kretzmann taking third at 145 and Izzy Davenport taking fourth at 114 to all move on to Sectionals.

“It was fun because it was the first ever girls Regional tournament in Wisconsin, so it was fun to have a handful of girls involved in that,” River Falls Head Coach Cameron Loomis said. “All the girls we have, it’s either their first or second year wrestling, so it’s kind of a breath of fresh air. They’re excited about the new opportunity.”

Loomis said it almost felt like a celebration of girls wrestling as much as a postseason event as all the teams and fans came in energized.

With a good day, Loomis said all three wrestlers are capable of advancing to State.

Prescott also had three wrestlers advance with Charlette Kellogg placing third at 107, Addyson Allsop placing third at 120 and Savannah Whiting placing second at 235.

“I saw really, really good growth,” Prescott Head Coach Ian Ruble said. “For a lot of our girls, they never stepped foot on the mat before in a live situation at the start of the season. For the five we had wrestle on Friday at Regionals, it was like a full-circle growth kind of moment for them.”

Girls’ and women’s wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports in the area right now, leaving programs like Prescott and River Falls thankful to get the head start of being involved off the bat.

“I think it’s going to be a huge head start,” Ruble said. “I think overall, girls wrestling is going to cause an uptick in the boys wrestling as well just because, as coaches, we’re getting better at seeing different perspectives as to how to teach and expand the knowledge of our wrestlers.”

Ruble said winning the first round is going to be extremely important at Sectionals.

Boys

After sending two through to Sectionals a year ago and both of those wrestlers graduating, Ellsworth wanted to make a statement and did. Eight wrestlers qualified through to Sectionals this time around at the Baldwin-Woodville D2 Regional.

The qualifiers were Austin Peterson (third place at 106), Parker Lampman (third place at 113), Noah Walker (fourth at 120), Henry Penn (third at 138), Matthew Lundstrom (fourth at 157), Blake Nelson (second at 175), Sawyer Van Horn (fourth at 190) and Jeremiah Johnson (third at 285). Ellsworth took fourth of 13 teams, two spots out of Sectional qualification as a squad.

“We wrestled very, very well,” Ellsworth Head Coach Carson Huppert said. “We showed up on a very important day.”

The postseason can be a grind for wrestlers, so the Ellsworth team focuses on putting in the tough practices early in the week to be properly tuned for the weekend events. This strategy paid off in a huge Regionals for the Panthers.

“We work on it in our practice room,” Huppert said. “We work hard in the beginning of the week and we just taper off.”

Lundstrom was one wrestler who stood out to Huppert the most, battling through some steep competition including St. Croix Falls’ Payton Kelly in the fourth-place match. If Lundstrom had lost to the 30-17 wrestler, he would not have qualified, but he found it in him to win 20-6. Huppert also shouted out his wrestlers that did not make the cut for Sectionals, saying everyone seemingly had their shining moments.

“Every day you just got to step on, you’ve got to give it your best,” Huppert said. “Every day’s another opportunity, and you’ve just got to show up and be thankful for them.”

Huppert said the team has grown a lot as wrestlers and as teammates. It was a team that was not the tightest when the season began, growing together to now become a family.

“We grew a lot from the beginning to where we are now,” Huppert said. “They’re just kind of starting to gel. They’re hanging, they’re becoming really good friends.”

Spring Valley/Elmwood had four qualifiers highlighted with a win from Asher Turner in the 165-pound bracket at the Edgar Regional.

“Asher Turner is a very talented wrestler, and his confidence continues to grow every day. In the Regional finals, Asher was able to get his redemption against a kid who he lost a close match to earlier in the year. Asher is starting to really believe in his abilities and I'm very excited for what is yet to come,” Head Coach Gable Frandsen said.

That opponent was Grant Salber, a 35-17 wrestler out of Marathon that has proven to be too much to handle for many.

Spring Valley/Elmwood missed the team cut with a sixth-place finish of 14 teams. Sam Schmitt (second at 138), Doost Kaker (second at 157) and Jack Steinmeyer (second at 215) were the other qualifiers.

“SVE is having a fantastic year of learning and growth. With only one senior on the team and with a big eighth grade class coming in, the coaching staff is very excited as to what we can accomplish as a team next season and for the years to come,” Frandsen said.

It is going to take a lot as they enter the final weeks, which SVE feels ready for.

“For Sectionals, there are eight people in each bracket and the top three qualify for State. From here on out, each match is a battle of wills and who wants the victory more,” Frandsen said. “Entire seasons are on the line and all of the wrestlers at sectionals are skilled; it is my opinion that the wrestler with the higher mental strength will prevail.”

Frandsen said some wrestlers might be mentally exhausted as the end of the year approaches. This is something he feels his wrestlers need to take advantage of.

“I would advise my wrestlers to take the tournament one match at a time, not to pay attention to the opponent's records and to believe in their own abilities,” Frandsen said. “This time of year, many wrestlers are ready to be done and throw in the towel for the season; we are looking to take advantage of those opportunities.”

River Falls was the closest to qualifying as a team for Sectionals, missing out in heartbreaking fashion with a third-place finish in need of second at the Hudson D1 Regional. They did not let this stop them from a massive weekend, featuring five Regional champions.

“Team-wise, we just didn’t have the performances all the way through the lineup like we needed,” Loomis said. “When I kind of sat back and took a look after I had time to cool down a little bit from the long day, it was a pretty good showing.”

Waylon Deaton (113), Jonas Longsdorf (138), Jacob Hutchins (190) and Lincoln McCarty (285) all won their brackets. Oliver Larson (120) and Vinny Costabilo (144) are moving on with runner-up finishes and so is Rieder Loomis (132) with a third-place finish.

“You just have to be in the moment,” Loomis said. “One match at a time and then cross it off, on to the next one. If you’re thinking about your last match or the match ahead, it could end your season.”

Deaton really stood out to Loomis, fighting through some top-tier opponents to win the bracket. Among these were 25-7 Macryn Mannel of Eau Claire North who he pinned in the semifinals and 39-8 Walker Waidelich who he beat 6-4 in the finals.

“When I saw his bracket, I was like I wouldn’t want any other guy on our team to have that one cause he’s just going to need to fight and claw for every match,” Loomis said.

Deaton dropped a weight class from 120 prior to the postseason because it was best for the team and his chances at a deep run. Loomis said this was a massive challenge that showed based off the heart on display when he took the mat.

“He had a look in his eye all day,” Loomis said. “He knew what it took for him to get down there and he was going to make it worth it.”

Loomis said his Wildcats had some scrappy and ugly wins on the day. That type of match is one that decides placements in the postseason.

His advice to his wrestlers is to avoid changing the way they wrestle just because they are higher intensity matches. He wants them to continue to focus on what got them this far in the first place.

Prescott did not have a Sectional qualifier on the boys side at the Baldwin-Woodville Regional, with senior Steven Atherton being the lone placement at sixth in 144, two spots out of qualification.

“We just saw some things that kind of equated to a lack of mat time,” Ruble said. “Sometimes that’s all that makes a difference in these matches.”

Prescott is saying goodbye to its two seniors, Atherton and Grace Haessly (placed fifth at 126 for the girls). The two have made their mark on the team culture.

“Unfortunately, both their seasons ended this past weekend, but they set good examples for our kids,” Ruble said. “They also went out in a respectable manner. They battled hard, they gave it everything they’ve got and that’s kind of what you want to see.”

Ruble thanked his family for putting up with his absence during the busiest time of the year, the postseason.