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On to state

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Photo by Dan Lassiter

Milton's Shaun O'Neill gains control of Stoughton's Dan Schiferl at the last second of their 140 lb match to tie at 2-2 and force an overtime period on Saturday.

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Photo by Dan Lassiter

Craig's Siven Furseth celebrates his championship 9-4 victory over Dominic Garcia of Kenosha Tremper at 112 lbs at Veronal on Saturday.

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Photo by Dan Lassiter

Badger's John Leibforth tries to put Kenosha Tremper's David Hood on his back during their championship match at 130 lbs at Verona on Saturday.

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Photo by Dan Lassiter

Milton's John Wells works Delavan-Darien's Lukus Dittner to the mat during their 103 lb championship match at Verona on Saturday.

VERONA — Siven Furseth didn’t pin his way through the 112-pound class like he did last week at the regional meet, but the Janesville Craig sophomore still stood out to earn another berth in the WIAA individual state wrestling tournament.

Furesth (42-1) opened the Division 1 sectional meet here Saturday with a pin, followed by a 16-3 major decision, before posting a 9-4 decision over Dominic Garcia (45-3) of Kenosha Tremper in the finals. The victory earns Furseth a return trip to the Kohl Center for state tournament, which will begin Thursday.

“It feels great,” Furseth said. “I worked hard all year for this.”

Garcia managed to tie the match early in the second period, but Furseth rebounded with an escape and a near fall for an 8-2 lead and was never threatened again.

“He’s a tough guy to turn, but I was going balls to the wall,” Furseth said. “I got after him and he tired out fast.”

The other 12 Parker and Craig regional qualifiers came home empty-handed after failing to finish in the top two. Parker’s David Arndt finished third at 160 and Adam Cavey was fourth at 103.

Five Milton wrestlers reached the finals as the Red Hawks produced two sectional champions.

Freshman John Wells turned the tables on Delavan-Darien’s Lukas Dittner, then back-flipped his way to the state meet, while junior James Miller won his first sectional title at 189.

Wells (31-7) lost a 7-5 decision to Dittner (33-12) last week at the regional level but returned the favor with a 5-4 victory Saturday and celebrated with a back flip after time had expired.

He had reason to celebrate after scoring a takedown with 20 seconds remaining to pull ahead.

“It was the tilt (move) there in the last minute that did it,” Wells said. “I have been perfecting the tilt for awhile now and I’ve got it down pretty well.”

Miller (26-6) pulled away from a 2-2 tie in the second period with a takedown and claimed an 8-4 decision over Oregon’s Kevin Sommers (35-7) of Oregon.

“It feels good to finally win the sectional,” Miller said. “The last two years I got second and then I draw a really good kid at state and I’m done. So I should be able to go there to win the thing this year.”

Lake Geneva Badger also had a champion as John Leibforth took the title at 130.’

The sophomore led 2-0 after two periods, but posted two more takedowns in the third for a 6-1 decision.

Teammate Joe Cychner also earned a berth in the state meet after taking second at 285.

Also earning state berths for second-place finishes were Milton’s Shaun O’Neill at 140 and Ian Johnson at 152.

Regional champion Delavan-Darien also had two runner-up wrestlers, as Ben Lodahl (160) joined Dittner on the road to state.

It’ll be a return trip for Lodahl.