For the Antigo Times

Led by Coaches Matt Lehrer, Herm Wissbroecker and Dameon Becerra, 17 youth wrestlers took part in the state qualifiers this past Saturday. Eight members of the team qualified for this coming weekend’s state championships.

At the Merrill Qualifier, Antigo finished 12th out of 83 teams. The young Robins had a .581 winning percentage with 32 victories, 10 pins, 23 losses and six qualifiers in Merrill. Two additional Robins qualified at the Westby Qualifier, adding another four pins to the team total.

“These athletes all represented Antigo well in both victory and defeat by showing nothing but good sportsmanship. To qualify, a wrestler needed to finish in the top 2 of his weight class, 3rd and 4th place become alternates,” the coaching staff later said.

Merrill Qualifers:

Caleb Vandenlangenberg took 1st in the 2008-2009 120 lbs. weight class

Michael Hofrichter placed 2nd in the 2008-2009 57 lbs. weight class

Scotty Hagerty placed 2nd in the 2008-2009 75 lbs. weight class

Jayson Arrowood placed 2nd in the 2006-2007 84 lbs. weight class

Devin Breitenfeldt placed 2nd in the 2006-2007 110lbs weight class

Brady VandeWeerde placed 2nd in the 2004-2005 185 lbs weight class

Connor Cornelius finished 3rd in the 2004-2005 165 lbs weight class

Robby Hagerty finished 4th in the 2004-2005 140 lbs weight class

Westby Qualifiers:

Johnny Wissbroecker took 1st in the 2006-2007 54 lbs weight class

Sean Boman took 1st in the 2006-2007 81 lbs weight class

Other wrestlers leaving it all out on the mat but falling short of the podium were:

Mitch Meyer, Jacob Dettman, Samson Smith, Mike Hagerty, Logan Edwards, Josh Huess, and Colton Breitenfeldt

Good luck to “The Antigo 8” at State!