18 AMERY FREE PRESS
SPORTS AND OUTDOORS
MARCH 1, 2016
www.theameryfreepress.com
ERIC PAULSON
Andrew Smith recorded a fifth place finish.
ERIC PAULSON
Bennett Paulson wins the championship match at 195 pounds. This is the second consecutive title for the senior.
ERIC PAULSON
Senior Eli Newton made his third appearance at state.
WRESTLERS: Paulson repeats as champion, Andrew Smith places fifth FROM PAGE ONE
dominated each of his opponents on his way to securing his fourth title and a 150-4 career record. His first victim was a 40-win wrestler out of Oconto Falls – Bryce Ash (40-10) – who he defeated by a 19-4 technical fall in the quarterfinal round. Next up was Wisconsin Lutheran’s Brian Corbins, who boasted 49 wins this season, but he was still no match for Marko, who handed him a 7-1 loss in the semifinals. The last obstacle in his monumental season was a familiar face, Bloomer/Colfax’s Brady Simonson, whom Marko had defeated in the sectional final, a week earlier, 2-1. This time, Marko would not allow Simonson feel that glimmer of hope as Marko dominated the 138-pound state final match and grabbed his 150th career win in the form of a 9-1 major decision. Adding to the excitement and pride of the moment was the fact that Hunter’s father, Scott, who was a two-time state podium finisher (2nd and 5th) during his high school days, was matside throughout the entire journey as his coach. In 2013, Hunter won the 106-pound title match with a 3:50 pin over Prairie du Chein/Wauzeka’s Taylor Elliott. He finished his freshman season with a 47-2 record and gave up just eight points the entire season. The next season, he won the 113-pound championship by defeating each of the top three wrestlers in the state – other than himself. Hunter and Elliott found themselves in the
finals again, which Hunter won by a 10-3 decision. He finished his sophomore season with a 22-1 record. In 2015, Bennett Paulson joined Hunter as a state champion, marking the fi rst time in school history that two wrestlers were crowned state champs in the same season. This time Hunter won the 126-pound title by defeating another defending state champion from Wisconsin Lutheran by a 4-2 decision. Hunter notched a 45-1 record his junior year. “Trying to separate the proud dad from the coach gets hard to do sometimes,” Scott said. “Watching him just get warmed up and drilling is amazing to me, and while I was at the state tournament, I observed people just watching him warm up and shaking their heads. Hunter is the most dedicated, technically sound, and toughest wrestlers I have ever coached… He is now arguably one of the best of all time in Wisconsin wrestling history when you consider his national accomplishments as well.” In addition to his state titles, Hunter has collected three national titles and five All-American Honors. Before his senior season, he signed a national letter of intent to wrestle collegiately for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and was recently selected to wrestle for Team USA in Pittsburgh at the end of March – a result of being the number one ranked high school senior in the United States at 145 pounds. “I love my son dearly,” Scott said. “He makes me prouder
than he will ever know, and watching him do his thing these last four years has been a blessing. It has been quite a ride.” “To say this was a good weekend for the Amery wrestling program would be an understatement,” Scott added. “This weekend the Amery wrestling program made history in the Wisconsin high school wrestling world.” Of the six wrestlers Amery sent to the state tournament, three ended up on the podium. Paulson picked up his second state title with three dominant wins at 195 pounds and Andrew Smith placed fi fth at 126 pounds. Paulson (43-2) opened with a 20-5 technical fall over Denmark’s Matt Vanden Heuval (36-10) and followed with a 17-2 technical fall over Southern Door’s Tory Jandrin (46-13) to earn a spot in the final. On paper, the final appeared to give the edge to challenger August Peplinski of Wittenberg-Birn., as Peplinski boasted a 48-1 record, but Paulson topped him by a 4-1 decision. Coach Marko said that no one really challenged Paulson for that 195-pound state title. “Bennett is such a gifted athlete for such a big kid,” Coach Marko said. “Watching him wrestle is a true pleasure. He makes everyone he wrestles look slow and uncoordinated at times because he is so good.“ Bennett ended his high school career with well over 100 wins, 4 trips to the state tournament and 2 state titles. “Bennett is one of the best wrestlers I have ever coached, one of the hardest workers I
have ever had, and wonderful kid. Just winning one state title is a dream-come-true, Bennett has now won two. Bennett will be remembered as one of the kids that truly loved the competition of the sport and was a relentless competitor.” Paulson will now take his wrestling and leadership skills to West Point where coach Marko is sure he will continue to do great things. Andrew Smith (28-11) recorded a 3:38 fall in his first match of his fourth consecutive state tournament, defeating Luxenburg-Casco’s Colton Woracheck (30-14) in 3:38. He lost a 15-6 major decision in the quarterfinal to River Valley’s Dustin Hatfield (43-6), but claimed a forfeit win over Two Rivers’ Tommy Bianchi (38-18) in the first round of the consolation bracket. He dropped an 8-1 decision to Evansville/Albany’s Chase Katzenmeyer (39-4) in the consolation semifinal and ended his trip to Madison with a win in the fi fth-place match, when he defeated Sheboygan Falls’ Kaleb Ison (31-21) by a score of 10-3. Smith will continue his wrestling career at St. John’s University next season. Eli Newton (29-8) opened his third straight state tournament appearance with a 6-2 loss to Monroe’s Traiten Gorr (42-3) in the quarterfinal round and fell 7-1 to Sheboygan Falls’ Brady Koller (44-50) in his first consolation match. “Eli will finish his career with well over 100 wins as well,” Coach Marko added. “Eli has been such a solid figure in our line up ever since he was a freshman, and this is so hard when you are coming
in at an upper weight. He has won some huge matches for us during his career and will be missed.” Mike Smith (32-12) loss his opening round match at 106 pounds by a 4-2 decision to Freedom’s Garrison Murphy (36-12). Shawn Waalen (13-9) was pinned in 3:41 by Luxemburg-Casco’s Eric Peters (217) in the first match at 145 pounds. “Mike Smith and Shawn Waalen wrestled very well for their first time making it to the state tournament and both have improved so much over the course of the year,” Coach Marko said. “They will be looked at next year as leaders for this team, and I expect that they both were not happy with just making it to the tournament, but should be very proud of their accomplishments this year.”
Top 5 Team Scores Wisconsin Lutheran 63, Two Rivers 59, Amery 57.5, Evansville/Albany 56, West Salem/ Bangor 54
4-time Wisconsin State Champions
Matt Hanutke of Pittsville Kraig Underwood of Athens Brian Slater of New Lisbon Scott Hady of North Crawford Kevin Black of River Falls Josh Miller of Arcadia Cole Wunnicke of Ithaca Bobby Wunnicke of Dodgeville Zac Cibula of Luxemburg-Casco Nick Hagar of Tomahawk Jesse Thielke of Germantown Jarod Donar of Cuba City/Southwestern Jens Lantz of Ellsworth Hunter Marko of Amery