By Mike Ramczyk
MADISON – Burlington’s consistent domination has it two wins from a Division 1 team state championship.
On Friday evening at the deafening, packed UW-Field House at UW-Madison, the fourth-ranked Demons controlled things the entire dual against upstart Slinger, en route to a 49-13 victory.
The Demons are minutes away from a D1 semifinal against fellow unbeaten Holmen, the No. 1 team in the state.
Through three matches, Holmen leads Burlington, 12-3, after Nate Crayton earned an 8-3 victory.
Though head coach Jade Gribble was too busy for comment because the team was only given a 15-minute break between duals, the Demons’ actions spoke loudest.
Dodging a bullet early from Zach Wallace at 170, the Demons jumped to a 39-9 lead and cruised.
Wallace was about to win but gave a “thumbs up” sign to the Slinger bench, and he was penalized. The match restarted and jumped to overtime, where Wallace earned a takedown in 10 seconds to win.
After Slinger got a pin to make it 7-6, Wyatt Hayes ripped his way to a 16-second pin against Slinger’s backup heavyweight before Jaden Bird, Hayden Halter, Cody Welker, Ben Stevenson and Zach Weiler added wins.
Max Ehlen fell to state runner-up Caleb Ziebell at 138, but Ben Kumprey and Jake Skrundz rounded out the scoring with a decision and a pin.
The Owls never really challenged the Demons, whose depth showed in round one.
Check here and follow Mike Ramczyk on Twitter @mikeramczyk17 and on Facebook on the SLN Racine County page for live updates of Burlington’s dual against Holmen.
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