By Murray Gleffe, Correspondent
MADISON-Cody Minor and Noah Leisgang went down to Madison in the lightest two classifications and each came away winning five of six matches (3rd) down at the WIAA State Wrestling Individual Tournament (Feb. 22, 23, and 24).
Both Minor and Leisgang were stopped in the second round of completing their mission of winning a State Championship.
However, it didn’t deter either of them from fighting back to win their final matches at 106 and 113 lbs. respectively.
(Cody) Minor started his journey with a 9-0 major decision win.
In the quarterfinals, he went up against Freshman Hayden Halter of Burlington who came into the match with a 46-2 record.
Minor took an early 2-0 lead with a takedown, but Halter turned the tables on Minor near the end of the second period with a reversal and carried that momentum right into the third where he received a near fall and takedown in succession to go up four points and eventually win the match.
Cody then showed his true determination as an athlete.
He came back from a very tough defeat and knew he could still accomplish a high finish.
In the first three wrestle-backs, nobody had a prayer against him.
Mind you this was the State Tournament and everybody is very good!
He won his first match by technical fall and then his next two matches by a combined score of 15-0 setting up the third-place match with Beau LaDu of Lake Geneva Badger.
In his final match as a Sophomore, he showed why he was ranked as a top wrestler in the State of Wisconsin all season long.
After a scoreless first period, Minor exploded with a takedown and two and three-point near falls to seize an insurmountable 7-0 lead.
He then wrestled a smart and tactical last period to take home the third-place medal!
(Noah) Leisgang came to Madison on the eve of a very tough Sectional.
Nothing was going to surprise him after seeing top ranked wrestlers at Green Bay Preble.
Leisgang came out and didn’t give up a point in his first match versus Mendoza of Racine Park.
In the Quarters, he went up against Freshman Jack Ganos of Arrowhead.
After a scoreless first period, Leisgang went down to open period number two and Ganos pinned him just 26 seconds in.
Like Minor, Noah pressed forward and knew he was still in the tournament.
In his first wrestle-back, Noah pinned his opponent in the first period, and then won a very entertaining match (6-4) over Parker Bevilacqua of Muskego.
He was one match away from wrestling for the bronze medal at Madison.
His opponent was Senior Reuben Guzik of Rhinelander.
Noah jumped to an early lead and left no doubt who was the better wrestler on this day.
In all, he had four take downs, a near fall, and an escape to win a major decision.
It earned him the right to wrestle for the third-place prize.
Leisgang took to Mat 1 right after Minor had won his match.
He wasn’t about to let Jaguar Nation down.
Near the end of the second period with neither wrestler putting points up, Leisgang got a takedown but Zeke Smith of Sauk Prairie immediately got a reversal to even the score at two apiece.
Smith elected to hand the escape point to Leisgang to start the third.
Then things got interesting with about 45 seconds left in the match.
Noah flipped Smith over to take a 5-2 lead, but Smith generated a late escape and was in position for a near fall to end the match.
Fortunately, for Leisgang and the Ashwaubenon Jaguars, time ran out.
He had completed the full wrestle-back conquest and received the bronze medal for his accomplishments!!
Fernando Coronado and Connor Ramage both lost their opening round match.
Ramage came back and competed in a wrestle-back where he lost a decision to Weiler of Burlington.
The Jaguars finished the tournament with 34.5 points good enough for 31st place overall.
2018 WIAA Individual State Results for Ashwaubenon
D1-106
Cody Minor (47-2) placed 3rd and scored 17.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Minor (Ashwaubenon) won over Quentin Brown (West Allis Central) 34-8 (MD 9-0)
Quarterfinal – Hayden Halter (Burlington) 47-2 won over Minor (Dec 6-3)
Cons. Round 1 – Minor won over Casey Reigstad (Menomonee Falls) 26-13 (TF-1.5 5:00 (23-6))
Cons. Round 2 – Minor won over Blake Peiffer (Port Washington) 45-4 (MD 9-0)
Cons. Semi – Minor won over Cade Willis (Union Grove) 43-7 (Dec 6-0)
3rd Place Match – Minor won over Beau LaDu (Badger) 47-5 (Dec 8-2)
D1-113
Noah Leisgang (43-6) placed 3rd and scored 17.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Leisgang (Ashwaubenon) won over Joseph Mendoza (Racine Park) 38-9 (Dec 6-0)
Quarterfinal – Jack Ganos (Arrowhead) 36-7 won over Leisgang (Fall 2:26)
Cons. Round 1 – Leisgang won over Dawson Lambert (Tomah) 38-6 (Fall 1:47)
Cons. Round 2 – Leisgang won over Parker Bevilacqua (Muskego) 38-13 (Dec 6-4)
Cons. Semi – Leisgang won over Reuben Guzik (Rhinelander) 37-12 (MD 12-2)
3rd Place Match – Leisgang won over Zeke Smith (Sauk Prairie) 50-3 (Dec 5-3)
D1-126
Fernando Coronado (39-4)
Champ. Round 1 – Grant Truesdale (Elkhorn Area) 41-9 won over Coronado (Ashwaubenon) (Dec 3-2)
D1-132
Connor Ramage (38-12)
Champ. Round 1 – Keegan O`Toole (Arrowhead) 42-1 won over Ramage (Ashwaubenon) (Dec 10-3)
Cons. Round 1 – Zach Weiler (Burlington) 44-10 won over Ramage (Dec 4-1)