(WIAA) – THE TOURNAMENT: The 82nd Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Individual Wrestling Tournament and the fourth Girls Individual Wrestling Tournament will be held in conjunction Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 27-March 1, at the Kohl Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis.
FIRST GIRLS WRESTLING TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: The 2025 Individual Wrestling Tournament will produce the first girls team champion in State history. A girls team champion and runner-up will be recognized based on results of individual performances from the schools represented in the tournament. Girls are scheduled to compete in their first team-formatted State Tournament in 2026-27.
THE SCHEDULE: Below is the schedule of competition for the individual tournament. All weight classes will be wrestled in consecutive order through the classes on a “next available mat” basis within the mat assignments.
Thursday, Feb. 27
Session 1:
Div. 1 Boys & Girls Preliminaries – 2 p.m.
Div. 1 Boys & Girls Quarterfinals – approximately 4:30 p.m.
Div. 2 & 3 Boys Preliminaries – approximately 6 p.m.
Div. 2 & 3 Boys Quarterfinals – approximately 8 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 28
Session 2:
Div. 1 Boys & Girls Consolation Preliminaries – 10 a.m.
Div. 1 Boys & Girls Consolation Quarterfinals – approximately 11:30 a.m.
Div. 2 & 3 Boys Quarterfinals – approximately 11 a.m.
Div. 2 & 3 Boys Consolation Quarterfinals – approximately 1 p.m.
Session 3:
Div. 1 Boys Semifinals at 7 p.m. on mats 1 & 2
Div. 2 Boys Semifinals at 7 p.m. on mats 3 & 5
Div. 3 Boys Semifinals at 7 p.m. on mats 7 & 8
Girls Semifinals at 7 p.m. on mats 4 & 6
Saturday, March 1
Session 4:
Boys Div. 1, 2, 3 & Girls Consolation Semifinals – 10 a.m.
Div. 1, 2, 3 & Girls Fifth-place Matches*
Div. 1, 2, 3 & Girls Third-place Matches*
* Third-place and fifth-place matches will run concurrently by weight class within divisions after all consolation matches are completed.
Session 5:
Boys Division 1 Championships at 5:30 p.m. on mat 1
Girls Championships at 5:30 p.m. on mat 2
Boys Division 2 Championships at 5:30 p.m. on mat 3
Boys Division 3 Championships at 5:30 p.m. on mat 4
2025 TOURNAMENT BY THE NUMBERS: There will be champions crowned in 14 weight classes in three divisions for boys and 12 weight classes in one division for girls. Wrestlers who finished first or second in each weight class at last weekend’s eight Division 1 and girls sectionals qualified for the State Tournament. The top three finishers in each weight class at the four Division 2 and 3 sectionals qualify for the tourney. There are 224 qualifiers for the championships in Division 1 and 168 in both Divisions 2 and 3. The girls have 192 qualifiers. There are 219 programs represented at this year’s individual championships for the boys, including 88 in Division 1, 65 in Division 2 and 66 in Division 3. There are 123 programs represented in the girls tournament.
MORE NUMBERS: West Allis Hale has qualified the most wrestlers in the Division 1 field with nine. Bay Port, Kaukauna, Luxemburg-Casco, Menomonie, Muskego and Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln all have six qualifiers. Osceola has the distinction of qualifying the most individuals in Division 2 with eight, Campbellsport, Coleman and Freedom are next with seven. In Division 3, Weyauwega-Fremont claims the most qualifiers with 10. Aquinas, Mineral Point and Stratford are next on the list with eight. In addition, there are 19 former champions in the boys tournament field this year. New Berlin Eisenhower and Wisconsin Lutheran claim the most State qualifiers in the girls tournament with five. Horicon, Hudson, Milton and Neenah are next on the list with four. There are 14 former champions qualified this year.
TOTAL INDIVIDUAL TITLES BY SCHOOL: Mineral Point has produced the most individual champions with 56, followed by Stoughton with 55. Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln is next on the list of titles won with 46 and then Luxemburg-Casco with 45. Others with significant totals are Coleman and Milwaukee South with 39.
DIVISION 1 RETURNING CHAMPS: The Division 1 field features seven former champions on a quest for another crown. Senior Liam Neitzel of Hudson is pursuing a third State title at 132 after winning at 120 last season and at 106 in 2023 following a fourth-place finish in 2022. He begins the tournament with a 54-1 record as the top seed in the bracket. Junior Kellen Wolbert of Oconomowoc is another two-time champion seeking a third title. He is the top seed in the 144 bracket with a 54-1 mark. Wolbert won the 132 championship last season and the 120 crown in 2023. Sophomore William DuChemin of Wilmot moves up a weight class to 113 after winning the title at 106 last year. He enters action this weekend with a 42-4 record and seeded #1. Senior Ethan Bast of West Bend West captured the 113 in 2024, and he moves up to 120 this season to contend for the title as the top seed in the bracket with a 41-2 mark. Carter Freeman, a senior from Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln, won the 126 bracket a year ago after placing fourth in 2023. He is seeded fourth this year in the 138 bracket with a 36-5 record. Junior Jacob Herm of Neenah moves up to the 165-pound weight class this year after winning the 144 title last season and finishing runner-up at 126 in 2023 and at 106 in 2022. He is seeded first in the bracket with a 49-1 record. Senior Liam Crook of Kaukauna moves up to 175 after winning the gold medal at 165 last season, which came on the heels of a fifth-place finish at 160 in 2023. He is the top seed in the bracket with a 47-1 record.
DIVISION 2 RETURNING CHAMPS: The Division 2 field has five former champions, including one that is pursuing his fourth championship and two seeking their third title. Senior Danny Heiser of Evansville is seeking to become the 30th wrestler to win four championships in a career. He won the 150 title last year, the 132 crown in 2023 and the 120 championship in 2022. He is the #1 seed in the 157 bracket this season with a 49-0 record. Junior Haakon Peterson of Dodgeville is in pursuit of his third straight title after winning at 113 last year and at 106 in 2023. He is 50-0 heading into the tournament as the #1 seed in the 144-pound bracket. Senior Tristan Steldt of Fennimore is also seeking a third championship. Not only does he move up a weight class, but he also moves up a division. Steldt won the Division 3 title at 157 in 2024 and at 160 in 2023 following a third-place effort at 138 in 2022. He received the #1 seed with a record of 36-3. Sophomore Shane Rochon of Dodgeville moves up to 113 following last season’s gold medal performance at 106. He is seeded first in the bracket with a record of 53-2. Owen Seffrood, a senior from Darlington/Black Hawk, wrestles at 150 this season after conquering the 144 bracket last year. He seeks his second championship to go with a third-place standing at 138 in 2023 and a runner-up finish at 132 in 2022. Seffrood is the top seed with a 44-0 record.
DIVISION 3 RETURNING CHAMPS: The Division 3 field has four former champions looking to add another gold medal to their collection, including senior Co’ Ji Campbell of Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic. Like Heiser in Division 2, he is poised to win his fourth State championship. Only 29 other wrestlers have accomplished the feat. Campbell has won the 120-pound weight class the past two years after winning gold at 113 in 2022. He is the #1 seed in the 126 bracket with a record of 51-0. Senior Aidan Gruenenfelder of Pecatonica/Argyle qualifies at 120 after winning the title at 106 last year and placing runner-up in 2023. He has compiled a 56-0 record this year and has earned the #1 seed in the bracket. Senior Wyatt Unser of Glenwood City was last year’s champion at 126, improving on his runner-up finish at 113 in 2023 and a fifth-place standing at 106 in 2022. The top seed in the 138 bracket possesses a 42-0 record this season. Senior Kade Rule of Mineral Point is the top seed in the 175 bracket after claiming the championship at 165 last year and finishing third at 132 in 2023. He enters the competition this week with a record of 48-3.
BOYS UNDEFEATED QUALIFIERS: There are 17 undefeated boys wrestlers that have qualified for the State individual championship. In addition to the six former champions that enter the tournament without a loss, the other 11 undefeated wrestlers by division, beginning with Division 1 are sophomore Camden Rugg of Union Grove, who placed third at 106 last year; freshman Zahn Beal of Arrowhead (24-0) at 113; junior Declan Koch of Neenah (48-0); junior Sam Zanton of Middleton (46-0), who placed sixth last year at 150; and senior Caleb Cady of Pewaukee (33-0) at 157; junior Eli Leonard of Mount Horeb/Barneveld (45-0) at 175. In addition to undefeated former champions in Division 2, the other wrestlers without a loss are sophomore Bryston Scoles of Kewaskum (52-0) at 150, who placed third at 138 last season; and junior Max Matthias of Two Rivers (43-0) at 190, who was third at 190 last year and at 182 in 2023; and junior Cael Leisgang of Seymour (43-0) at 215, who was fifth at that weight last season. In Division 3, the undefeated wrestlers without a previous championship are junior Blake Underwood at Marathon (48-0) at 113, who was runner-up at 106 last year and third at 106 in 2023, and senior Colton Weiler of Auburndale (54-0) at 150, who was runner-up at 144 last year and at 136 in 23 to go with a fourth-place finish in 2022. In addition, there are 22 qualifiers that have only lost once this season.
GIRLS TOURNAMENT NOTES: There are 14 former champions in the tournament field. One wrestler attempts to become the first girl in State Tournament history to win four State championships in a career. Senior Hailie Krueger of New London won the 152 title last year, and she captured the 145 title in 2022 and 2023. She is the top seed in the 152 bracket this year with a 46-0 record, and she has compiled a 129-2 mark during her career. Junior Taylor Whiting of Lena is attempting to win her third State championship. She has earned the gold medal at the 107-pound weight class the past two seasons. She qualifies this year at 114 as the #1 seed with a 13-0 record. Junior Carley Ceshker of Badger is also in pursuit of her third title after earning the title at 138 last season and at 126 in 2023. She was issued the top seed in the 138 bracket with a 32-0 mark this season and remains perfect in her career at 66-0. Senior Madison Burns of Ashland is another qualifier with sights on a third title. She has won the 235 championship the past two seasons after finishing fifth at that weight in 2022, and she enters action this week as the top seed at 235 with a 34-0 record. Senior Brooke Corrigan of De Pere returns for another attempt at a second title. She finished runner-up last season at the 100-pound weight class after earning the crown in 2023. She is the #1 seed in the 100-pound weight class with a 7-0 record in limited matches this season. Senior Ava Gardner of Marshfield won the 100 title last season after placing third in the weight class in 2023. She moves up to 107 this season and is seeded second with a 33-2 mark. A pair of former champions may be on a collision course to battle for the title at 120. Top-seeded Angie Bianchi, a junior from Two Rivers, moves up from 114 where she earned the gold medal after placing second in 2023. She enters competition with a 23-0 record. Junior Emjay Neumann of Manitowoc Lincoln, the returning champion at 120 following a runner-up finish in 2023, is seeded second with a 39-4 record this year. Junior Madi Peach of Milton returns to defend the title she won at 126 last year. As the top seed in the bracket, she has yet to lose a match this year with a 37-0 mark. At 132, junior Lillie Banks of Menasha returns in pursuit of her second-straight title. She also advanced to the final at the weight class in 2023 and finished runner-up. Banks is 42-1 this season and has received the #1 seed in the bracket. Sophomore Harlow Skenandore of Pulaski captured the 145 title as a freshman in 2024. Her 26-0 record this year earned her the top seed. At 152, perhaps the biggest challenge for Krueger to win her fourth title is second-seeded Madalyn Sokolski, a senior from Bonduel. She placed third last year at 145 after winning the 138 title in 2023. Sokolski has compiled a 30-3 mark this year. Another 2023 champion seeking a return to glory is senior Cyriana Reinwald of Horicon. She won the championship at 165, and she returns to that weight as the seventh seed with a 40-3 record. Sophomore Brooke Huffman of Wittenberg-Birnamwood is the returning 185 champion. She is seeded first with a 30-0 record, giving her a 71-0 record in her two seasons.
GIRLS UNDEFEATED QUALIFIERS: There are three qualifiers with undefeated records entering the tournament. Apart from the returning champions, others that have lost a match this year are freshman Daelin Cody of Princeton/Green Lake (31-0) at 114, sophomore Erika Sleznikow of Marshfield (32-0) at 126 and senior Isabelle Olesen of Oak Creek (19-0) at 152, who placed second at 152 last year.
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