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Furseth, Holden lead state qualifiers

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Photo by Bill Olmsted

Sivan Furseth of Craig is going to the state wrestling tournament in Madison after a first period pin in the championship match at the WIlmot Sectional on Saturday.

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Photo by Bill Olmsted

Parker's Ryan Holden has control of Stoughton's Tanner Klitzke in the championship match of the WIAA Sectionals on Saturday. Holden won with a 6-2 decision.

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Photo by Bill Olmsted

Milton's Shawn Jensen (top) decisioned Delevan-Darien's Ben Lodahl in the WIAA sectional championship in Wilmot on Saturday.

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Sivan Furseth

WILMOT — Siven Furseth and Ryan Holden haven’t left the mat this season without their right hands being raised in victory.

And the trend continued Saturday for the Janesville high school wrestlers at the WIAA Division 1 Wilmot Sectional.

Furseth, a Janesville Craig High freshman, improved to 39-0 by cruising to the 103-pound title.

Holden, a Janesville Parker High senior, upped his record to 36-0 after capturing the title at 112.

Parker senior Harold Lloyd earned a second-straight state berth after claiming the 285-pound title, while teammate Alex Folk earned an automatic bid by finishing second at 140.

Milton’s Shawn Jensen was one of five Red Hawks to qualify for state. Jensen won the 152-pound title with a 1-0 win over Delavan-Darien’s Ben Lodahl. Other Milton qualifers were Nick Gibson at 285, James Miller at 160, Nate Rogers at 171 and Seth Underwood at 189.

Furseth registered two pins and a decision in winning the title at 103. He pinned Parker’s Brennan Casey-Schmidt in the title match—beating the Viking freshman for the third time this season.

“I had confidence going into the match against Casey-Schmidt because I had pinned him the first two times I wrestled him this year, but you still never know what can happen,” Furseth said.

“I’m just glad that I made it through to state. It’s nice to be undefeated, but I know that everybody that is at state is a great wrestler. I just have to take it one match at a time.”

Like Furseth, Holden faced a familiar foe in his title bout—Stoughton’s Tanner Klitzke. The two met for the third time in the last two years with each winning once. After a scoreless first period, Holden took the lead for good in the second period en route to a 6-3 victory. The taller Klitzke tried to use his length to get Holden on his back, but the Viking senior had the perfect counter move each time.

“I knew what he was going to try to do, so it was a matter of keeping my balance and staying on my feet,” Holden said. “Once I got ahead, I figured I could ride him out until the end.

“My goal as a freshman was to get to state, and now I’ve done that. When you’re a state qualifier, you know you’re one of the better wrestlers in the state. That’s a good feeling, and makes all the hard work worth it.”

Lloyd improved to 28-2 and picked up his 100th career victory thanks to three convincing wins. He decisioned Milton’s Nick Gibson, 6-0, in the title bout.

After coming one match short of wrestling for fifth-place at state a year ago, Lloyd has set the bar high for next weekend’s state meet.

“It will be my last time wrestling, so I’m going to go up there with a purpose,” Lloyd said. “I’ve got nothing to lose, and I know if I can wrestle the way I’m capable of, I can medal.

“Once you get to state, one roll or one throw can be the difference between winning and losing. I’m gonna pumped up all week. I can’t wait for state.”

The Red Hawks placed four wrestlers in the finals, but only Jensen came away with a title. Underwood used a 5-3 decision in the 189-pound wrestleback over Stoughton’s Eric Nelson to earn Milton’s final berth.

Division 1

Wilmot Sectional

STATE QUALIFIERS

Milton 5, Stoughton 5, Janesville Parker 3, Verona 3, Beloit Memorial 2, Kenosha Tremper 2, Wilmot 2, Westosha Central 2, Janesville Craig 1, Delavan-Darien 1, Oregon 1, Sun Prairie 1.

FINAL MATCHES

(Top two qualify for state)

103—Title: Siven Furseth (Craig) pinned Brennan Casey-Schmidt (Parker), 1:03; Third: Chase Steiner (Sun Prairie) dec. Craig Calzavara (Westosha), 9-1; Wrestleback: Steiner dec. Casey-Schmidt, 8-2.

112—Title: Ryan Holden (Parker) dec. Tanner Klitzke (Stoughton), 6-3; Third: Jared Kissinger (Verona) dec. Devon Dixon (Milton), 6-4; Wrestleback: Klitzke dec. Kissinger, 6-4.

119—Title: Brian Lewis (Verona) pinned Jose Rodriquez (Badger), 1:37; Third: Mike Predaina (Tremper) dec. Andrew Flesch (Bradford), 1-0; Wrestleback: Rodriquez dec. Predaina, 6-5.

125—Title: Justin Cossio (Westosha) dec. Danny Hopkins (Wilmot), 10-5; Third: Jackson Urso (Stoughton) dec. Gary Wensing (Bradford), 14-2; Wrestleback: Urso dec. Hopkins, 8-2.

130—Title: Dan Schiferl (Stoughton) dec. Brett Marth (Westosha), 9-4; Third: David Beers (Oregon) dec. Matt Grashen (Bradford), 7-5; Wrestleback: Marth dec. Beers, 8-7.

135—Title: Justin Garcia (Verona) dec. Kyle Welzen (Wilmot), 8-0; Third: Doug Stetzer (Oregon) dec. Nick Karleski (Milton), 6-2.

140—Title: Andres Caceres (Verona) dec. Alex Folk (Parker), 13-2; Third: Shaun O’Neill (Milton) pinned Luke Ballentine (Oregon), 1:28.

145—Title: Jake Gohlke (Stoughton) dec. Adam Maurer (Verona), 7-5; Third: Ryan Haas-Denton (Oregon) pinned Derek Dixon (Milton), 5:37; Wrestleback: Haas-Denton pinned Maurer, 2:28.

152—Title: Shawn Jensen (Milton) dec. Ben Lodahl (Delavan-Darien), 1-0; Third: James Lehman (Tremper) dec. Zack Beyer (Wilmot), 20-9; Wrestleback: Lodahl dec. Lehman, 7-6.

160—Title: Jesse Swedlund (Beloit) dec. James Miller (Milton), 4-2 (OT); Third: Joe Stetzer (Oregon) dec. Juno Stoney (Sun Prairie), 10-9.

171—Title: Ryan Dougherty (Stoughton) dec. Nate Rogers (Milton), 6-2; Third Robert Mulligan (Delavan-Darien) pinned Trevor Gregoire (Caig), 4:42; Wrestleback: Rogers dec. Mulligan, 3-2.

189—Title: Andrew Vozel (Wilmot) dec. Eric Nelson (Stoughton), 4-1; Third: Seth Underwood (Milton) pinned Alex Burdick (Craig), 3:28; Wrestleback: Underwood dec. Nelson, 5-3.

215—Title: Alex Polizzi (Beloit) dec. Joe Epping (Tremper), 4-0; Third: Blair Kessler (Craig) pinned Matt Fredrick (Milton), 4:55.

285—Title: Harold Lloyd (Parker) dec. Nick Gibson (Milton), 6-0; Third: Lucas Houser (Sun Prairie) pinned Andy Blood (Badger), 3:08.