By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
The Wolverines won just about everything Feb. 18 in a WIAA Division 1 sectional wrestling tournament at West Allis Central High School.
Waterford won five individual regional titles and sent seven wrestlers to the WIAA Division 1 Individual Wrestling State Tournament. Waterford also won the team sectional title with 155.52 points.
The state tournament started Thursday and runs through Saturday at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Cody Welker (113 pounds), Austin Thomas (145), Tanner Cadman (170), Jared Krattiger (182) and Jack Trautman III (195) each won sectional titles.
EJ Mastrocola (285) and Sam Winski (120) each finished second in their respective weight classes. The top two in each weight class at the sectional tournament advance to state.
Krattiger improved his record to 46-0, and wrestled for a total of just 2:19 over three matches in the sectional.
Krattiger pinned West Allis Nathan Hale’s Dylan Allen (37-10) in 40 seconds for the title at 182. Krattiger is ranked No. 1 in the state at 182 in the latest Wisconsin Wrestling Online Division 1 state poll, and finished third at state last season at 170 pounds.
Welker (42-7) beat Hale’s Charlie Wagner (41-9) 9-3 in the final at 113 pounds. Welker won his second match by injury default, but opened the sectional by pinning Brookfield East’s Lucas Mandella (10-17) in 44 seconds.
Thomas (20-5) went to state last season at 145, and is doing so again after beating Mike Baumann of New Berlin West/Eisenhower (38-8) by a 9-0 major decision in the sectional final.
Cadman (38-7) beat Kettle Moraine’s Michael Burgireno (38-8) by sudden victory (6-4) in the semifinals at 170, and went on to win the sectional title with a 4-2 decision against New Berlin West/Eisenhower’s Jake Belongia (37-2) in the final.
Trautman (23-2) went to state last season at 195, and beat Wauwatosa West/East’s Lawrence Thomas (37-7) by major decision (9-0) to win the sectional title and secure a return trip at the same weight.
Winski (42-7) advanced to state last season at 113, and will do so this season at 120. Mukwonago’s Jake Schulte (26-15) beat Winski 6-2 in the final at 120 pounds.
Mastrocola (39-10) pinned Mukwonago’s Seth Abad (17-12) in 5:05 and secured a place at state. Mastrocola needed to wrestle Abad in a wrestleback after getting pinned in 2:37 by Muskego’s Jorin McGuire in the sectional final.
Four wrestlers from Waterford have won five state titles in the program’s history, the last being Max Fisher at 145 in 2015.
Cody Nannemann won a state title at 160 in 2013. Pedro Perez won titles at 145 in 1996 and 1997, and Brad Kamrath won at 152 in 1997.
Fisher and Nannemann won their titles in Division 1. Perez and Kamrath won their titles in Division 2.
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