WIAA State Team Wrestling Tournament Preview
THE TOURNAMENT: The 33rd Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Team Wrestling Tournament will take place Friday and Saturday, March 1-2. The tournament is held at the Field House on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison, Wis.
TICKET INFORMATION: Ticket prices for the tourney are $16 plus online fees for the Friday session and $11 plus fees for the Saturday sessions. They can be purchased on-line on the WIAA website through GoFan, the WIAA digital ticketing partner, at: https://www.wiaawi.org/Tickets#42691545-team-wrestling.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE AND PAIRINGS: The single elimination tournament features eight teams in Division 1 and four each in Divisions 2 and 3. Here are the pairings and schedule for the divisions:
Division 1
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 1 – 5:30 p.m.
Match-1: #1 Kaukauna (17-0) vs. #8 Homestead (11-1)
Match-2: #5 Mukwonago (25-8) vs. #4 Menomonie (19-3)
Match-3: #6 Hartford (15-1) vs. #3 Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln (18-3)
Match-4: #2 Muskego (23-7) vs. #7 Arrowhead (12-3)
Semifinals – Friday, March 1 – 7:30 p.m.
Match-5: Match-1 Winner vs. Match-2 Winner
Match-6: Match-3 Winner vs. Match-4 Winner
Final – Saturday, March 2 – 3 p.m.
Division 1 Championship Match
Division 2
Semifinals – Saturday, March 2 – 10 a.m.
Match-1: #1 Luxemburg-Casco (19-0) vs. #4 Kewaskum (8-2)
Match-2: #3 Prairie du Chien (27-4) vs. #2 St. Croix Falls (15-1)
Final – Saturday, March 2 – 3 p.m.
Division 2 Championship Match
Division 3
Semifinals – Saturday, March 2 – 10 a.m.
Match-1: #1 Fennimore (15-1) vs. #4 Cumberland (19-5)
Match-2: #3 Coleman (15-4) vs. #2 Weyauwega-Fremont (19-1)
Final – Saturday, March 2 – 3 p.m.
Division 3 Championship Match
TOURNAMENT LIVE STREAMS: The entire State Team Wrestling Tournament will be streamed live on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network on a consumer subscription basis. To purchase a subscription to the live programming for only $11.99 per month, log-on to wiaa.tv or www.nfhsnetwork.com and click on the subscribe button in the header of the page. Archived streams of the events will be available on demand on the NFHS Network 72 hours after the tournament.
TEAM TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW: The first WIAA State Wrestling Tournament was held in 1940. Until 1992, team champions were determined by a point system based on individuals’ placing in what is currently the individual championships. For the first time in 1992, a team champion was determined by a separate tournament series involving dual matches. UW-Stevens Point hosted the first two championships, and West Allis Central hosted the meet from 1994-2005. The tournament has been held at the UW Field House from 2006-2020. The State Tournament was held in three separate locations in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. This season, there were 337 programs entering the tournament series, including 128 in Division 1, 105 in Division 2 and 104 in Division 3.
LAST YEAR: Kaukauna won the Division 1 team title for the third straight season by defeating Marshfield 41-26 in the championship match. Luxemburg-Casco won the Division 2 championship by defeating Prairie du Chien 37-20 in the title bout. Fennimore won its second consecutive championship with a 43-18 victory over Shiocton in the Division 3 final.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 1 FIELD: Three-time defending champion Kaukauna was issued the top seed in the bracket. The Galloping Ghosts qualify for the 15th time in the last 17 seasons and for a membership-leading 22nd time overall. They had a string of five straight appearances from 1999-2003 and have surpassed that streak with their current run of 12 consecutive appearances. They have won a total of seven State championships, including four straight from 2014-17 and the current streak of three in a row. The Galloping Ghosts have also finished runner-up four times, including 2000, 2003, 2008 and 2013. They qualified for State this year as champions of the Bay Port Sectional following a 36-23 victory over Bay Port in the final. Muskego is the #2 seed. The Warriors have qualified for the third year in a row and for the 12th time overall. The Warriors’ crowning achievement in their previous 11 experiences was the State title won in 1994. They also have a runner-up finish in 1963, which was prior to the inception of the dual team championship format. Muskego advances to the final eight again this season with a 38-31 victory over Burlington in the Racine St. Catherine’s Sectional final. Third-seeded Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln is making its 19th appearance in the team tournament and its first since 2015. The Red Raiders have won 21 team championships, including 16 since the inception of the dual championship format in 1992. They have also placed runner-up six times. The Red Raiders return to the State Tournament comes virtue of their 37-25 win over Holmen in the West Salem/Bangor Sectional final. Menomonie is seeded fourth in the bracket. The Mustangs will appear in the State Team Tournament for the first time in program history following a 43-24 win over Hudson in the sectional conducted at Menomonie. Fifth-seeded Mukwonago advances to State for the 12th time and for the second year in a row. The Indians’ most noteworthy experiences in the previous 11 appearances at State were back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2019 and 2020. This season, they return to the State quarterfinals by topping Sun Prairie East/West 48-27 in the Mukwonago Sectional final. Hartford Union is seeded sixth. The Orioles return to the tournament field for the ninth time overall and for the first time since 2012. They qualified for the team tournament five straight times from 1997-2001, but their most notable outcomes came before the team tournament format. The Orioles won the Division 1 championship in 1990 after finishing runner-up the year before. They return to State following a 34-26 victory over Watertown in the Slinger Sectional final. Seventh-seeded Arrowhead is making its 12th State appearance and its fourth in the past six seasons. The Warhawks had an impressive string of five successive appearances from 2004-2008. They have a pair of runner-up finishes in their history at the tournament. Those came in 2005 and 2011. The Warhawks’ return to the tournament field comes as a result of a 43-32 win over Waukesha West in the Waukesha West Sectional final. Eighth-seeded Homestead qualifies for the State team tourney for the first time in program history. They advance to the semifinals following a 43-15 win over Franklin in the final of the sectional hosted by the Highlanders.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 2 FIELD: Defending champion Luxemburg-Casco is the top seed in the bracket. The Spartans are making their third consecutive appearance at State and their 20th overall. The Spartans enjoyed a string of eight consecutive appearances that ended in 2008. They have won Division 2 titles 13 times (1992, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2018 and 2023). The Spartans also added runner-up finishes in 1991, 2007, 2011, 2017 and 2022. They return to the State semifinals in pursuit of the program’s 14th title by beating Freedom 49-20 in the Luxemburg-Casco Sectional final. Second-seeded St. Croix Falls qualifies for the team tournament for the fourth time and for the second time in the past three seasons. The Saints’ previous three experiences ended in the semifinals in Division 3. They attempt to advance to the championship match for the first time after defeating St. Croix Central 38-24 in the sectional final held at Cadott. Last year’s runner-up Prairie du Chien was issued the third seed this year. The Blackhawks have qualified for the fifth straight season, which accounts for the program’s overall total of appearances. In addition to last season, they also finished runner-up 2021. They are the champions of the River Valley Sectional following a 49-27 win over Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro in the final. Kewaskum, the fourth seed, will appear in the team tournament for the first time in program history. That opportunity was earned with a 49-21 triumph over Campbellsport in the Whitewater Sectional final.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 3 FIELD: Two-time defending champion Fennimore is the #1 seed making its ninth appearance in the State Team Wrestling Tournament, all coming in the last 10 seasons. The Golden Eagles won team titles in 2016, 2019, 2022 and again last year. They also advanced to championship matches and finished runner-up in 2017, 2018 and 2020. This season, they posted a 44-25 victory over Aquinas in the final of the sectional hosted by the Golden Eagles to earn their chance to defend their back-to-back titles. It will be the first-ever State Team Wrestling Tournament appearance for second-seeded Weyauwega-Fremont. The Warhawks advance to the final four with a 42-28 victory over Lomira in the Waterloo Sectional final. Coleman has been issued the #3 seed. The Cougars advance to State for the 17th time and for the fourth time in the past five seasons. They have won a total of 11 team championships. With the current dual format, they won the title in 2000, three in a row from 2010-12, in 2014, and again in 2020. They also claimed crowns before the dual format in 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1966 when there was only one division. In addition, they finished runner-up in 1959, 1961, 1981, 1983, 1996, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2021 and 2022. The Cougars are the champions of the Shiocton Sectional this season with a 36-30 win over Shiocton. Fourth-seeded Cumberland is making its second State appearance. The Beavers’ only other experience came in 1999 when they finished runner-up in Division 3. Their return to the semifinals is a result of a 42-27 win over Stratford in the sectional final held at Cadott.
NEED LIVE RESULTS?: Access results through the WIAA website by navigating to the wrestling homepage and selecting the Tournament Information option in the right column or by accessing the Trackwrestling.com website directly.
ORDER STATE MEET APPAREL ONLINE: Fans can commemorate their experience at the 2024 team wrestling championships at the UW Field House with exclusive souvenir merchandise for sale at Bucky’s Locker Room located in the concourse. Additional State Team Wrestling Tournament merchandise is available online. Orders received by midnight on Feb. 22 will be shipped prior to the tournament. The online store will remain open now through Sunday, March 10 prior to midnight. Access the individual and team wrestling tournaments online store through a partnership with Sports World at https://sportsworld.chipply.com/wiaa2024tswt/.
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
