By David Paulsen
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
Of the seven Waterford High School wrestlers who competed at the WIAA Division 1 individual sectional held at Waukesha West Saturday, three successfully advanced to the state championships.
Seniors Kody Azarian and Cody Nannemann, plus sophomore Max Fisher, will compete at the WIAA Division 1 Individual State Wrestling Championships to be held at the Kohl Center in Madison Thursday, Feb. 21, through Saturday, Feb. 23.
Both Azarian and Fisher won their weight classes, while Nannemann took second. The top two finishers in each weight class advanced to state.
Azarian, a senior who will be making his fourth trip to state, opened with an 18-2 technical fall win over Alex Espada of Brookfield Central at 120 pounds. He followed that up with an 18-3 technical fall victory over Tere White of West Allis Central.
That put Azarian, 41-3 overall, into the first-place match against Trevor Kruzick of West Allis Nathan Hale. Once again, Azarian, who is ranked No. 3 in the state at 120, had little trouble in racking up a 10-0 major decision.
Fisher, a sophomore at 138 pounds, pinned Mike Egan of Brookfield Central in five minutes 21 seconds in the opening round, and then earned a 3-1 decision over Josh Dempsey of Brookfield East in the semifinal.
In the first-place match, Fisher, 40-5 on the year, defeated Mukwonago’s Tommy Kolasinski 6-0. Fisher is ranked No. 4 in the state.
Nannemann, 41-5 overall, started with a 17-0 technical fall victory over Erik Schroeder of Waukesha West. In the semifinal, he squeaked out a 5-4 win over Dylan Diebitz of West Allis Central.
Nannemann dropped a close 5-4 decision to Mukwonago’s Kirk Zylke in the first-place match.
That was sufficient for Nannemann to advance to state, as Diebitz ended up taking third, so Nannemann did not need to wrestle a second-place match. Nannemann is ranked No. 11 in the state.
Dan Mcgilvary, at 113 pounds, and Dylan Malecki, at 182, both took fourth.
Justin Ratkovec (106) and Liam Pritchard (170) both lost their opening match.
Ratkovec finished his season 34-10, Mcgilvary 22-20, Pritchard 23-15 and Malecki 15-16.
Azarian started at state against Josh Cowling of Neenah in his opening match at state. Fisher faced Austin Powell of Sauk Prairie, and Nannemann wrestled Alexander Walla of Bay Port.
All three matches took place Thursday. If victorious, advancing matches take place today and Saturday.
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