THE TOURNAMENT: The 29th Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Team Wrestling Tournament will take place Friday and Saturday, March 6-7. The tournament is held at the Field House on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison, Wis. Ticket prices for the tourney are $15 for the Friday session and $10 for the Saturday sessions.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE AND PAIRINGS: The single elimination tournament features eight teams in Division 1 and four each in Divisions 2 and 3. The Division 1 quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Friday evening with the Divisions 2 and 3 semifinals and the finals for all divisions Saturday.
Friday, March 6
Division 1 Quarterfinals - 5:30 p.m.
Pairings
Match-1: #1 Mukwonago (23-1) vs. #8 Brookfield East (9-9)
Match-2: #4 Arrowhead (6-2) vs. #5 Holmen (17-4)
Match-3: #3 Stoughton (21-2) vs. #6 Neenah (10-3)
Match-4: #2 Kaukauna (12-2) vs. #7 Hudson (13-6)
Division 1 Semifinals - 7:30 p.m.
Match-5: Match-1 Winner vs. Match-2 Winner
Match-6: Match-3 Winner vs. Match-4 Winner
Saturday, March 7
Division 2 Semifinals - 10 a.m.
Match-1: #1 Wrightstown (20-0) vs. #4 Port Washington (14-7)
Match-2: #2 Prairie du Chien (22-2) vs. #3 Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro (16-6)
Division 3 Semifinals - 10 a.m.
Match-1: #1 Coleman (14-0) vs. #4 Random Lake (13-1)
Match-2: #2 Fennimore (13-0) vs. #3 Stratford (27-0)
Finals - 3 p.m.
Division 1 Championship Match
Division 2 Championship Match
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 $10.99 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 without requirement of a subscription.
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 1994-2004. Since then, the tournament has been held at the UW Field House. There were 335 programs entering the tournament series, including 128 in Division 1, 104 in Division 2 and 103 in Division 3.
LAST YEAR: Stoughton won the Division 1 team title for the second straight season. The Vikings retained the title with a 42-24 victory over Mukwonago in the championship final. Freedom won the Division 2 championship by downing Ellsworth 35-16 in the title match. Fennimore won the Division 3 championship with a 31-24 triumph over former two-time defending champion Stratford.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 1 FIELD: Last season’s runner up and top-seeded Mukwonago advances to State for the 10th time and for the fourth time in the last five seasons. Prior to last season, the Indians’ most noteworthy experiences at State were advancing to the semifinals in 2011 and 2016. This season, they return to the State quarterfinals by upending Burlington 33-21 in the Kenosha Bradford Sectional final. Second-seeded Kaukauna is back at State for the 11th time in the last 13 seasons and for the 18th time overall. The Galloping Ghosts had a string of five straight appearances from 1999-2003 and have now surpassed that streak with their current run of eight consecutive appearances. They have won a total of four State championships, all coming in a row 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 with a 50-15 victory over Bay Port in the sectional final hosted by Green Bay Southwest/West. Two-time defending champion Stoughton is the third seed. The Vikings are making their seventh straight appearance and their 14th overall. They have won nine State team titles overall. Prior to the team tournament format, the Vikings won seven State championships (1968, 1972, 1975-77, 1987-88). In addition, they have finished runner-up 10 times. This season, they continue their quest for a third consecutive title after defeating Janesville Craig 55-21 in the sectional final held at Craig. Fourth-seeded Arrowhead is making its 10th State appearance and its third in a row. 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 56-24 win over Whitnall/Greendale in the Pewaukee final. Fifth-seeded Holmen is making its fourth straight appearance in the tournament field. The Vikings advance to the State Tournament for the 10th time overall. Their most notable achievement was a runner-up finish in 2018. The only other times they advanced as far as the semifinals were in 2012 and in 2017. Holmen downed Waunakee 49-24 in the Middleton Sectional final to earn a return berth in the final eight. Neenah, the sixth seed, advances to the State Tournament for the first time since its only other appearance in 2004. The Rockets fell in their quarterfinal match that season. Their return to the State quarterfinal comes virtue of a 36-25 victory over West Bend East in the Hartford Sectional final. Seventh-seeded Hudson is appearing in the team tournament for the first time since 2017 and for the fifth time overall. The Raiders advanced to the semifinals in 2011 and 2015 before being ousted from title contention, which represents their furthest advance in the tournament. They are the representatives from the River Falls Sectional following their 37-22 victory over D.C. Everest in the final. Eighth-seeded Brookfield East will be experiencing the State Team Tournament for the first time in its program’s history. The Spartans earned their berth in the tourney field with a 38-30 win over Wisconsin Lutheran in the Milwaukee Riverside Sectional final.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 2 FIELD: Top-seeded Wrightstown is making its 10th overall appearance in the team tournament and the first since 2006. The Tigers qualified seven times during an eight-year period from 1998-2006. They have won three Division 3 championships. Those came in 1999 and back-to-back in 2005 and 2006. They also finished runner-up in 1998. They make their return to the tournament following a 43-27 victory over Denmark in the Wautoma Sectional final. Second-seeded Prairie du Chien will make it first appearance in the State Team Tournament. The Blackhawks earned their berth with a 40-30 decision over Lodi in the sectional final held at Lodi. Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro, the third seed, makes its third straight State appearance after making its debut team tournament in 2018. The Titans fell in their semifinal match-ups in each of their previous two experiences at State. Their return to the State semifinals comes following a 35-28 decision over Medford in the Baldwin-Woodville Sectional final. Fourth-seeded Port Washington will experience the State Tournament for the third time overall and for the first time since 2007. The Pirates advanced to the semi-final round in Division 1 that season and fell in the quarterfinals in the first appearance in 2003. They qualify this season after edging Kiel 33-32 in the North Fond du Lac Sectional final.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 3 FIELD: Coleman has been issued the #1 seed. The Cougars advance to State for the 14th time and for the first time since the last year of a string of eight straight appearances resulted in a runner-up finish in 2015. They have won a total of 10 team championships. With the current dual format, they won the title in 2000, three in a row from 2010-12 and again in 2014. They also claimed crowns before the dual format in 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966 and when there was only one division. In addition, they finished runner-up in 1959, 1961, 1981, 1983, 1996, 2008, 2013 and 2015. The Cougars out-dueled Brillion 39-38 to capture the Amherst Sectional title to earn their State berth. Defending champion Fennimore received the #2 seed. The Golden Eagles make their sixth straight appearance, which accounts for their total number of experiences. They also won the team title back in 2016. This season, they defeated Aquinas 50-21 in the Brookwood Sectional final. Last year’s runner-up Stratford is seeded third. The Tigers have advanced to the Division 3 final the past three seasons, winning the title in 2017 and 2018. They are making their fifth straight appearance at State and their ninth overall. In addition to their runner-up finish last season, the Tigers’ have four other second-place finishes, including 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2016. They continue their quest to return to the title match following a 43-30 win over St. Croix Falls in the Cumberland Sectional final. Fourth-seeded Random Lake returns to the State Tournament for the ninth straight season and for the 11th time overall. The Rams’ most notable experience in the State Tournament was a runner-up finish in 2009. They posted a 45-24 win over Markesan in the sectional final hosted by the Rams to return to the final field of four.
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, follow us on Instagram at wiaawi, and add us on Snapchat at wiaawis.
NEED RESULTS?: The quickest way to get results will be to access the wrestling homepage on WIAA website and select the Tournament Information option, or access the TrackWrestling.com website directly.