D'Alie, Azarian reach promised land together

By Mark Feldman

Journal Times staff Anthony D'Alie and Anthony Azarian - childhood pals, best buddies and, this year, teammates - are headed to the WIAA Division 1 state wrestling tournament together.

The two Waterford High School seniors dominated their competition Saturday and won championships at the Division 1 sectional at West Allis Central.

Three other teammates also earned spots at the state tournament by finishing in the top two: Eric Czaja won the 152-pound championship, Brandon Henderson was second at 215, and Erv Kehoss was second at 275.

Burlington had two state qualifiers out of the sectional: Junior Justin Schmalfeldt won the 215-pound championship, while senior Zeb Breuckman was second at 152 pounds.

D'Alie improved to 34-0 by winning his three matches at 135 pounds, while Azarian, who placed second at 135 pounds at the state tournament last season while wrestling at Park, recorded three pins to win the 140-pound championship.

D'Alie will be making his second trip to state after beating Ethan Reik of Milwaukee King in a technical fall (22-3), Brian Hagan of Pius XI in a technical fall (18-2), and Michael Tipton Evans of Milwaukee Custer 12-5 in the finals.

And he won the title basically on one foot, said Waterford coach Henry Agallar. D'Alie severely sprained his right ankle in the first period of the championship match, trailed 3-0, but scored nine points in the second to take control of the match.

"Ninety percent of kids would have quit," Agallar said. "He's a warrior. He's just so tough. He couldn't shoot, he could barely stand, but we went out and got the job done."

Azarian (30-0) was even more dominating. He pinned all three of his opponents: Dione Harris of Milwaukee Madison/Language Arts/Marshall in 1:39, Jake Knippel of Muskego in 3:37, and Billy Schlottke of Mukwonago in 3:29 in the finals.

Also for the Wolverines, Eric Czaja (30-6) beat Burlington's Breuckman 9-4 in the 152 finals. Henderson (33-5) beat Kirk Smith of Milwaukee Custer by rule in the 215 wrestlebacks, while Erv Kehoss (19-10) pinned Joe Pulczinski of Mukwonago in 4:45 in the 275 wrestlebacks.

"Henderson struggled all day," Agallar said. "He was on his back in his first match and really had to fight. He knows he can wrestle better. As for Erv, I told him he had the talent to make it to state. I don't think he really believed me until today."

For the Demons, Breuckman and Schmalfeldt earned their first berths at state. Schmalfeldt (36-2) won his three matches Saturday, including a 10-3 win over Waterford's Henderson that avenged last week's loss to Henderson at regionals.

"Justin turned the tables on him today," Burlington coach Jade Gribble said. "He got dominated by him last week, but today he just took over."

Breuckman improved to 33-5. "We really made a lot of improvements this week," Gribble said. "We fixed our mistakes. We finished our shots and really wrestled aggressive."

Division 2 ELKHORN SECTIONAL: Jon Flancher of St. Catherine's made it to state by placing second at 215 pounds at the Division 2 sectional.

Flancher (27-12) recorded three pins - two in under one minute - and finished 4-1 on the day.

Angels coach Mark Sommer believes that Flancher is the school's first state qualifier since 1982.

"We're all really excited for Jon," Sommer said. "He had a great day. He had to wrestle five matches, but he got it done."

Union Grove's Kurt Vanderwerff and Luke Smith each finished fourth, at 103 and 171 pounds, respectively.

"They just missed," Broncos coach Andy Weiss said. "They both wrestled well in their last matches. The god thing is is that they will be back next year. This gives them a taste of how close they got, and what they have to do to get to state."

Vanderwerff, a freshman, finished 20-14, while Smith, a junior, was 26-5.

Division 3 DODGELAND SECTIONAL: Cath-olic Central junior Dustin Elsbury earned a trip to state by finishing third at 135 pounds at the Division 3 sectional.

Elsbury (34-4) went 2-1 Saturday. Also for the Hilltoppers, James Kunka (29-9) went 1-2 at 125 pounds and finished fourth, just missing a berth in the state tournament.

"Dustin really did well today," Catholic Central coach Jim Butler said. "He really deserved to get to state."