Prairie du Chien, Boscobel/Wauzeka-Steuben wrestle at D3 team sectional
Prairie du Chien senior Porter Kossman works on the arm of Lancaster’s Brian Best as he wasted little time in winning the match via fall. The win was also the 100th career win for Kossman. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Boscobel/Wauzeka-Steuben junior Nolan Reed-Mullikin tries maintain control of Iowa-Grant/Highland sophomore Braden Vacha during their match at 126 pounds this past Saturday morning at the Cashton Community Gym. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Landon Thiry finds himself grinning after putting Riverdale's Hunter Wilkinson on his shoulders. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
By Derick Kelly
The Prairie du Chien and Boscobel-Wauzeka-Steuben wrestling teams each hit the mat this past Saturday, Feb. 21 at the D3 Team Sectional Meet in Cashton.
The first round pitted fourth seed PdC against fifth seed Riverdale and sixth seed Boscobel-Wauzeka-Steuben against third seed Iowa-Grant/Highland.
The Hawks went up 24-0 to start the match before Riverdale’s defending state champion Grant Mathews received a forfeit at 285 to get the Chieftains on the board. Riverdale would then get wins from Wyatt Schramm (win via fall in 4:34 over PdC sophomore Keaton Achenbach) and James Schramm (forfeit) to make the score 24-17 in favor of the Hawks.
Hunter Reid (120) and Tyson Fernette (126) would respond with victories via technical fall and pinfall to help extend the Hawks lead to 35-17 with four matches to go.
Following a Riverdale pinfall victory at 132 pounds, the Hawks’ Brylee Brewer pinned Riverdale’s Graham Dickman in 1:06 to make the score 41-23 with two matches left and cement the win for the Hawks.
Riverdale’s defending state runner-up and senior Brody Miess picked up a win over Prairie’s Porter Kossman at 144 pounds before PdC senior Mason Hird defeated Treston Rynes by technical fall to give the Hawks the 46-29 dual win over the Chieftains.
The victory moved the Hawks into the sectional semifinals and a dual against the number one seed La Crosse Aquinas Bluegolds.
Due to injury issues and concerns heading into this dual, the Hawks forfeited five weight classes to Aquinas and tried some new matchups at the other weights but the Bluegolds showed why they’ve been ranked so highly as a team all-season long as they defeated the Hawks by the score of 82-0.
A bright spot in the dual for the Hawks was the wrestling of sophomore Aspen Gelo who kept Aquinas’ Calin Smith from winning via pin (and in turn the Bluegolds from a perfect 84-0 score), falling 10-0.
The loss dropped the Hawks into the consolation bracket where they would face conference rival Lancaster, who had been defeated by Iowa-Grant/Highland 41-38 in the semifinal round.
Much like the Aquinas dual, the Hawks forfeited five weight classes to Lancaster, including three-in-a-row from 190 to 285 before Achenbach got the Hawks on the board with a pinfall win over Aaron in 1:18 at 106 pounds.
The Flying Arrows would pick up wins in each of the next four matches before the Hawks got back-to-back wins from Brewer and Kossman, who earned his 100th career victory in his final career match.
One final forfeit win was awarded to Lancaster before PdC junior Brady Bumgartner pinned Lancaster’s Axl Bailie in 1:04 for the team’s final win of the dual. The Flying Arrows finished the match with a pinfall win at 165 pounds as they defeated the Hawks 59-23 and with the final dual loss, Prairie du Chien’s season came to a close with a fourth-place team sectional finish.
Boscobel/Wauzeka-Steuben got a pin from senior Job Wetter at 157 pounds in the first match of their dual against Iowa-Grant/Highland to give B/W-S an early 6-0 lead but it was all I-G/H after that as the Panthers won 11 of the remaining 13 matches, with B/W-S picking up wins from Canaan Wetter at 113 pounds and Ashton Udelhoven at 132 pounds as Iowa-Grant/Highland defeated Boscobel/Wauzeka-Steuben 63-16 as the Bulldogs wrapped up their 2025-26 team season.
