LA CROSSE – Coleman wrestling coach Jason Champagne is a big picture guy.
Sure, his team’s 39-29 loss to Evansville in the WIAA Division 2 state team wrestling championship March 7 at the La Crosse Center was tough to accept. Especially with it being the second consecutive loss in the D2 final for the Cougars.
But Champagne knows that a lot of teams would love to be in his position.
“Our goal is to win a state championship every single year. That’s our goal,” Champagne said. “And we put ourselves in that position to have that opportunity. Unfortunately, we just fell a little short. But you have to understand that out of all the schools in Division 2, only two get this opportunity.
“We want to go home with the gold trophy, but we’re not going to sit here and complain about being runner-ups. Our boys have a lot to be proud of. We were 21-1 on the season – so hat’s off to Evansville. They have a phenomenal squad.”
Evansville (30-1) rocketed to a 29-5 start against the Cougars with Kolten Bollig (120-pound weight class) and Liam Crandall (138) getting pins and Lincoln Keller (150) getting a win by tech fall to highlight the outburst.
Michael Ciancio (132) earned a tech fall win for Coleman with Cole Berth (165) getting a quick pin to win his match. But 10 points scored by Corbin Hoffman (175, major decision) and Thomas Heiser (190, pin) secured the victory for Evansville, its first-ever team state title.
Bryce Seefeldt (215), Devin Otto (285) and Hunter Seefeldt (106) all won by forfeit for Coleman.
Coleman was making its 19th trip to the state team tournament and sixth in the past seven seasons. The Cougars advanced to the final with a 33-23 victory over Gale-Ettrick Trempealeau in the semifinals.
Coleman had four seniors wrestle their last high school match: Berth, Otto, Parker Owens (120) and Chase Gruber (157).
“It means a lot, man,” Gruber said of finishing his high school career at the state meet. “I’ve been growing up with this team for a long time, and it’s kind of hard. But I feel like it is over with – so yeah, it’s tough.”
Coleman – with an enrollment of 212 – has wrestled up a division the past two seasons and may have to make another jump to Division 1 depending on the WIAA’s performance factor point total.
While Champagne wasn’t happy with that possible move to D1, he said his team will take on the challenge.
“We’re a school district of 212 kids. And so a two-step jump from D3 to D1 is a big jump for enrollment,” he said. “And it’s not comparable to football that has seven divisions, or basketball. But, it’s out of our control. And so we’re gonna have to figure out a way to raise the bar because we’re not gonna back down from anybody, whether we’re in D3, D2 or D1.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Coleman falls to Evansville in WIAA D2 state wrestling championship
Reporting by Ricardo Arguello, Appleton Post-Crescent / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
