STAR JOURNAL REPORT

Rhinelander High School junior wrestler Jacob DeMeyer earned a fourth-place medal in Division 1 at 145 pounds in last week’s state tournament after winning three of the five matches in which he competed.

He opened the WIAA Individual State Tournament on Thursday at the Kohl Center in Madison with a pair of victories. DeMeyer won on a 7-2 decision over Hamilton senior Owen Gorges and then recorded an 11-3 major decision victory over Racine Horlick senior Subhan Umar.

DeMeyer then lost in the state semifinals Friday night on a 10-1 major decision against the eventual state champion, La Crosse Central senior Jaden Van Maanen, who ended up undefeated on the season at 49-0.

In DeMeyer’s two consolation matches Saturday, he won a 3-0 decision over Waterford senior Austin Thomas before losing the match for third place on a 4-3 decision against Arrowhead sophomore Joshua Otto. DeMeyer ended the season with a record of 43-2.

NO OTHER HODAGS MEDAL

None of the other three Hodag wrestlers who qualified for state received a medal. Two of them won their opening matches Thursday when they also lost their second bouts and the other lost in the first round.

At 160 pounds, RHS senior Alec Bess pinned Appleton North’s Weston Verhoff before losing on a 12-0 major decision to Sparta junior Hayden Krein. Bess then was eliminated Friday in the consolation bracket when he lost a 13-5 major decision against Kenosha Bradford sophomore Jake Deates.

Hodags junior Alec Kurtz won his opening match at 182 pounds on a technical fall over Slinger sophomore Bennett Connolly before losing a 12-0 major decision against DeForest senior Jackson Hemauer, the eventual state champion.

Kurtz then won a 5-3 decision Friday in the consolation bracket against Madison La Follette senior Salvatore Schiro before being eliminated in the tournament by losing a 3-1 decision to Appleton North junior Brock Danielski.

At 113 pounds, RHS junior Rueben Guzik opened the tournament losing a 7-4 decision to Pulaski senior Cole Gille and then was eliminated in the consolation bracket Friday morning after dropping a 9-7 decision to Sauk Prairie junior Dylan Herbrand.