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Tyler Hannah (195#) and Rhett Koenig (106#) proudly display their State Championship brackets and medals. Hannah, a senior, finished third as a freshman, third as a sophomore, and second as a junior in becoming a four-time state place winner. Koenig, a freshman, becomes PDC's first male underclassman to win an individual state title.

Rhett Koenig sprawls on his opponent’s shot attempt just before scoring a takedown on a go-behind in his State finals match. The takedown sealed a state championship in sudden victory for Koenig, a freshman, by a score of 7-5 over Chase Beckett of Portage.

Tyler Hannah (left) looks to score on the edge of the mat in his semifinal match against Bryce Burns of GET Mel/Min. Hannah would get a takedown in sudden victory 3-1 to advance to the finals.

Matt Rogge locks up a double arm bar and prepares to run it to take his opponent to his back for near fall points. Rogge would go on to win by technical fall 16-0 against his opponent from Lake Country Lutheran. Rogge would go on to finish in third place in his third trip to the State Tournament.

Luke Kramer uses a front headlock against his Wittenberg-Birnamwood opponent in Thursday night action. As a freshman, this was Kramer’s first trip to the State Tournament.

Traeton Saint secures a leg on his way to a single leg takedown in Thursday action against his Barron opponent. Saint would win by technical fall 17-2 to advance and finish in fifth place. This marked Saint’s fourth trip to the State Tournament, and his third time placing.

Bradyn Saint locks up his opponent from Freedom for near fall points en route to an 11-0 major decision in Thursday night action to advance to the quarterfinals. Saint would go on to finish in fifth place in his second trip to State.

Colten Wall (right) fights for hand/wrist control in his quarterfinal match-up with his opponent from Omro. Wall would lose a hard fought match 7-2. Wall is a two time state qualifier.

Prairie produces 2 state champs, 3 place winners

The 77th annual WIAA Individual State Wrestling Tournament was held Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 27-29, at the Kohl Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Prairie du Chien was represented by a contingent of seven wrestlers with quests to win a State title. Represent they would! In typical fashion, more PDC wrestling records and school records were bested by this group of young men. Here are the brief highlights: seven state qualifiers (most in school history), five state placewinners (most in school history), two State Champions (only the second and third ever for PDC Wrestling), and, if the tournament was scored by team, PDC would have won D2. They will be recognized by the Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Association with a plaque for that accomplishment! 

Wrestling action started on Thursday night for five of the Blackhawks. At 106#, Rhett Koenig faced Kleinschmidt (Winneconne) and would bring the offense on his way to a 12-0 major decision. At 126#, Luke Kramer would face Moegenburg (Wittenberg-Birnamwood), an opponent who had beaten him earlier this year. Moegenburg would win by major decision 10-0, putting an end to Kramer’s state tournament. Kramer, a freshman, is one of only seven freshmen to qualify for the state tournament in PDC wrestling history. At 132#, Matt Rogge would score often, winning by technical fall 16-0 in 5:15 over Cass (Lake Country Lutheran). At 160#, Traeton Saint would follow suit with more offense, winning by technical fall 17-2 in 4:16 over Peltier (Barron). To close the night for PDC, Bradyn Saint, 170#, would also score a lot on his way to a 11-0 major decision over Nabbefeld (Freedom).

The quarterfinal round kicked off Friday morning wrestling. At 106#, Rhett Koenig would win by decision 6-3 over Crowley (Omro). At 132#, Matt Rogge would win by decision 5-2 over Best (Bloomer/Colfax). At 160#, Traeton Saint would win by decision 13-6 over Kilgas (Little Chute). At 170#, Bradyn Saint would win by decision 5-4 over Breckheimer (Chilton/Hilbert). At 195#, Tyler Hannah would win by first period fall in 1:16 over Decker (Tomahawk). These five wins would send the wrestlers to Friday night’s semifinals. At 220#, Colten Wall would lose by decision 7-2 to Dietzen (Omro). The loss sent Wall to the consolation round, where he would lose by second period fall in 2:07 to Hoffmann (NGL) to end his state tournament. Wall, a senior, finishes as a two time state qualifier, also qualifying in 2018.

The excitement would build for Friday night as the semifinals approached. For many fans, this is considered to be the most exciting round of the tournament. At 106#, Rhett Koenig would toe the line against Dux (NGL) and with an 8-7 win by decision, and punch his ticket to Saturday night’s state finals. At 132#, Matt Rogge would be on the short end of a nail biter, losing by decision 1-0 to Joniaux (Lux-Casco), who would end up being the state champion. At 160#, Traeton Saint would lose by technical fall 19-4 in 5:00 to Pfleger (Grafton), who would end up being the state champion. At 170#, Bradyn Saint would take his match to the final seconds before losing by decision 4-3 to Whiting (Oconto Falls), who would end up being the state champion. At 195#, Tyler Hannah would battle a familiar foe in Burns (GET Mel/Min), an opponent he defeated in the finals of the Bi State Classic. The match went to sudden victory, where Hannah would get a takedown to secure a 3-1 victory to advance to Saturday night’s state finals.

Saturday morning was the consolation semifinals and finals. In the semifinals, Matt Rogge at 132# would receive a medical forfeit over Anderson (Viroqua). At 160#, Traeton Saint was defeated by major decision 15-6 to Lisowe (Chilton/Hilbert). At 170#, Bradyn Saint would lose to Ramberg (Baldwin-Woodville) by decision 8-6. Matt Rogge would next wrestle against Penard (Amery) and win by decision 4-0 to finish in third place. Rogge, a junior, is just the fourth PDC grappler, joining Zach Elliott, Taylor Elliott, and Traeton Saint, to wrestle at the State Tournament three plus years. At 160#, Traeton Saint would win by fall in 4:53 over Rielly (Monroe) to finish in fifth place. Traeton, a senior, will finish his career as the school’s all time winningest wrestler, with at least 185 wins. Traeton also becomes just the second PDC wrestler, joining Taylor Elliott,  to qualify for State four times and just the second to place three different times at State (second in 2018, third in 2019, fifth in 2020). At 170#, Bradyn Saint would win by forfeit Helmbrecht (Lodi) to finish in fifth place. Bradyn, a junior, also qualified for State in 2019.

All of this wrestling would lead to Saturday night’s finals, starting at 5:30 with the grand march and national anthem. 

At 106#, Rhett Koenig would face an opponent who had beaten him twice this year (Bi State and Sectionals) in Chase Beckett of Portage. In period one, Beckett would get a takedown and Koenig would counter with an escape to bring a 2-1 score to start the second period. In the second period, Beckett would choose down, and get an escape and a takedown to push his lead to 5-1. With nine seconds remaining in period two, Beckett was dinged for stalling, making the score 5-2 and giving Koenig a fresh start in the middle. Koenig, working for an escape, would see an opening for a reversal and get it, making the score 5-4 going into the final period. Koenig would choose down and get an escape. After a few shot attempts by each wrestler, regulation would end with a 5-5 tie. In sudden victory, Beckett would take a shot attempt but Koenig would sprawl and hit a go-behind for 2 and a 7-5 victory for a state championship. In doing so, Koenig became just PDC’s second state champion, following Mike Lenzendorf in 2005. Koenig also became the first male PDC underclassman in any sport to win an individual state title. This is also the fifth set of PDC brothers to have wrestled in the State Tournament (Alex and Sam Stormoen, Zach and Taylor Elliott, Traeton and Bradyn Saint, Nick and Matt Rogge, Reid and Rhett Koenig). 

At 195#, Tyler Hannah would also face a familiar foe in Quincy Klister of Wrightstown, an opponent Hannah had beaten earlier in the year. After a scoreless first period with lots of hand fighting and battling for position, Klister would choose down to begin period two, where he would get an escape. The rest of period two was scoreless. In period three, Hannah would take down and get an escape which led to more hand fighting and positioning. The end of regulation saw a 1-1 tie as sudden victory would happen. In sudden victory, neither opponent would get a takedown which would take the match to tiebreaker. In the first tiebreaker period, Hannah would choose down, get an escape and then a takedown to push his lead to 4-1 going into the second tiebreaker period. Klister would take down, but Hannah would ride him for the duration for a 4-1 victory and a state title. Hannah became the third PDC wrestler to win a state title. Hannah will finish his career with over 180 wins and four trips to the State Tournament, which includes placing in the top three all four years (third place, third place, second place, first place). Hannah’s brother, Ryan, won a state title wrestling for Viroqua in 2016.

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