2008 Wisconsin State Tournament Review
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Full Brackets are available here
Dodgeville’s Bobby Wunnicke and Luxemburg-Casco’s Zac Cibula became the eighth and ninth four-time individual state champions at the 65th annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association individual state wrestling tournament Saturday night.
Wunnicke (46-1) defeated two-time defending state champion Thane Antczak (43-2) of Chetek/Prairie Farm 8-4 for the Division 2 125-pound title.
The Division 2 champion at 103 pounds in 2005, Wunnicke lost in the 2006 state finals but was awarded the Division 2 title at 112 when the champion was declared ineligible and forced to vacate the title. Wunnicke won the Division 2 119-pound title a year ago.
“You want your last match to be memorable and it was,” Wunnicke said. “It was indescribable.”
Cibula (42-4) joined Wunnicke as a four-time champion nearly an hour later when he defeated Mosinee’s Jordan Schulte (40-3) for the Division 2 152-pound title. Cibula won Division 2 titles at 130 in 2005, 140 in 2006 and 145 in 2007.
“When Bobby got his title, I couldn’t wait for my turn,” Cibula said of Wunnicke. “I got what I came here for, to finish my career as a state champion. It doesn’t get any better than this.”
Wunnicke notched the 10th state title for his family despite wrestling most of the season with a separated collarbone that was detached from his breastplate. He said while he disagreed with his coaches when they made him sit out the Southern Wisconsin Athletic League/Southwest Wisconsin Conference tournament, the feeling of being a four-time state champion was more than enough to compensate.
“This is what it’s all about, winning a state championship,” said Wunnicke, whose oldest brother, Cole, is a four-time state champion, and whose brother, T.J., a 2007 Dodgeville graduate, was a two-time state champ.
“He was my inspiration, my wrestling hero,” Bobby Wunnicke said of Cole, a volunteer coach with the Dodgers, who won Division 3 titles in 1999 (119 pounds), 2000 (125), 2001 (135) and 2002 (135). “There is nothing sweeter than sharing this with him. He knew what I was going through every minute I was on the mat.”
Dodgeville coach Tim Wunnicke said his son Bobby, who will wrestle with his brother, T.J., at Northern Illinois next year, understands how a competitor has to overcome pain to reach the pinnacle.
“He is a true champion who wrestled in pain and worked hard for everything he got,” Tim Wunnicke said of Bobby. “He deserved to be on the podium.”
Bobby Wunnicke wasn’t the only Dodgeville wrestler to win a title. Grant Sutter (43-3) pinned Oconto Falls’ Cullan Morrissey in 58 seconds to win the Division 2 title at 112 pounds. Sutter was the defending champion at 103.
Grant Miller made it 3-for-3 for the Dodgers when he capped an unbeaten season with the 171 title. He defeated Luxemburg-Casco’s Ryan Zellner 6-5 to end the season 52-0. Miller was the runner-up at 160 last year.
Arrowhead’s Nick Hucke (39-0) defeated Fond du Lac’s Ben Thone 10-3 in a Division 1 final at 135 for his third straight state title and second straight unbeaten season. The Division 1 champion at 125 in 2006 and 130 last year, Hucke, a Missouri recruit, was one of 14 wrestlers to finish as an unbeaten state champion in all three divisions.
University of Wisconsin recruit Cole Schmitt of Sugar River and Tomahawk junior Nick Hagar also won their third straight state titles.
Schmitt (45-1), who won the D-2 title at 135 in 2006 and the 140 crown a year ago, defeated Waupaca’s Cody Stichman (16-2) 7-3 for the Division 2 title at 145.
Hagar (49-0) had won the D-2 title at 125 in 2006 and the 135 title in 2007. On Saturday he defeated Sugar River’s Kalvin York (45-1) 5-4 in double overtime for the Division 140-pound title. He is now poised to become the 10th four-time state champion next year.
“I will enjoy the moment and then start to get ready for number four,” said Hagar, who defeated York 4-2 for the Division 2 title at 135 a year ago. “It means more to me to beat a great wrestler like Kalvin two years in a row in the finals.”
Cashton senior Andrew Dahl (49-2) won his third Division 3 title when he earned a major decision with a 13-1 victory over Kenosha St. Joseph’s Austin Lemens (42-4) at 119 pounds.
Dahl, whose brother, Alex, finished as a two-time champion a year ago, was fourth in Division 3 at 119 last year after winning Division 3 titles at 103 in 2005 and at 112 in 2006.
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