State Team Wrestling Tournament Preview
THE TOURNAMENT: The 32nd Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Team Wrestling Tournament will take place Friday and Saturday, March 3-4. 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://gofan.co/app/school/WIAA2?activity=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 3 – 5:30 p.m.
Match-1: #1 Kaukauna (11-0) vs. #8 Waukesha West (19-6)
Match-2: #4 Muskego (18-6) vs. #5 Germantown (19-1)
Match-3: #3 Marshfield (16-4) vs. #6 Mukwonago (25-5)
Match-4: #2 Bay Port (19-2) vs. #7 Reedsburg (16-3)
Semifinals – Friday, March 3 – 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 4 – 3 p.m.
Division 1 Championship Match
Division 2
Semifinals – Saturday, March 4 – 10 a.m.
Match-1: #1 Luxemburg-Casco (18-0) vs. #4 Evansville (16-5)
Match-2: #2 Prairie du Chien (27-4) vs. #3 Baldwin-Woodville (14-3)
Final – Saturday, March 4 – 3 p.m.
Division 2 Championship Match
Division 3
Semifinals – Saturday, March 4 – 10 a.m.
Match-1: #1 Fennimore (15-0) vs. #4 Stratford (15-2)
Match-2: #2 Shiocton (22-2) vs. #3 Cedar Grove-Belgium (14-0)
Final – Saturday, March 4 – 3 p.m.
Division 3 Championship Match
TOURNAMENT LIVE STREAMS: The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals of the WIAA 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 www.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 334 programs entering the tournament series, including 128 in Division 1, 104 in Division 2 and 102 in Division 3.
LAST YEAR: Kaukauna won the Division 1 team title for the second straight season by defeating Holmen 35-24 in the championship match. Amery won the Division 2 championship for the second time in a row as well, defeating Luxemburg-Casco 36-30 in the title bout. Fennimore defeated Coleman 37-23 to capture the Division 3 gold trophy.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 1 FIELD: Two-time defending champion Kaukauna was issued the top seed in the bracket. The Galloping Ghosts qualify for the 14th time in the last 16 seasons and for the 21st time overall. They had a string of five straight appearances from 1999-2003 and have surpassed that streak with their current run of 11 consecutive appearances. They have won a total of six State championships, including four straight from 2014-17. 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 Slinger Sectional following a 70-11 victory over Hortonville in the final. Second-seeded Bay Port returns to the team tournament for the third time and for the first time since 2014. The Pirates finished runner-up that season, which represents the most notable finish in the tourney. They qualified for the first time the year before and advanced to the semifinals before falling out of title contention. The Pirates defeated Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln 36-31 in the D.C. Everest Sectional final. Third-seeded Marshfield qualifies for the State Team Tournament for the seventh time overall and for the fifth time in the last six seasons. The Tigers advanced to the semifinals in 2002, 2003, 2019 and again in 2022, which represents their furthest advance in the tournament. They are the champions of the Eau Claire North Sectional by virtue of their 46-23 victory over Holmen. Muskego is the fourth seed. The Warriors have qualified for the second year in a row and for the 11th time overall. The Warriors’ crowning achievement in their previous 10 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 51-15 victory over Franklin in the Racine St. Catherine’s Sectional final. Germantown is seeded fifth. The Warhawks are making their first appearance in the State Team Tournament. They downed Arrowhead 34-33 in the final of the Port Washington Sectional to reach the State quarterfinals. Sixth-seeded Mukwonago advances to State for the 11th time and for the first time since 2020. The Indians’ most noteworthy of the previous 10 experiences at State was a runner-up finish in 2019. This season, they return to the State quarterfinals by topping Milton 43-31 in the Elkhorn Sectional final. Reedsburg qualifies for the State Team Tournament for the first time in program history. The Beavers received the seventh seed. They upended perennial power Stoughton 48-27 in the final of the Baraboo Sectional to advance to the State quarterfinals. The only other State appearance for eighth-seeded Waukesha West came in 1997. That experience resulted in a loss in the quarterfinals. The Wolverines return to the tournament field following a 47-24 win over Pewaukee in the sectional final at Pewaukee.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 2 FIELD: Last year’s runner-up Luxemburg-Casco is the top seed in the bracket. The Spartans are making their second consecutive appearance in State and their 19th overall. The Spartans enjoyed a string of eight consecutive appearances that ended in 2008. They have won Division 2 titles 12 times (1992, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013 and 2018). The Spartans also added runner-up finishes in 1991, 2007, 2011, 2017 and again last year. They return to the State semifinals in pursuit of the program’s 13th title by beating Freedom 44-22 in the Freedom Sectional final. Prairie du Chien was issued the second seed this year after the Blackhawks qualified for the first three times in the program’s history from 2020-22. Their second appearance resulted in a runner-up finish, which is the most notable of their experiences in the tournament. They are the champions of the Lodi Sectional following a 34-26 win over Lodi in the final. Third-seeded Baldwin-Woodville will participate in its sixth State Team Tournament and the first since a five-year run of appearances from 1992-96 came to a close. The streak led to a State championship in 1993 and runner-up finishes in 1995 and 1996. The Blackhawks are back in the semifinals after a 27-year hiatus following a 42-25 decision over St. Croix Falls in the St. Croix Central Sectional final. Fourth-seeded Evansville advances to the State Team Tournament for the first time as a stand-alone program. They qualified as a co-op program with Albany in 2012, when they fell in the semifinals. The Blue Devils continue their quest for the program’s first State title after defeating Whitewater 58-13 in the sectional final they hosted.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 3 FIELD: Defending champion Fennimore is the #1 seed making its eighth appearance in the State Team Wrestling Tournament, all coming in the last nine seasons. The Golden Eagles won team titles in 2016, 2019 and again last year. They also advanced to championship matches and finished runner-up in 2017, 2018 and 2020. This season, they rolled over Iowa-Grant/Highland 66-9 in the final of the Cashton Sectional to earn their chance to defend their title. Shiocton was granted the second seed in the bracket after defeating perennial title contender Coleman 30-20 in the Suring/Gillett Sectional final. The Chiefs will experience that State Team Tournament for the first time in program history. Third-seeded Cedar Grove-Belgium returns to the State semifinals for the first time in 26 years and for the third time overall. The Rockets have fallen in semifinals in each of their two previous appearances, coming in 1994 and 1997. They beat Random Lake 35-33 to earn their berth in the State tourney. Stratford is seeded fourth. The Tigers will appear in the team tourney for the 10th time and for the first time since 2020. They captured back-to-back titles in 2017-18 to account for their two championships. The Tigers have placed runner-up five times, including 2001, 2002, 2003, 2016 and 2019. They continue their pursuit for a third State title following a 42-28 win over Glenwood City in the Cadott Sectional final.
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 2023 team wrestling championships at the UW Field House with exclusive souvenir merchandise for sale at Bucky’s Locker Room located in the concourse. Additional WIAA State Individual and Team Wrestling Tournaments merchandise is available online now through Sunday, March 12 prior to midnight. Access the individual and team wrestling tournaments online store through a partnership with Sports World at https://sportsworld.chipply.com/wiaawr23/.
FOLLOW STATE MEET ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive updates of the State Team Wrestling Tournament on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaawr. Also like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram at wiaawi.
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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]
