Gerrard Diaz, gdiaz@shawanoleader.com
When Bonduel High School junior Dan Tauchen won the 152-pound championship at the WIAA Division 3 wrestling sectional Saturday in Shawano, it was his first tournament championship ever, but part of a much longer tradition.
Tauchen’s performance earned him a trip to this week’s WIAA state championships, a trip his family has been making for years.
“This is the sixth consecutive time a Tauchen brother has made it down to state,” Tauchen said.
Tauchen’s older brothers — Ben, Sam and Joey — all wrestled; Ben made it to state as a sophomore, junior and senior, and Joey as a junior and senior.
“We grew up on a farm and whenever we’re on carpet or whatever, we’d start to roll around,” Dan Tauchen said. “I was always the youngest and the smallest, so I was always at the bottom of the pile.”
Tauchen (38-7) and Wittenberg-Birnamwood senior Braxton Potrykus (42-2) were the only champions among the 28 area wrestlers who qualified for sectionals.
Also qualifying for state were Bonduel second-place finisher Jacob Wudtke (170, 38-6) and third-place finisher Garrett Siokla (113, 39-7); Menominee Indian third-place finishers Kyle Winker (126, 44-7) and Keenan Richmond (220, 40-11); Witt-Birn second-place finisher Bobby Uttecht (126, 38-6) and third-place finishers August Peplinski (182, 44-6), Alex Peplinski (160, 42-9) and Ben Vosters (120, 46-2); and Clintonville third-place finisher Jake Reiter (195, 40-5).
The top two wrestlers in each Division 1 sectional advanced to state; the top three advanced in Divisions 2 and 3.
DIVISION 3
BONDUEL SECTIONAL
Bonduel
Both Tauchen and his coach were surprised by how aggressive Auburndale’s Wyatt Weiler (33-5) came out in their match. Weiler had a first-period takedown and a second-period reversal to go up 4-0 on Tauchen.
“I just knew I could still come back,” Tauchen said. “I tied it up. I knew I was in better shape.”
Late in the second period Tauchen got a reversal, followed by another in the third period to send the match into overtime. Tauchen went on to get a takedown to win the match 6-4 in overtime.
“Danny wrestled a fantastic match,” Bonduel coach Chris Rank said. “The Auburndale wrestler came out really strong and aggressive and, by the second period, you could tell he was running out of gas a little bit. We know how hard Danny works. We kept thinking, ‘He’s going to come back.’”
Wudtke, a senior, was pinned in his 170-pound championship match by Reedsville’s Grant Wedepohl (40-1) in 2:54, but pinned Weyauwega-Fremont’s Brandon Loehrke (31-9) in 5:53 in the second-place match.
Siolka (39-7), a sophomore, beat Edgar’s Kodi Chase (28-13) by a tie-breaker in the 113-pound third-place match. Siolka led 2-0 going into the third period, but gave up a takedown, sending the match into overtime.
Bennett Gunderson (195, 26-17) and Mitch Sokolski (160, 31-11) both made first-round exits for Bonduel.
Menominee Indian
Winker punched his ticket to state by beating Bonduel junior Travis Wollenberg (33-9), winning a 6-4 decision in the 126-pound third-place match.
“I felt good about it,” Winker said. “I knew I had to go at him.”
Winker, wrestling his fourth match of the day, lost to Stratford’s Alex Heiden (38-5), getting pinned in 2:38, in the 126-pound second-place match.
Richmond lost the championship match of the 220-pound bracket to Manawa’s Casey Johnson (43-1) by a 7-3 decision.
“He’s lost to that kid from Manawa four times this year, and that’s the fifth,” Menominee Indian coach Kirk Bahr said. “He closed the gap. The closest match he had against him was 13-3. He closed the gap tonight.”
Richmond forfeited the second-place match to Coleman’s CJ Pillath (38-9).
Vel Hawkins (106, 23-16) and Blake Stoehr (120, 28-15) both lost their first-round matches for Menominee Indian. Antonio Mahkimetas (145, 14-14) won in the quarterfinal, but lost his next two matches. Kyle Komanekin (160, 14-15) lost his first two matches of the day.
DIVISION 2
SEYMOUR SECTIONAL
Wittenberg-Birnamwood
Potrykus won the 152-pound championship, edging out Mosinee’s Elliot Sparby in a 3-2 decision.
Stetson Potrykus (106, 43-7), Zach Urquhart (113, 34-14), Griffin Magee (145, 31-16), Hunter Kreger (170, 32-11) and D.J. Ostrowski (195, 18-8) made early round exits for Witt-Birn and did not place.
Clintonville
Reiter, a senior, beat New London’s Andrew Clauss (17-16) 18-8 in the third-place match.
Clintonville senior Charlie Poppe (170, 34-10) lost his first-round match.
DIVISION 1
GREEN BAY PREBLE/EAST SECTIONAL
Shawano Community High School
Senior Cody Urban (160, 15-8) just missed qualifying for state with a third-place finish. Urban pinned Neenah’s Forrest Yineman (12-15) in 2:56 in the third-place match, but was pinned by Bay Port’s Jacob Jossart (39-9) in 2:45 in the second-place match.
Dalton Parson (126, 23-14), Mike Meisner (182, 26-13) and Jayce Hinkfuss (220, 28-13) all made first-round exits.