February 14, 2022

Saturday, February 12, Mineral Point Wrestling hosted regionals. Mineral Point knew that they were going into regionals strong. To start off the day Will Shute, who did not have bye, had some competition. Unfortunately, Shute fell to his first and only match. Shute had a great season and is ready for more next year!

Mineral Point wrestlers knew they had the advantage to go big in the finals. To start the first round Roen Carey (106), Kade Rule (113), Carson Kroll (120), Lucus Sullivan (126), Trapper Nafzger (132), Tarrin Rielly (138), Ross Lindsey (145), Hayden Bakken (152), Jimmy Tibbits (160), Bo Hanson (170), Alan James (182), and Mac Busser (220) all received byes. In Roen Carey’s second round he recorded a tech fall scoring 15-0. This put Carey right into the championship and offered the chance to go to sectionals. Carey walked onto the mat knowing he had to give it his all to become a champion. He used his skills to find his way to pinning his opponent at 5:41. The fans of Mineral Point congratulated Carey by clapping and cheering from the stands. Kade Rule received a pin at 0:31 in round two. Rule was now in the championship. After experiencing a win from a teammate, Rule knew he had to do the same. Rule started out strong letting his opponent know he was in control. Rule took the shot and put his challenger on his back pinning him at 3:51. That added another champion to Mineral Point! The fans were cheering and proud to be a part of Pointer nation. Coming next junior Carson Kroll pinned his opposer at 1:42. Kroll was on a roll and in the championship! Kroll came out strong and took the pin at 3:02. Lucas Sullivan knew he could take another win after returning from the previous weekend. He started his day out with a quick pin at 1:25. This put Sullivan into a mindset of winning, and Sullivan sure did make a statement by taking the fast pin at 0:59. This put Mineral Point at the top of the team placing with 4 champions and more to come! Trapper Nafzger went in and out for his second round winning with a pin at 2:57. Nafzger pinned his antagonist at 4:56 using his signature move that he previously used at the Fennimore dual. The crowd cheered as, yet again, Mineral Point had another champion! Junior, Tarrin Rielly was nothing less than ready for his first match of the day. Rielly went onto the mat wanting a quick start, and he did with a pin at 1:46. The crowd knew that Rielly was ready as he walked up to his championship match. Rielly ended his day with a quick pin at 1:13. Up Next Ross Lindsey took a pin in his second round at 0:56 bringing another Mineral Point wrestler into the championship. Lindsey knew he was going to have to work hard in this match. Lindsey wrestled hard as he fought for the top of the podium. The crowd sat at the edges of their seats waiting for the next move. The fans grew louder and louder as time became less and roared with excitement as Lindsey wrestled his way to #1 with a score of 8-4. Hayden Bakken wanted to get a win in his second round, which he did with a pin at 2:13. With that match, it brought Bakken right to the championship. Bakken knew that this was going to be a challenge from the start. He fought hard through the whole match. Sadly Bakken fell to his opponent with a score of 4-2. This still put Bakken at second place and a qualifier for the next round. Jimmy Tibbits was brought right to the finals with byes. He knew he would have a challenge, but he wo with a pin at 1:02. Senior Bo Hanson flew right to the second round, getting it done and over with a pin at 0:59. In the final, Hanson made the match exciting by going right to the end and winning with a score of 11-2. This made Bo Hanson Mineral Points ninth champion! Byes took Alan James right to the finals and advanced him to the next round. Unfortunately, in the finals, James fell to a pin at 1:09. Mac Busser went into his first match strong and pinned his challenger at 4:32 which took him to the finals. In the finals, Busser fell to a pin, but still gets the chance to go to Sectionals.

The Mineral Point wrestling team received first place in the Regional Tournament and has twelve wrestlers moving to Sectionals! Mineral Point travels to New Lisbon on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, to first take on Fennimore in Team Sectionals.