Prep report: Northwestern's Smith, Kaufman to wrestle for state championships

Two of three Northwestern wrestlers will compete for state championships after day two of the WIAA individual meet at the Kohl Center in Madison on Friday, Feb. 24.

Ian Smith of the Tigers earned another trip to the state championship match after he defeated Caden Weber of Regis/Altoona in an 8-5 decision. Smith scored four takedowns over the course of the match.

Smith has reached the championship in 2021 and 2022, losing both times to Clayton Whiting of Oconto Falls, who now wrestles at the University of Missouri.

His championship match on Saturday night will be against Chase Matthias of Two Rivers.

He won his opener in the Division 2 - 195 pounds bracket by a major decision (18-6) over Ross Crist of Darlington/Black Hawk.

At 170 pounds, Tanner Kaufman is off to a 2-0 start, after he won his quarterfinal in a 6-4 decision over Ben Peterson of Gale-Ettrick-Trempeleau, then won the semifinal by the same score over Louis Jahnke of Ellsworth, notching the winning takedown with just 12 seconds left in the third period.

Kaufman will wrestle for a state title against Silas Dailey of Plymouth on Saturday.

Tommy Brown split two matches at 113, defeating Deaglan O’Connell of Regis/Altoona via a fall but losing a 5-2 decision to Charlie Meudt of Dodgeville.

Superior wrestler Connor Krueger is guaranteed a finish no worse than sixth and as good as third after winning two consolation matches.

At Division 1 - 138 pounds, Kreuger pinned Gabe Guralski of Waunakee in 1:40 to continue his tournament, then prevailed in a narrow decision, 8-7, over Henry Niebauer of Hortonville.

Depending upon the results of further consolation matches on Saturday, Kruger will finish between third and sixth in the state bracket.

The second-seeded Spartans cruised into the WIAA Division 1 regional finals behind four scorers in double figures.

Savannah Leopold led the way with 21 points, including five 3-pointers for Superior (21-2), which led 34-20 at halftime.

Kloe Zentkowski scored 20 for Superior, while Emma Raye added 16 and Eva Peterson 14.

Olivia Peterson led the 15th-seeded Terrors with 20 points.

Superior moves on to face No. 7 Wausau West on Saturday night at home. West knocked off Appleton East 73-70.

The Warriors won a close one on Friday night in a WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal.

Grace Carlson hit two free throws with two seconds left to break a tie and send Amery to the regional championship game on Saturday.

Carlson led all scorers with 26 points.

For Northwestern, Tieryn Plasch concluded her career with 24 points and the title of all-time leading scorer in school history. Gabby Risley, also a senior, scored 12.

Northwestern caps its season at 19-7.

The Eagles booked a date with top-seeded South Shore in Saturday’s regional final by taking down the Lumberjills at home on Friday night.

Kyra Latvala scored 13 of her 17 points in the first half as Solon booked a 32-17 lead.

Claire Holmstrom kicked in 16 points for the Eagles (18-8).

A night after making 16 3-pointers from six players against Esko, the Hilltoppers connected 15 more times from the outside in their home win.

Chloe Johnson, Regan Juenemann and Ada Skafte made four apiece, finishing with 20, 18 and 15 points, respectively.

Marshall (16-9) led 48-31 at halftime and both started and finished its regular season with five-game win streaks.Madison Wasche paced the Rebels (3-22) with 14 points.

Taryn Hamling finished with 28 points as the Thunderhawks completed their regular season unbeaten in the Lake Superior Conference and with a 24-game winning streak after going 0-2 on the first weekend.

Kenzie Kiminski dropped 29 points for the Polar Bears, including four 3-pointers.Floodwood (15-7), which led 41-26 at the half, also got 15 from Alice Irvine and 12 from Nakaiyah Nimene.

Helen Koch scored 28 to lead North Woods.

Janae Sjodin racked up 27 points and 13 boards, one of four Wrens with at least 11 rebounds on Friday night.

Laura Rubesh finished with seven points and 16 boards.

Neveah Defore posted 20 points for the Ogichidaag.

The Lumberjacks allowed only six first-half points, then held on through the Thunderhawks’ attempts to get back into the game in the second half.

Kollin Bonneville paced Cloquet with 18 points, while Marco Mayorga added 16.

Cloquet (10-13) snapped a season-long four-game losing streak.

Joe Sutherland led Grand Rapids with 18 points. The Thunderhawks (8-17) scored 47 of their 53 points in the second half.

The Patriots clamped down defensively after the break, allowing just 17 points to keep the Rebels from getting back into a game they trailed by 10 at halftime.

Nolan Nelson scored 16 and Adam Neumann 14 for MLWR (15-10).

The Agates got to the 20-win mark in dominating fashion, holding the Raiders to less than 20 points in each half.

Two Harbors (20-4) spread the wealth, getting 14 players into the scorebook Friday. Ethan Bopp led them with 17, while Trent Gomez and Kyler Pitkanen scored 14 apiece.

Stephen McGee led Greenway (3-22) with 15 points.

This story was edited at 1:38 p.m. on Feb. 27 to correct the spelling of Connor Krueger's surname. It was originally posted at 10:59 p.m. on Feb. 24. The News Tribune regrets the error.