Golden boys: Olson, Schmalfeldt win state titles
MADISON — This one was for Alex ... and for Lane.
Horlick senior Lane Olson became the first Racine wrestler in 14 years to win a WIAA Individual State Wrestling Championship Saturday at the Kohl Center. He was joined by Burlington’s Justin Schmalfeldt, whose domination of the Division 1 215-pound weight class ended with a 7-2 victory over Wisconsin Rapids’ Steve Virgil.
St. Catherine’s Jon Flancher earned a Division 2 third-place medal at 215 pounds and Waterford’s Eric Czaja was fourth at 152 pounds in Division 1. Lars Skoglund of Racine, who wrestles for Milwaukee Heritage Christian, finished fourth at 171 in Division 3.
Olson decisioned Rhinelander’s Eddie Stefonek 5-1 in the final, fulfilling a promise to his late friend Alex Olson, a Horlick student-athlete who died of leukemia last March.
“(Alex) was there the whole time,” Lane Olson said. “I wanted to do this for him so bad, but I didn’t make it public. I wanted to keep this between me and him this year.
“I wish I could have done this last year when Alex was here, but I know he’s here with me in spirit, which means a lot.”
Olson (37-2) took control of the match in the second period, scoring an escape midway through the period and adding a takedown in the final 20 seconds. Stefonek (44-2) escaped early in the third period but was unable to score again. After receiving a stalling warning with 22 seconds left, Olson went on the attack again and closed out the match by finishing off another takedown at the buzzer.
“This is everything I thought it would be and more,” Olson said. “I can’t explain it. I controlled the match and did everything I needed to do. I didn’t give up a takedown the whole tournament and I wasn’t about to give one up in the last match.”
Olson, who had made his vow to his dying friend public last season, kept his tribute private this season. Horlick coach Jerry Kupper placed photos of the two Olsons on the mat during matches, but didn’t tell his senior wrestler about it until regionals. A photo of each Olson was in the Horlick corner during the final.
“Last year, when he came up here, he had a lot of distractions,” Kupper said. “He had the right priorities, but the distractions took him away from his wrestling skills. He lost his best friend and that was his No. 1 distraction, but it was a distraction for the right reasons. He had his mind on his friend instead of wrestling. This year he was distraction free. He’s a hard-working kid with a big heart who is doing it for all the right reasons.”
Olson is the first Horlick wrestler to win a state championship since Rebels assistant coach Leonard Velasquez won the second of two state titles in 1982.
“His mom and dad went to school with my brothers and sisters,” Velasquez said. “When he was a freshman they said to him ‘he’s a good guy, maybe he’ll do something with you, make you a champion.’ But with him and his work ethic, he made it happen. I told him ‘this is your time to shine, go for it.’
It was Schmalfeldt’s time to shine as well.
The Burlington senior was one of three Division 1 wrestlers to finish the season unbeaten (38-0).
“This was a lot of fun,” Schmalfeldt said. “The biggest thing I tried to remember is this is just another tournament. I couldn’t let the hype get to me.”
Schmalfeldt trailed 1-0 midway through his final match before opening up with a pair of takedowns in the final 32 seconds of the second period for a 4-2 lead. Virgil (40-7), who failed in his attempt to give Wisconsin Rapids a 4-for-4 sweep in the finals, let Schmaldfeldt escape to start the third and was taken down 30 seconds later.
Like Olson, Schmalfeldt didn’t allow a takedown in four state tournament matches.
“I concentrated the whole year on shooting,” Schmalfeldt said. “That’s my positive, scoring on my feet. I love taking someone down.”
Schmalfeldt exhibited a quiet confidence throughout the tournament, a lesson he said he learned after finishing sixth as a junior.
“Last year I came in and I was in awe,” Schmalfeldt said. “The first year, you’re like ‘wow, I finally made it.’ You get a little panicked. That’s the one thing I tried not to do this year and it paid off.”
Schmaldfeldt is the third Burlington wrestler to win a state title, joining two-time winner Tom Fitzpatrick (1983 and ‘85) and the late Mike Kramer (1994).
“He has really come a long way,” Demons coach Jace Gribble said. “He started really getting focused after placing sixth last year. He set this goal after last season and dedicated himself to it and to be honest, he hasn’t really been touched this year. I was lucky enough to work with him for the last two years and he’s made huge strides, but that’s all his doing. He did all the work, he’s very coachable. He did whatever I asked him and he’s a perfect example — you do the work, you pay the price and it works out.”
Flancher had to work overtime to earn his third-place Division 2 medal. The St. Catherine’s senior needed a takedown in the extra period for a 5-3 victory over Westby’s Tyler Manning (40-8).
“This might be the last match ever in his career,” St. Catherine’s coach Mark Sommer said. “I thought he wrestled the best match of his career.”
Flancher (42-4) scored a second-period takedown for a 2-1 lead but Manning escaped for a 2-2 tie after two periods. Flancher regained the lead with a third-period escape but Manning forced overtime when Flancher was penalized a point for stalling.
“I wanted to win a state championship, but third place isn’t too bad after coming up here and losing last year,” Flancher said. “It wasn’t easy trying to regroup after losing in the semis, but I didn’t want my last match to be a loss.”
Czaja was unable to rebound in his Division 1 third-place consolation match following Friday night’s semifinal loss to Olson. The Waterford junior’s late rally came up short in a 3-2 loss to James Dederich of Menomonee Falls (36-6). Czaja (38-2) battled back from a 3-0 deficit with escapes in the final two periods but Dederich held off Czaja’s attempt for a winning takedown.
NOTES: Fox Sports Net North will broadcast the finals for all three divisions. Division 1 will air 7 p.m. Tuesday; Division 2 will air 1 p.m. Sunday, March 18 followed by Division 3 at 3:30 p.m.
Schmalfeldt was awarded his state championship medal by former Burlington coach and state Hall of Famer Don Moe, who coached Schmalfeldt during his freshman and sophomore seasons.
MADISON — This one was for Alex ... and for Lane.
Horlick senior Lane Olson became the first Racine wrestler in 14 years to win a WIAA Individual State Wrestling Championship Saturday at the Kohl Center. He was joined by Burlington’s Justin Schmalfeldt, whose domination of the Division 1 215-pound weight class ended with a 7-2 victory over Wisconsin Rapids’ Steve Virgil.
St. Catherine’s Jon Flancher earned a Division 2 third-place medal at 215 pounds and Waterford’s Eric Czaja was fourth at 152 pounds in Division 1. Lars Skoglund of Racine, who wrestles for Milwaukee Heritage Christian, finished fourth at 171 in Division 3.
Olson decisioned Rhinelander’s Eddie Stefonek 5-1 in the final, fulfilling a promise to his late friend Alex Olson, a Horlick student-athlete who died of leukemia last March.
“(Alex) was there the whole time,” Lane Olson said. “I wanted to do this for him so bad, but I didn’t make it public. I wanted to keep this between me and him this year.
“I wish I could have done this last year when Alex was here, but I know he’s here with me in spirit, which means a lot.”
Olson (37-2) took control of the match in the second period, scoring an escape midway through the period and adding a takedown in the final 20 seconds. Stefonek (44-2) escaped early in the third period but was unable to score again. After receiving a stalling warning with 22 seconds left, Olson went on the attack again and closed out the match by finishing off another takedown at the buzzer.
“This is everything I thought it would be and more,” Olson said. “I can’t explain it. I controlled the match and did everything I needed to do. I didn’t give up a takedown the whole tournament and I wasn’t about to give one up in the last match.”
Olson, who had made his vow to his dying friend public last season, kept his tribute private this season. Horlick coach Jerry Kupper placed photos of the two Olsons on the mat during matches, but didn’t tell his senior wrestler about it until regionals. A photo of each Olson was in the Horlick corner during the final.
“Last year, when he came up here, he had a lot of distractions,” Kupper said. “He had the right priorities, but the distractions took him away from his wrestling skills. He lost his best friend and that was his No. 1 distraction, but it was a distraction for the right reasons. He had his mind on his friend instead of wrestling. This year he was distraction free. He’s a hard-working kid with a big heart who is doing it for all the right reasons.”
Olson is the first Horlick wrestler to win a state championship since Rebels assistant coach Leonard Velasquez won the second of two state titles in 1982.
“His mom and dad went to school with my brothers and sisters,” Velasquez said. “When he was a freshman they said to him ‘he’s a good guy, maybe he’ll do something with you, make you a champion.’ But with him and his work ethic, he made it happen. I told him ‘this is your time to shine, go for it.’
It was Schmalfeldt’s time to shine as well.
The Burlington senior was one of three Division 1 wrestlers to finish the season unbeaten (38-0).
“This was a lot of fun,” Schmalfeldt said. “The biggest thing I tried to remember is this is just another tournament. I couldn’t let the hype get to me.”
Schmalfeldt trailed 1-0 midway through his final match before opening up with a pair of takedowns in the final 32 seconds of the second period for a 4-2 lead. Virgil (40-7), who failed in his attempt to give Wisconsin Rapids a 4-for-4 sweep in the finals, let Schmaldfeldt escape to start the third and was taken down 30 seconds later.
Like Olson, Schmalfeldt didn’t allow a takedown in four state tournament matches.
“I concentrated the whole year on shooting,” Schmalfeldt said. “That’s my positive, scoring on my feet. I love taking someone down.”
Schmalfeldt exhibited a quiet confidence throughout the tournament, a lesson he said he learned after finishing sixth as a junior.
“Last year I came in and I was in awe,” Schmalfeldt said. “The first year, you’re like ‘wow, I finally made it.’ You get a little panicked. That’s the one thing I tried not to do this year and it paid off.”
Schmaldfeldt is the third Burlington wrestler to win a state title, joining two-time winner Tom Fitzpatrick (1983 and ‘85) and the late Mike Kramer (1994).
“He has really come a long way,” Demons coach Jace Gribble said. “He started really getting focused after placing sixth last year. He set this goal after last season and dedicated himself to it and to be honest, he hasn’t really been touched this year. I was lucky enough to work with him for the last two years and he’s made huge strides, but that’s all his doing. He did all the work, he’s very coachable. He did whatever I asked him and he’s a perfect example — you do the work, you pay the price and it works out.”
Flancher had to work overtime to earn his third-place Division 2 medal. The St. Catherine’s senior needed a takedown in the extra period for a 5-3 victory over Westby’s Tyler Manning (40-8).
“This might be the last match ever in his career,” St. Catherine’s coach Mark Sommer said. “I thought he wrestled the best match of his career.”
Flancher (42-4) scored a second-period takedown for a 2-1 lead but Manning escaped for a 2-2 tie after two periods. Flancher regained the lead with a third-period escape but Manning forced overtime when Flancher was penalized a point for stalling.
“I wanted to win a state championship, but third place isn’t too bad after coming up here and losing last year,” Flancher said. “It wasn’t easy trying to regroup after losing in the semis, but I didn’t want my last match to be a loss.”
Czaja was unable to rebound in his Division 1 third-place consolation match following Friday night’s semifinal loss to Olson. The Waterford junior’s late rally came up short in a 3-2 loss to James Dederich of Menomonee Falls (36-6). Czaja (38-2) battled back from a 3-0 deficit with escapes in the final two periods but Dederich held off Czaja’s attempt for a winning takedown.
NOTES: Fox Sports Net North will broadcast the finals for all three divisions. Division 1 will air 7 p.m. Tuesday; Division 2 will air 1 p.m. Sunday, March 18 followed by Division 3 at 3:30 p.m.
Schmalfeldt was awarded his state championship medal by former Burlington coach and state Hall of Famer Don Moe, who coached Schmalfeldt during his freshman and sophomore seasons.
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