On June 11, we debuted the sixth in a series of reader polls asking who you consider the best high school wrestler in Wisconsin history, with 10 primary suggestions. We received nearly 800 votes, and here’s how people voted:
Dennis Hall voted as most impactful wrestlers in Wisconsin state high school history
Former Hartford standout Dennis Hall was the readers’ choice for the best high school wreslter in state history after receiving 214 votes.
Hall graduated from Hartford in 1989 and was a three-time state champ for the Orioles with a 146-1-1 record. He attended the University of Wisconsin for a year before switching focus to competing for the U.S. Greco team. He was named USA Wrestling man of the year in 1995 and was the Greco-Roman athlete of the year from 1994-96.
He was 10-time U.S. national champion, a three-time Olympian (1992, 1996, 2004) and a world champion in 1995 (57 kg). Finished as a silver medalist in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, losing to Kazakhstan’s Yuri Meinichenko in the gold medal match. He was also a three-time Pan American champ (1995, 1999, 2000). Hall was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011.
Our top 10:
1. Dennis Hall, Hartford: 214
2. Ben Askren, Arrowhead: 111
3. Alex Dieringer, Port Washington: 95
4. Garrett Lowney, Freedom: 88
5. Keegan O’Toole, Arrowhead: 81
6. Mitchell Messenbrink, Arrowhead: 63
7. Andy Rein, Stoughton: 46
8. Ben Peterson, Cumberland: 45
9. Russ Hellickson, Stoughton: 41
10. John Pteterson, Cumberland: 9
Here are the other names suggested as the most impactful in Wisconsin history
Josh Chelf, Tomahawk
Brad Dolezal, Marshfield
Nick Hagar, Tomahawk
Josh Hansen, Wisconsin Rapids
Jackson Hein, Wausau West
Haakon Peterson, Dodgeville
Roger Pillath, Coleman
Peter Rogers, Oostburg
Jesse Thielke, Germantown
Frank Valesquez, Racine Park
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hartford’s Dennis Hall voted most-impactful Wisconsin high school wrestler
Reporting by Ricardo Arguello, Appleton Post-Crescent / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ricardo Arguello, Appleton Post-Crescent | USA TODAY Network
