February 21, 2022 at 8:14 a.m.
Gavin Ostermann overcomes penalty, qualifies for state wrestling tourney
Gavin Ostermann overcomes penalty, qualifies for state wrestling tourney
Ostermann bounced back from a penalty point that ultimately cost him the sectional title at 182 pounds to place second in the bracket at the Eau Claire North sectional Saturday and advance to the WIAA Division 1 state tournament.
Ostermann (37-4) led River Falls' Gavin Kohel 8-7 on a restart with six seconds remaining in regulation of their championship bout. Ostermann was called for a locked hands penalty in an effort to prevent Kohel from getting a match-tying escape. The penalty point sent the match to overtime, where Kohel got a takedown in the first sudden victory session to win 10-8.
That relegated Ostermann to a wrestleback for the second and final state qualifying spot at 182. There, he took out any frustrations on Marshfield's Cody Weix, dominating his way to an early third-period technical fall to punch his ticket to the Kohl Center in Madison.
"It was a good match," Rhinelander coach Scottie Arneson said of Ostermann's championship bout at 182. "I'm not going to say whether or not I agree with the officiating. The amount of talks I had after the match about the specific call, officiating is part of the game and it is what it is."
"I just said, 'Hey, the mission isn't over. You know what you wrote on your goal sheet for the year. The only way we can accomplish that is to get over this loss and get down to Madison. Do whatever it takes,'" Arneson added. "I wish it was more in an exciting way so he could have gotten pumped up about it, but a win is a win at this time of year and we're on to Madison."
Though all five Rhinelander wrestlers who qualified for sectionals won their opening round matches, Gavin Ostermann was the only one who made it through to the state tournament. Owen Kurtz lost a wrestleback to advance and finished third at 285 pounds. Aiden Ostermann (106), Cole Lehman (160) and Joe Fugle (195) all finished fourth in their classes.
"We were down in a couple of those first-round matches but ended up coming back just because we were sticking to what worked and ended up getting nice falls," Arneson said. "We stayed disciplined and got through it, which is why we had five placing at the sectional tournament. I don't know how many other teams that had that, but I don't think there were many that had five in the top four."
Kurtz (33-8) faced a veritable murderer's row late in the 285-pound bracket. He was pinned by second-ranked Vito Massa of River Falls in the first period of the semifinals. Kurtz edged Marshfield's Aiden Kruger 3-1 in the third-place match to earn the right to wrestle for a trip to state.
Kurtz drew a regional championship rematch against third-ranked Jaren Rohde of Stevens Point. Though Kurtz got the first point with an early second-period escape, Rohde took an 8-2 lead after the second and eventually won 11-4.
"That heavyweight bracket was senior-heavy," Arneson said. "That was just a brutal weight class to try to get through. Do I think we're maybe one of the 16 best heavyweights in the state of Wisconsin? Yeah, maybe, but that's why they have the tournament series. You've got to be the best in your area or you get left on the couch. Owen's expectation next year is that he's going to be one of the guys we have wrestling down in Madison. We've got a long way to go, but there's still time for that and I know he's excited and he wants to be a little more dedicated than he was last year in the offseason. That's the only thing we can ask for."
Lehman (26-13) and Fugle (23-18) both finished their careers as sectional placewinners. Lehman won his opening round by pin before falling to top-ranked Ryan Dolezal of Marshfield by technical fall in the semifinals. Lehman then lost to Wausau West's Connor Calmes 13-1 in the third-place match. Arneson said he was proud of the way Lehman persevered in his final match after spending most of the third period trying to fight off his back.
"He took a lot a pride in that last match and I know he took to heart what it means to go out there and fight your butt off. I'm proud of Cole and what he did at the end of the year," Arneson said.
Fugle got by Menomonie's Josh Boyette in the first round before losing to Wausau West's Joseph Berens in the semis. New Richmond's Parker Stephens beat Fugle by 8-2 decision in the third-place match.
"Joe, he was battling all day," Arneson said. "In his third-place match, he had the guy in position to score points, and maybe even get some back points a couple of times and we ended up not being able to capitalize on those situations, but he fought his butt off today and I couldn't be more proud."
After winning the opening round by pin, Aiden Ostermann (26-7), was pinned in both his semifinal and third-place matches.
"It was kind of the same thing as Owen's weight class. He had the guys ranked fourth and second in the state. He ended up fourth today," Arneson said. "There were three guys better than us in the sectional but, Aiden, I told him I was proud of him and I know he was disappointed in losing that last match ... but he had an awesome season. To have less than 10 losses as a freshman, that's a really good season, I don't care what weight class it is."
Gavin Ostermann is Rhinelander's first state qualifier since both Tim Fox and Ben Sinclair made it in the 2020 season. His first-round opponent had not been announced as of deadline for today's edition. Preliminary rounds begin on Thursday where Ostermann will have to either win his opening round match, or lose to a wrestler who advances to the semifinals, to make it to the second day of the tournament.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
WEATHER SPONSORED BY
E-Editions
Latest News
E-Editions
Events
August
To Submit an Event Sign in first
Today's Events
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.
Comments:
You must login to comment.