Leader Staff
All three of Bonduel’s wrestlers that competed on Thursday in the first round of the WIAA Division 3 state tournament won their respective matches.
Freshman Isaac Banker (41-7) defeated Boscobel’s Chase Beinborn (38-11) in a 9-2 decision at 170 pounds. Banker faces Dodgeland’s Ryan Neu (41-0) in the next round on Friday.
Senior Jacob Banker (36-2) dominated Mondovi’s Bryce Johnson 6-0 at 182 pounds, however Banker suffered a knee injury in the third period of the match. Head coach Chris Rank said he will likely not continue wrestling in the tournament.
“I give him a lot of credit, because he continued to wresle through the pain,” Rank said. “I asked him when it was time to decide if he wanted to finish the match, and Jacob said he wanted to finish it up and got back out there.”
Banker had a 6-0 lead 4 minutes, 30 seconds into the match when the injury happened. He was able to hold off Johnson for the remainder of the third period.
Banker’s next opponent would be Iowa-Grant’s Brady Peat (41-3) in the next round on Friday.
Junior Jacob Giese (41-6) pinned Johnson Creek’s Lucas Sullivan in 46 seconds at 195 pounds. Giese wrestles Riverdale’s Caleb Johnson (45-2) in the next round Friday.
“Isaac (Banker) and Jacob (Giese) got big wins,” Rank said, “so it’s great that we’ll for sure have three wrestlers tomorrow, and it really is quite fantastic that all of the guys are still in the tournament. This is a special group of wrestlers, definitely.”
Wittenberg-Birnamwood sophomore Chad Moegenburg also won his first round match at 113 pounds. Moegenburg (42-8) picked up a 5-2 decision against Durand’s Brannon Humphrey. He faces Fennimore’s Mason Lull (15-2) in the next round on Friday.