Thurs. Dec. 2 Home Antigo 7:30 p.m. The Red Robins were in town tonight to try and find out if the Red Raiders were really as good as everyone has been saying. Rapids notched nine pins on their way to a 63-3 victory. At 103 J.J. Carter pinned Nate Raab in 1:04. At 112 Travis Tritz pinned Nate Nelson in 3:07. At 119 Kody Ashbeck defeated Kevin Besseret 8-2. At 125 Gary Akkerman went into OT with one of the valley's toughest 125 pound wrestlers in Bobby Stimac and came away with an 8-6 victory. At 130 Paul Coates started the pinning action again with a fall over Jeff Draeger in 2:30. At 135 jeremy Armagost pinned Chase Koeppel in 3:13. At 140 Martin Thunder pinned Ryan Boers in 0:49. At 145 Nick Bord pinned in Mark Rosio in 1:45. At 152 Logan Chambers defeated state qualifier Jason Hohensee 9-4. At 160 Don Hopp pinned Josh Ison in 5:31. At 171 Kent Thompson wrestled, in my opinion, the states best 171 pound wrestler Yan White. Kent wrestled very well but came up short 6-2. At 189 Luke Kolo pinned Ryan Pregler in 1:39. At HW Kent Anderson pinned Mike Wasmundt in 3:58. The seasnon is still young, but the Red Raiders look very good.

Sat. Dec. 4 Away Oconomowoc Invite 9:00 a.m. The Red Raiders were in Oconomowoc today and pretty much tore through the competition at the Cooney Invitational. In the first round Rapids beat Milwaukee Tech 74-0. In the second round the Raiders used 13 pins to pummel Greenfield 78-0. In round three Rapids took on Jainsville Craig and dismantled them as well 62-0. Round four saw Rapids facing Platteville. Rapids lost one match and came away with a 62-4 victory. In the final round Rapids met their stiffest competition of the day. The Red Raiders defeated a much improved Heartland Arrowhead team 46-15. Both of Arrowhead's state finalist won very narrow matches. At 135 Ben Askren HA defeated Jeremy Armagost WR 14-12 and at 152 Chris Borchardt HA beat Don Hopp WR 6-3. On the day Rapids picked up a total of 59 individual wins (40 by fall) and only lost 6 matches (0 by fall). 7 Red Raiders went undefeated today. They are: 112 Travis Tritz, 130 Paul Coates, 140 Martin Thunder, 152 Logan Chambers, 171 Kent Thompson, 189 Luke Kolo and 275 Kent Anderson.

Thurs. Dec. 9 Away Rhinelander 7:30 p.m. Rapids beat Rhinelander 66-6 tonight. At 103 Paul Poeschl received a forfeit, 112 Travis Tritz pinned Matt Rice in 2:56. 119 Kody Ashbeck and 125 Gary Akkerman won by forfeit, 130 Paul Coates pinned Matt Mangerson in 3:58, 135 Jeremy Armagost won by fall over Ben Lappin in 1:40, 145 Martin Thunder won by fall over Corey Krietlow in 4:30, 145 Nick Bord pinned Josh Briemer in 2:22, 152 Logan Chambers defeated Bill Gleason 7-2. The Hodags lone victory came by way of Matt Gleason's 3:21 pin over Saun Spaulding at 160 punds. At 171 Don Hopp decisioned Steve Stein 9-3, 189 Luke Kolo won by forfeit and HW Kent Anderson pinned Joel Mancl in 1:41.

Thurs. Dec. 16 Home SPASH 7:30 p.m. The Red Raiders wrestled without their full lineup tonight but still managed to dismantle the states seventh ranked Stevens Point Panthers 46-16. At 103 J.J. Carter WR got the big red machine rolling with an 8-2 victory over Steve Bachinski. At 112 Travis Tritz WR pinned Jim Louis in 3:03. At 119 Kody Ashbeck WR also got a second period fall. He stopped Nate Kurzsewski in 2:41. At 125 Gary Akkerman WR cruised to a 9-3 victory over Kevin Duda. At 130 Tyler Mancl WR started a nice come back but came up short. Brandon Bittle (?) SP came away with a 12-6 win over Tyler. At 135 the Red Raiders sent out Jeremy Armagost and he quickly put an end to Danny Kavelski's night by pinning him in 1:21. At 140 Martin Thunder WR used his incredible quickness and beat Rob King 13-4. At 145 Ty Pope earned Spash's second win with a 9-0 decision over Nick Bord. At 152 sophomore Logan Chambers WR pinned Mike Bachinski in 1:22. At 160 Don Hopp WR jumped out to a 14-3 lead after the first period and then pinned Brian Baumgartner in 2:49. At 171 Kent Thompson WR lost a heartbreaker to Stevens Point's Jed Haas 7-5 in OT. At 189 Luke Kolo WR wasted little time in pinning Josh Beyerl in only 1:08. In the heavy weight match Rapids forfeited to Stevens Point's rob Kolodziej. Next up for the Red Raiders will be The Rapids Duals. Providence Catholic spent some time ranked #1 in the nation last year. They also won the last three state championships in IL and will be looking to give the Red Raider all they can handle. Don't miss this day full of some of the best wrestling the Midwest has to offer.

Sat. Dec. 18 Home Rapids Duals 10:00 a.m. 3 time IL State Champion Providence Catholic, River Falls, Div. 3 State Champion Wrightstown, Sheboygan Falls and Oshkosh West will all be competing. The Red Raiders found out what it's like to wrestle the 7th best team in the country today. Providence Catholic New Lenox, IL was more than up to the task as the Illinois state champs handed the Raiders their first defeat in two years 36-21. The two teams met in the final round and although it was an excellent dual meet, it wasn't very pretty for Rapids. At 103 J.J. Carter WR was pinned by Zach Berman in 5:55. At 112 Travis Tritz WR beat a very tough Kevin Kennedy 2-0. At 119 Matt Kucala Pr pinned Kody Ashbeck in :55. At 125 Gary Akkerman WR lost a close decision to Don Reynolds. At 130 Paul Coates WR beat Justin Beer 3-1. At 135 Mike Klimek Pr defeated Jeremy Armagost 13-6. At 140 Martin Thunder WR beat Nick Reynolds 21-8. At 145 Wayde Beechy Pr beat Nick Bord by a fall in the second period. At 52 Logan Chambers WR defeated Derek Claussen 5-4. At 160 Nick Passolano Pr caught Don Hopp and pinned him in 2:19. At 171 Brian Glynn Pr pinned Justin Applebee in 1:26. At 189 Luke Kolo WR pinned Tim Brendich in 5:47. At 275 Kent Anderson WR beat Mikey Salah 4-0. In other final round duals, Wrightstown beat Sheboyan Falls 58-12 and River Falls beat Oshkosh West 41-9. In the fourth round Rapids beat Oshkosh West 58-6, River Falls beat Sheboygan Falls 50-20 and Providence beat Wrightstown 57-3. In the third round Rapids beat River Falls 49-11, Providence beat Sheboygan Falls 71-0 and Wrightstown beat Oshkosh West 33-22. In the second round Rapids beat Wrightstown 49-12, Oshkosh West beat Sheboygan Falls 35-25 and Providence beat River Falls 46-14. In the first round Rapids beat Sheboygan Falls 60-10, River Falls beat Wrightstown 44-11 and Providence beat Oshkosh West 58-3. On the day the Red Raiders combined for 50 wins and lost 15. They racked up 19 pins and gave up 7. Travis Tritz, Paul Coates, Martin Thunder, Logan Chambers, Luke Kolo and Kent Anderson all went undefeated.

Wed & Thur. Dec. 29-30 Away Bi-State Classic in La Crosse10:00 a.m. Day one has come to a close and the Raiders are behind Owatonna by 40 points. Owatonna, MN has 251 points to 211 for Rapids. Ellsworth rounds out the top 3 with 196.5. Done for the tournament are 103 J.J. Carter, 152 Josh Deppe and 171 Kent Thompson. In the semi finals for Rapids are 112 Travis Tritz, 125 Paul Coates, 130 Jeremy Armagost, 135 Martin Thunder, 145 Logan Chambers, and 189 Luke Kolo. Still fighting for a medal are 119 Gary Akkerman, 140 Nick Bord, 160 Don Hopp, and HW Kent Anderson. All 4 need to win one more match to guarantee a medal and a chance to wrestle back to 3rd place.

Day two of the Bi-State saw the Red Raiders trying to come back from a 40 point deficit. It proved to be too much as Owatonna actually extended their lead and went back to Minnesota with a Bi-State championship. Owatonna scored 373 points, Rapids racked up 330 and Ellsworth ended up third with a very respectable 314 points. Rapids did have 10 place winners and in fact placed higher than Owatonna in 7 of the 13 weight classes. Travis Tritz at 112 and Luke Kolo at 189 tore though the competition and earned Bi-State championship medals. Travis defeated div. 3 state champion Josh Miller of Arcadia 5-1 in the finals and Luke beat Zac Elliot of Richland Center 13-7 in his match for 1st place. Jeremy Armagost, the only other finalist for Rapids, was pinned by Baraboo's Trevor Spencer in 1:16 and took home second place honors. Other Red Raider place winners included 119 Gary Akkerman 9th, 125 Paul Coates 6th, 135 Martin Thunder 3rd, 140 Nick bord 12th, 145 Logan Chambers 3rd, 160 Don Hopp 3rd, and 275 Kent Anderson 9th. Congratulations to all the Wisconsin Rapids wrestlers and coaches. Next up will be some more Wisconsin Valley competition.

Thurs. Jan. 6 Away Wausau East 7:30 p.m.Rapids dominated the Lumberjacks tonight and left Wausau with a 70-4 victory. At 103 J.J. Carter received a forfeit. At 112 Travis Tritz received a forfeit. At 119 Wausa East got their lone win of the night when Sam Thao was able to defeat Kody Ashbeck 13-4. At 125 Gary Akkerman beat John Sayasavanh 12-6. Then Paul Coates, Jeremy Armagost and Martin Thunder all received forfeits. At 145 Nick Bord Pinned Dan Bootz in 5:37. At 152 Logan Chambers scored the fall over Brandon Knetter in 1:59. At 160 Josh Deppe pinned Chris Weitz in 3:26. At 171 Don Hopp stopped Craig Schessler in 4:45. At 189 Luke Kolo pinned Nate Abrams in 1:04 and at HW Kent Anderson pinned Josh Norton in :53. More Valley action is on schedule next week as the Red Raider host the Merril Bluejays on Monday night.

Mon. Jan. 10 Home Merrill 7:30 p.m. A very young and physically strong Merrill team met our Red Raiders at the field house tonight. They have a bunch of real scrappers, but were unable to do much against the Raiders. Rapids won the meet 56-3. At 103 J.J. Carter used an escape with one tick on the clock left to defeat Merrill's Tony McConnell 1-0. At 112 Travis Tritz fought off a hard charging Nick Kaimski (M) and won on a decision 18-12. At 119 Kody Ashbeck beat Ben Swan (M) 6-3. At 125 Gary Akkerman stopped Merrill's Patrick McConnell in 2:58. At 130 Paul Coates pinned Jeremy Wyland (M) in 3:25. At 135 Jeremy Armagost wasted little time in pinning Zach Asmundsen (M) in 1:12. At 140 Martin won a wild match as he defeated Merrill's Ryan Schmelling 12-6. At 145 Nick Bord shut out Chad Gray (M) 5-0. At 152 Logan Chambers got a third period TF over Derek Meyers (M) 23-5. At 160 Merrill got on the board as Adam Wendell edged Josh Deppe 3-2 with a last second reversal. At 171 Don Hopp stopped Merrill's Tony Schuett in 3:50. At 189 Luke Kolo (WR) used only 1:31 to pin Steve Kottke. At HW Kent Anderson also wasted little time as he pinned Merrill's Jeff Weix. Next up for the Red Raiders will be the Rapids Quad. Rapids will face Joliet, IL at noon, Cumberland, probably the best Div. 3 in the state at 2:00 and the rivalry with Glenbard North, IL will be renewed at 4:00.

Sat. Jan. 15 Home Rapids Quad Noon. Glenbard North IL, Div. 3 state runner-up Cumberland and Joliet IL will be competing. The Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School Red Raiders had a very good day today at their own Quad. In the first round The Raiders faced the Steelmen of Joliet Township High School and defeated them 30-15. At 103 J.J. Carter was beaten by Matt Davis (J) 3-0. At 112 Travis Tritz dec. over Mike White (J) 8-4. At 119 Mike Fumagalli (J) beat Gary Akkerman 7-5. At 125 Paul Coates defeated Brian Bazon (J) on a pin in 3:28. At 130 Jeremy Armagost scored a first period fall over Joliet's Jon Strode. At 135 Martin Thunder won a wild match 11-8 over Angelo Love (J). At 140 Nick Bord beat Jermaine Fairley (J) 7-2. At 145 Mitch Ziolkowski defeated Oscar Esparza (J) 1-0. At 152 Mike Manek (J) beat Josh Deppe 8-6 in OT. At 160 Don Hopp defeated Jeff Ziesmer (J) 4-0. At 171 Kendell Heidelberg beat Justin Applebee 7-2 in OT. At 189 Luke Kolo Handed Joliet's Sean Randich his first loss with a 6-1 decision. At HW Kent Anderson wrestled very well against previously undefeated Kyle Rainey but came up short 4-2.

Also in the first round Glenbard North from Carol Stream, IL downed Cumberland, WI 43-9.

In the second round The Raiders face Div. 3 state runner-up Cumberland and soundly defeated them 48-4. At 103 J.J. Carter beat Chris Slawter (C) 9-3. At 112 Travis Tritz defeated Wayne Hagen (C) 17-3. At 119 Gary Akkerman pinned Justin Peterson (C) in 3:15. At 135 Jeremy Armagost scored a first period fall over Cumberland's Nick Hagen at the 1:44 mark. At 135 Martin Thunder defeated state place winner and previously undefeated John Peterson (C) 9-3. At 140 Nick Bord got a technical fall over Jake Lundquist (C) 16-0. At 145 Josh Peterson (C) beat Mitch Ziolkowski 9-1. At 152 Josh Deppe got a last second takedown and beat Travis Hanson (C) 5-4. At 160 Don Hopp defeated Gary Diesterhaft (C) 5-1. At 171 Justin Applebee was all over Jake Burke and beat him 12-5. At 189 Luke Kolo Handed Cumberland's Seth Stricklan his second loss of the season with a 12-1 decision. At HW Kent Anderson beat Travis Odden (C) 14-5.

Also in the second round Glenbard North beat Joliet 39-24. This set up a dual for top honors between 17-0 Glenbard North and 16-1 Wisconsin Rapids.

Rapids won 8 of the 13 matches and easily defeated Glenbard 36-16. At 103 J.J. Carter was beaten by Ernie Guillen (G) on a first period fall. At 112 Travis Tritz defeated Rainal Frias (G) 11-2. At 119 Chris Piha (G) beat Gary Akkerman 12-9. At 125 Paul Coates defeated Eric Brenton (G) 9-1. At 130 Jeremy Armagost beat Glenbard's Donny Mancuso 20-7. After the match Glenbard's wrestler was over heard saying that Jeremy was the hardest wrestler he ever faced. Nice job Jeremy. At 135 Martin Thunder won a very tough match 7-3 over Chad Isacson (G). At 140 Nick Bord pinned Nick Markovich in 3:07. At 145 Mike Malizzio defeated Mitch Ziolkowski 13-2. At 152 Logan Chambers beat Will Austin 1-0. At 160 Don Hopp defeated Tom Olson 11-5. At 171 Brian Mitchell beat Justin Applebee 5-1. At 189 Luke Kolo needed only 1:44 to pin Zach Massall (G). At HW Kent Anderson beat Raphael Sampson (G) 9-3.

Also in the third round Cumberland beat Joliet 39-23.

On the day, Travis Tritz, Paul Coates, Jeremy Armagost, Martin Thunder, Nick Bord, Logan Chambers, Don Hopp and Luke Kolo were all undefeated. Next up the Red Raiders return to Valley action as they face the much talked about Marshfield Tigers in Marshfield. Marshfield is unbeaten in the Valley Conf. and has already defeated some very good teams.

Thurs. Jan. 20 Away Marshfield 7:30 p.m. The big showdown between the two undefeated teams in the Valley Conference is now history. The Red Raiders prevailed as they defeated the Marshfield Tigers in Marshfield 46-22. At 103 J.J. Carter once again got the ball rolling with a pin. He stopped Nate Merkel in 3:04. At 112 the much anticipated match between Aynsley Trudeau (M) and Travis Tritz lived up to it's billing. Travis used a couple third period take downs to defeat Trudeau 8-6. At 119 Gary Akkerman beat Jared Krasselt by a major dec. 12-4. At 125 Paul Coates pinned Marshfield's Steve Tollers in 5:07. At 130 Jeremy Armagost jumped out in front of and pinned Marshfield's Ross Needham in 3:30. After seeing one of their best wrestlers get pinned and probable defeat coming at 135 and 140, Marshfield decided to forfeit to Martin Thunder and move K.C. Haldeman up to 140 where he faced Nick Bord. Nick was able to take a 5-0 lead but Haldeman was able to come away with a pin in 3:11 anyway. At 145 Ed Habermeyer (M) beat Mitch Ziolkowski 9-0. At 152 Logan Chambers (M) beat Pete Wolf in OT. At 160 Don Hopp pinned Luke Schlagenhaft in 3:25. At 171 Sam Stauber (M) pinned Justin Applebee in 3:04. At 189 Luke Kolo pinned Marshfield's Jesse Cordes in 1:52. At HW. Rapids forfeited to Shawn Multerter. This Satuday night the Red Raiders will be home against the second best team in the nation. Rapids holds a 2-0 advantage against Apple Valley but that won't mean anything to them. This should be a very good dual. Last year's meet was easily the most exciting dual of the season for us fans. You don't want to miss it.

Sat. Jan. 22 Home Apple Valley, MN 7:30 p.m. Once again this will go down as the best dual meet of the season. Unfortunately The Red Raiders weren't able to beat the #2 ranked team in the nation, but they did push them right to the limit and actually had the lead going into the HW match. At 103 Neil Wasmund (AV) beat J.J. Carter 8-3. At 112 Travis Tritz blanked Minnesota's 6th ranked Mark Buck 1-0. At 119 Apple Valley moved #1 ranked Matt Shankey down to face Gary Akkerman. Shankey was able to tech. Gary 21-5. At 125 Rapids sent out Paul Coates. Apple Valley countered with John Dorma. Paul was able to defeat Dormundt 4-1. At 130 #2 ranked Jacob Schlottke (AV) beat freshman Tyler Mancl on a technical fall 21-5. At 135 #3 ranked Luke Christianson (AV) defeated Jeremy Armagost 10-3. At 140 Martin Thunder won another one of his wild matches. This time it was over Minnesota's 5th ranked Matt Doughty 8-7. At 145 #9 ranked Travis Yamanaka (AV) beat Nick Bord 11-6. At 152 #2 ranked Dave Garrison defeated Mitch Ziolkowski 14-7. At 160 Rapids moved Logan Chambers all the way up to face Apple Valley's Pete Senty. Logan used his powerful arm bar to eventually roll up Senty and pin him in 3:06. Don Hopp then move up to 171. Apple Valley countered with their starting 189 pound and 4th ranked Chad Polus. Don used his head and came away with a big win 4-2. At 189 Luke Kolo pinned Mason Stedman (AV) in 1:18. This gave the Red Raiders a 24-22 lead, but Apple Valley had Minnesota's top ranked Chad Redmann still to come. Redmann was able to give Apple Valley the 28-24 win with a pin over Kent Anderson. Rapids is now 2-1 against Apple Valley and will face them in Minnesota next year. The Red Raiders wrestled very well tonight and definitely proved that Wisconsin wrestling is as good as it gets.

Thurs. Jan. 27 Home D.C. Everest 7:30 p.m In the last home dual meet of the year the Red Raiders crushed the evergreens of DC Everest 63-10. At 103 J.J. Carter Pinned Marcus Gunderson (DC). At 112 Travis Tritz scored a decisive 15-5 victory over Andy Altschwager (DC). At 119 the Evergreens notched the first of their two victories as the stated 5th ranked Div 1 wrestler, Luke Salzman (DC) scored a major decision over Kody Ashbeck 15-2. At 125 Gary Akkerman received a forfeit. At 130 Paul Coates Pinned Eric Bohn(DC). At 135 Jeremy Armagost pinned Ross Nevienski (DC). At 140 Martin Thunder pinned Keith Guse (DC). At 145 Nick Bord received a forfeit. At 152 Logan Chambers received a forfeit. At 160 Shaun Spaulding Pinned Travis Benaszeski (DC). At 171 Don Hopp scored a technical fall over Eric Hamerly (DC) 25-10. At 189 Luke Kolo pinned John Marq (DC). At HW #4 ranked Devin Kraege (DC) pinned Kent Anderson.

Thurs. Feb. 3 Away Wausau West 7:30 p.m. The Raiders completed a perfect conference dual season by beating the Warriors of Wausau West 47-23. At 103 J.J. Carter got the Raiders rolling with pin over Aaron Kania in 2:17. At 112 Travis Tritz pinned Rick Sandrini (WW) in 3:40. At 119 Gary Akkerman pinned Chris Esslinger (WW) in 1:55. At 125 Ben Rucsh faced West's # ranked Phil Bronsteatter and was teched in the second period. At 130 Paul Coates was surprised by Jeremy Reif (WW) and pinned in 3:25. At 135 Martin Thunder pinned Ryan Pittsley in 3:40. At 140 Nick Bord looked very good as he defeated Don Kettner (WW) 4-3. At 145 Logan Chambers scored a second period technical fall over over Jesse Hein (WW). At 152 Shaun Spaulding jumped out to an early lead but was pinned by Luke Harris (WW) in 3:49. At 160 Don Hopp beat Mike Miskowiak (WW) 10-3. At 171 Brent Nowak (WW) pinned Justin Applebee in 2:50. At 189 Luke Kolo pinned Paul Bielke (WW) in 4:37. At 275 Kent Anderson pinned Cody Hardinger (WW) in :41. West started 6 freshmen tonight and 2 of them won by fall.

Sat. Feb. 5 Away Conference @ Marshfield 10:00 a.m. To say the Red Raiders dominated the Valley conference today would be an understatement. Rapids sent 10 wrestlers to the finals and came away with 6 conference champions. At 103 J.J. Carter placed 2nd. At 112 Travis Tritz defeated Aynsley Trudeau of Marshfield for the sophomore's second conference title. At 119 Gary Akkerman placed 3rd. At 125 Paul Coates placed 2nd. At 130 Jeremy Armagost finished 1st. At 135 Martin Thunder placed 1st. At 140 Nick Bord placed 2nd. At 145 Logan Chambers beat Ed Habermeyer for his second conference title. Logan is also only a sophomore. At 152 Mitch Ziolkowski place 5th. At 160 Don Hopp placed 1st. At 171 Justin Applebee placed 5th. At 189 Luke Kolo place 1st and at Heavy weight Kent Anderson finished 2nd. Team wise the Raiders racked up 242.5 points. Marshfield finished 2nd with 151.5 points. Spash was 3rd with 115. Wausau West finished 4th with 107, Antigo 5th with 105, Merrill 6th with 96.5, D.C. Everest 7th with 78, Wausau East 8th with 61 and Rhinelander 9th with 43 points.

Sat. Feb. 12 Home Regionals @ Wisconsin Rapids (LHS) 11:00 a.m. All 13 wrestlers advanced to sectionals. J.J. Carter, Jeremy Armagost, Nick Bord, Justin Applebee and Kent Anderson all won by pin. Everybody else received a bye into the second round due to being seeded number 1.

In the second round J.J. Carter won by a fall, Travis Tritz won 15-5, Gary Akkerman won by a fall, Paul Coates won by a fall, Jeremy Armagost won by a fall, Martin Thunder won 19-5, Nick Bord lost 8-0, Logan Chambers won 22-5, Mitch Ziolkowski won by a fall, Don Hopp won by a fall, Justin Applebee lost 6-5, Luke Kolo won by a fall and Kent Anderson won 7-5 in OT.

In the third round Rapids only lost 1 match. 11 Red Raiders were crowned champions and 1 was 3rd and 1 placed 4th. Winning titles were 103 J.J. Carter, 112 Travis Tritz, 119 Gary Akkerman, 125 Paul Coates, 130 Jeremy Armagost, 135 Martin Thunder, 145 Logan Chambers, 152 Mitch Ziolkowski, 160 Don Hopp, 189 Luke Kolo and HW Kent Anderson. 140 Nick Bord place 3rd and 171 Justin Applebee placed 4th. The Raiders amassed 297.5 points (13 sectional qualifiers) to easily outdistance Stevens Point who had 199 points (12). Appleton East was third with 124 points (7), New London fourth with 95 (6), Appleton North fifth with 79 (3), Appleton West sixth with 78 (4). Waupaca seventh with 75 (4) and Ashwaubenon eighth with 60 points (3).

Tues. Feb. 15 Away Team Sectionals @ Waupaca 7:00 p.m. It'll be another Rapids vs Pulaski team sectional. The Big Red Machine flexed it's muscles tonight and came away qualifying for a sixth straight trip to the state team tournament in West Allis. This year it was Pulaski that fell victim to the Red Raiders by the score of 37-15. At 103 J.J. started things off on a high note by pinning Chad Ambrosius (Pul) in 4:46. At 112 it was a classic clash of the titans battle as undeated Travis Tritz and also undefeated John Stender (Pul) squared off. This defensive battle went to OT with no scoring before Travis Tritz was able to secure a solid takedown and hand Stender his first loss of the season 2-0. At 119 Gary Akkerman handed Nate Devroy (Pul) his second loss of the season with a 5-3 victory. At 125 Paul Coates needed only :40 to stop Brandon Matuszak. At 130 Justin Kunesh (Pul) won a wild decision over Jeremy Armagost 11-8. I'm sure Jeremy is looking forward to a rematch this weekend at sectionals. At 135 Martin Thunder tore up Sam Sparish (Pul) to tune of 20-8. At 140 Nick Bord was very impressive in beating Adam Thomas (Pul) 16-6. At 145 Mitch Ziolkowski was beaten by Pulaski's Brian Corrigan 5-3. At 152 Logan Chambers dominated the very tough Lucas Prentice (Pul) and came away with a 10-2 victory. At 160 Don Hopp put on a takedown clinic and defeated Chad Kleinschmidt (Pul) 22-9. At 171 Justin Applebee was pinned by James Fish (Pul) in 1:39. At 189 the much anticipated match between Pulaski's Glen Berna and Luke Kolo ended up with Luke coming away with his first loss of the season. Berna was able to defeat Kolo 7-1 tonight, but they to will probably wrestle again this weekend at sectionals. At HW Kent Anderson beat Pulaski's Jeff Van Donsel 3-0.

Sat. Feb. 19 Away Individual Sectionals @ Appleton North 11:00 a.m. The Red Raiders had another outstanding tournament today. Eight Red Raiders qualified for the State Tournament next week. Sectional champions included: J.J. Carter 6-4 winner over Dave Quinlan, Appleton East; Travis Tritz 5-2 over John Stender, Pulaski; Gary Akkerman 14-10 over Nate Devroy, Pulaski; Paul Coates 3-1 over Rocky Delorme; Jeremy Armagost 6-4 over Justin Kunesh, Pulaski; & Martin Thunder 9-0 over Rob King, SPASH. Don Hopp & Luke Kolo will advance to State as runners-up. Don lost to Mike Athey, Bayport, 6-3 & Luke was pinned by Glen Berna, Pulaski, in 3:40. At 140 Nick Bord did not place; at 152 Mitch Ziolkowski placed 4th; at Hwt. Kent Anderson placed 3rd. Also, congratulations to Paul Grossman & Jeremy Duerr of Pittsville & Trevor Jensen of Nekoosa, for qualifying for State.

Th,Fr&Sat. Feb. 24-26 Away Individual State @ Kohl Center in Madison 5:00 p.m. The state individual tournament is underway and the Red Raiders are doing well. At 103 Dave Vanevenhoven, Kaukauna, defeated J.J. Carter 6-1. Vanevenhoven then lost his next match which in effect eliminated J.J. Carter from the tournament. At 112 Travis Tritz beat Paul Nickolous from Oconnomowoc 17-5. Travis then went on to defeat Matt Zeilhofer of Waukesha West 16-4. At 119 Gary Akkerman lost to Jon Burdick from Racine Park 16-5 and did not get a wrestleback. At 125 Paul Coates beat Josh Strutz of Reedsburg Area 10-0. Paul then went on to blank Paul Zizzo from Whitnall 11-0. At 130 Jeremy Armagost decisioned Craig Bollig of Verona Area 13-1, but then was pinned by Trevor Spencer from Baraboo. At 135 Martin Thunder won by fall over Mike Wade Waukesha North 3:38 and then went on to beat Ryan Schmelling Merrill 7-2. At 160 Don Hopp was beaten by Jeff Mennicke (37-6) Milw. Ham./Juneau/Metro 8-1 and did not receive a wrestleback. At 189 Luke Kolo came through real big by beating previously undefeated Ryan Proctor from Stoughton 4-1. Luke then went on to beat Jon Wickman from Neenah 8-2. Travis Tritz, Paul Coates, Martin Thunder and Luke Kolo are in the semifinals and Jeremy Armagost is wrestling back towards 5th.

Day 2 of the State Individual Tournament started with Jeremy Armagost beating Paul Mannes from West Bend West 8-6. Jeremy now faces Joe Serio from Greenfield for a chance to wrestle for 5th. In the semi's, at 112 Travis Tritz (41-0) Wis. Rapids Lincoln decisioned Adam Kuchnia (33-3) Wilmot 6-2 and will now face Jesse Mulder (36-0) Stoughton for a state championship. At 125 Phil Bronsteatter (41-1) Wausau West won by fall over Paul Coates (35-6) Wis. Rapids Lincoln 3:04. Paul will now face Justin Lancaster (35-5) Monroe for 3rd. At 135 Martin Thunder had the tough task of facing the highest regarded wrestling in the tournament when he faced Tomahs 2 time defending state champion Tyler Laudon. Laudon hasn't even lost in 2 years and gave Thunder his only loss of the season earlier this year at the Bi-State. This time though things were different. Take it from me, Laudon was lucky to make it to OT with Martin. Martin was hit with stalling after the final buzzer which tied the match at 5. In the OT period Martin got in deep and scored a very decisive and quick takedown to beat the state's most highly recruited wrestler 7-5. Martin now faces Jared Dion (35-6) Arrowhead for a state championship. At 189 Luke Kolo turned in another one of his dominating performances by beating Josh Grode (39-3) West Allis Central 6-1. Luke now faces the very tough Glen Berna from Pulaski for a state championship.

Day three started out with Jeremy Armagost (35-6) Wis. Rapids Lincoln winning by fall over Joe Serio (34-6) Greenfield :49. This set up a match for 5th place with last years state champion Spencer Dominguez from Waukesha North. Dominguez prevailed with a TF over Jeremy which left Jeremy in 6th place for a second straight year. At 125 Paul Coates (36-6) Wis. Rapids Lincoln decisioned Justin Lancaster (35-6) Monroe 6-0 to cap a very good tournament and finish 3rd. In the finals Travis Tritz was the first of the three Red Raiders to take the mat. Travis placed 2nd as he was defeated by Jesse Mulder from Stoughton 14-6. Travis did appear to get it going in the third period, but it was too little too late. At 135 Martin Thunder (41-1) Wis. Rapids Lincoln controlled Jared Dion (35-7) Arrowhead and won a state title with a 7-3 decision. Congratulations Martin!!! At 189 Luke Kolo faced Glen Berna from Pulaski. Berna is the defending state champion and has already beaten Luke twice this year. The third period started with the match tied at 3 and luke riding. Berna got a quick escape and a takedown to take a 6-3 lead and hung on for the win. To recap the state tournament, at 103 J.J. Carter, 119 Gary Akkerman and 160 Don Hopp did not place. 130 Jeremy Armagost placed 6th. At 125 Paul Coates placed 3. At 112 Travis Tritz and 189 Luke Kolo placed 2nd At 135 Martin Thunder is a State Champion. Congratulations to all the Red Raider state qualifiers and place winners. Now it's time to get it done as a team next week at the state team tournament.

Fri. & Sat. Mar. 3-4 Away Team State @ West Allis Central High School The home team, West Allis Central, was the Raiders first victim at team state. At 103 J.J. Carter beat A.J. Ottow (WC) 9-7. At 112 Travis Tritz pinned Dan Braaton (WC) in 3:07. At 119 Kody Ashbeck beat Robert Syre (WC) 6-0. At 125 Gary Akkerman beat Presten Wahlers (WC) 10- 4. At 130 a couple state qualifiers faced each other as Paul Coates and Matt Young (WC) took the mat. Paul controlled the match start to finish and won 10-1. At 135 Jeremy Armagost pinned Jake Resch in 1:03. At 140 Martin Thunder pinned Matt Schultz (WC) in 2:46. AT 145 Mitch Ziolkowski defeated the 30-9 Nick Benvenuto (WC) 1-0. At 152 The Bulldogs of West Allis Central got on the score board as Eric Raatz defeated Josh Deppe 8-6 in OT. At 160 Logan Chambers faced 4th place state place winner Luke Griffith (WC) and was beaten 4-2. At 171 Tony Crivello pinned Nick Henning in in 3:19. The match at 189 was a rematch of the the state semifinal between Luke Kolo and Josh Grode (WC). This time Luke defeated Grode 7-0. At 275 Kent Anderson pinned Chad Blazeck in 3:07.

Also in the quarterfinals Deforest beat Hartford 46-18. Kaukauna beat Soughton 32-25 and River Falls beat Racine Park 38-22. Next up for the Raiders will be River Falls.

Day two of the State Team Tournament found Rapids wrestling River Falls in the semis. River Falls jumped out to an early lead as Collin Cudd beat J.J. Carter 16-3. At 112 Travis Tritz pinned Adam Guerink (RF) in 4:39. At 119 Gary Akkerman pinned Aaron Lacy (RF) in 2:20. At 125 Paul Coates pinned Adam Nelson (RF) in 3:06. At 130 Jeremy Armagost won by decision over Mitch Field (RF) 14-1. At 135 Martin Thunder scored a technical fall over Matt Johnson. AT 140 Travis Miller started a little comeback for River Falls as he was able to defeat Nick Bord 10-2. At 145 Adam Meier kept things going for River Falls with a 4-3 decision over Mitch Ziolkowski. At 152 Logan Chambers got a quick pin when he stopped Pete Kimball (RF) in 1:06. At 160 Ross Zimmerman defeated an injured Don Hopp 5-4. At 171 Jesse Johnson (RF) beat Justin Applebee 12- 4. At 189 Luke Kolo scored a technical fall over Cameron Miller (RF) and at 275 Kent Anderson beat Dave Kapping (RF) 5-0.

Also in the second round Kaukauna beat DeForest 38-21 and will face Rapids tonight in the championship dual meet.

103 J.J Carter vs Dave Vanevenhoven (6th at state)- The first period ended in a 2-2 tie. No scoring took place in the second period. In the third period Vanevenhoven got an escape to start the period and hung on for a 3-2 win.

112 Travis Tritz vs Caleb Couillard - Travis took a 10-2 lead into the second period. Tritz led 11-2 after two periods. In the third period Tritz got a reversal, put Couillard on his back and pinned him at the 5:24 mark.

119 Gary Akkerman vs John Wolfgram The first period ended with Wolfgram up 2-1. Going to the third period Wolfgram had a 7-2 lead. In the third period Gary got a takedown but was reversed and gave up a nearfall. Wolfgram won with major dec. 12-4 and gave Kaukauna a 7-6 lead.

125 Paul Coates vs Joe Vanevenhoven (State Champion) No scoring in the first period. Paul rode Vanevenhoven very hard for the most of second period and then actually put the state champion on his back. He tightened it up hard and Vanevenhoven went down. That's right, Paul Coates stuck the undefeated state champion Joe Vanevenhoven in 3:51.

130 Jeremy Armagost vs Dave Lemke A fired up Jeremy Armagost made quick work of Lemke and pinned him in at the :54 mark. Rapids leads 18-7

135 Martin Thunder vs Justin Geitner (state qualifier) The match was fairly close until the third period. Then Martin was all over Geitner and won by a major dec. 10-2

140 Nick Bord vs Chris McDaniel Nick had a tough time with McDaniel. Nick was down 8-2 after one period. McDaniel didn't really do anything during the second period and managed to ride Nick out. In the third period Nick got a quick takedown, but was reversed. At the 5:29 mark Nick was caught in a spladle and pinned. Rapids now leads 22-13.

145 Mitch Ziolkowski vs Steve Freeman After one period Mitch led Freeman 3-2. No scoring in the second period. Freeman did appear to injure his shoulder, but was able to continue. In the third period Mitch started down and got a reversal with about a minute left. Freeman then reversed Mitch, but Mitch came back with a takedown and won the match 8-4.

152 Josh Deppe vs Jeff Severson (6th at state) The first period ended with Severson ahead 2-0. Severson took a 6-1 lead into the third period. In the third period Deppe got an escape, but gave up a takedown. Severson won by dec. 8-2.

160 Logan Chambers vs Jeremey Stapleford Logan got a quick takedown and put Stapleford on his back. The ref stopped the match (potentially dangerous). Logan wasted no time in putting Stapleford on his back again and went to the second period ahead 9-1. Logan wrestled tough in the second period and extended his lead. In the third period Stapleford was hit with stalling a few times and Logan got another take down and won by a technical fall 17-2. Rapids now leads 30-16.

171 Don Hopp vs Brice Trickey The heavily taped Don Hopp got a takedown in the first period to lead 2-0. In the second period Don took Trickey down a couple more times and went to the third period ahead 6-1. In the third period Hopp continued his mastery of Trickey and defeated him with a 9-1 major dec. This win guaranteed the Red Raiders 6th Straight state championship and 11th overall.

189 Luke Kolo vs Tony Nackers Luke dominated Nackers and pinned him in 1:59. Not much else to say about the powerful Rapids Senior.

275 Kent Anderson vs Steve Heindl No score after one period. The only scoring in the second period was an escape by Heindl. In the third period Kent got and early escape and a last second takedown to win the match 3-1.

Rapids Beat Kaukauna 43-16 and did what no team has ever done. They won 6 straight Wisconsin State Championships.