Three Janesville, 5 Milton wrestlers head to Madison
(Published Sunday, February 18, 2007 12:04:12 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Craig Henquinet/Special to the Gazette
VERONA
The sauna-like conditions inside the Verona gymnasium just made for one more barrier for area wrestlers to overcome Saturday at the WIAA Division 1 sectional meet.
Eight area wrestlers overcame the heat and the competition to become state qualifiers, by placing first or second in the meet. Janesville will be represented by Brad Soots and Brady Hamil of Craig High, while Harold Lloyd from Parker qualified for state tournament.
The state event begins Thursday at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Milton advanced five wrestlers to the state meet as brothers David, Andrew and James Miller all qualified, along with Nick Hammon and Seth Underwood.
Soots defeated James Miller to win the sectional title at 140 in overtime and earn a return trip to the state meet. The two-time Big Eight Conference champion led 4-3 late in the third period, until Miller earned an escape with seven seconds remaining to force overtime.
Soots struck first in the extra session and got the 6-4 decision on an early takedown.
"When he got that escape, I didn't know what to think," Soots said. "In overtime, I just had to shoot before he shoots on me. He had already taken me down earlier in the match."
Hamil lost a 3-0 decision to James Miller at 171. The match was scoreless for two periods until Miller was allowed a courtesy escape and scored on a reversal.
"I kind of was surprised he just let me escape, but I was confident being on my feet," James Miller said. "I missed out on state the last two years, so it's a relief and it feels great."
Lloyd also qualified with a runner-up finish at 285. Milton's Hammon won an 8-4 decision over Lloyd to win the sectional title. Hammon led 4-3 after two periods before earning a takedown and reversal.
Andrew Miller survived two overtimes to gain a 5-4 decision over Blake Swalheim of Stoughton for the 189 title. After a couple of near-misses by both wrestlers, Miller finally scored on an escape to win the rubber match between the two wrestlers.
"I had wrestled the kid before and I knew I could ride him and I knew I could get away from him," said Andrew Miller, who also beat Swalheim Tuesday in the team sectional meet. "So I tried to keep things on the mat. In overtime, I knew the stand-up was there all day.
Just getting to state is awesome," Miller added. "But getting there with my two brothers is more than I could ask for."
Underwood was runner-up at 160 after dropping a 2-0 decision to defending state champion Ben Sarbacker of Verona.
Area qualifiers
Six area wrestlers will be making a return trip to the WIAA State Individual Tournament beginning Thursday at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Elkhorn's Nick Nienas and Jeremy Mork won West Allis Central Sectional titles to lead the list of area returnees. Nienas beat Andrew Rudman of Nicolet, 12-2, in the title bout at 119 pounds, while Mork slipped past West Allis Central's Nick Werner, 5-1, to claim the 125-pound title.
At the Division 3 Mineral Point Sectional, Clinton qualifed four wrestlers for the state meet, including Kevin Hesebeck and Virgil Pope. Hesebeck, a four-time Rock Valley Conference champion, finished second at 130 pounds to earn a return trip. Pope was second at 140 pounds, losing in the title bout to top-ranked Cade Sarbacker of Iowa-Grant. The Cougars' Brad Hesebeck (112) and Nate Dernovsek (171) also advanced after finishing third and second, respectively.
East Troy found success at the Division 2 Richland Center Sectional. The Trojans will send four wrestlers to the state meet, led by returnees David Edwards (130) and Chad Zess (135). Also advancing for East Troy were Jake Zess (103) and Chesten Kesselhon (160).
Also at the Richland Center Sectional, Evansville/Albany's Ben Hunt advanced after finishing third at 189.
