Merry Christmas everyone and Happy Holidays! I love this time of the year as we get to spend time with our families and friends. But, I also love this time of the year because we have officially arrived at the Christmas tournaments and more specifically THE BI STATE CLASSIC! Bi State is THE holiday tournament here in Wisconsin with 70 different high school teams competing! A two day tournament that culminates to one final match on the stage with all eyes on it!
Tune in on the WIwrestle page on Rokfin to watch every match live this weekend starting at 9am Friday and Saturday! Finals should begin around 8:15 pm Saturday night.
Watch live: https://rokfin.com/stack/2022/BI-STATE-CLASSIC–FRIDAY-ALL-MATS
The Bi State Classic is an incredibly tough tournament and as a Wisconsin fan this would be the closest in season tournament we get to an all division state tournament. There are a total of 165 currently ranked wrestlers, 75 ranked in the top 5, and 21 #1 ranked wrestlers competing! On average that’s 12 ranked wrestlers per bracket. The lowest is at 215 pounds with 8 ranked wrestlers but it has all three #1 ranked wrestlers in the state entered; Garrett Kawczynski, Tyson Martin, Blake Thiry and #2 in Minnesota 1A Caleb Kurtti. The bracket with the most ranked wrestlers is 132 pounds with FIFTEEN! There are 3 number one ranked wrestlers (Liam Neitzel, Westin Ingham and MN 3A Trey Beissel). There also 2 #2 ranked wrestlers with Roger Flege from Aquinas and Turner Campbell from Holeman. Let’s keep in perspective that only 8 wrestlers from the entire bracket will make the podium. Meaning at least ⅓ of state ranked wrestlers this weekend will not make the podium.
There are 6 returning Bi State Champs from last year. Shane Rochon 113, Trey Beissel 132, Roen Carey 144, Danny Heiser 157, Caleb Dennee 175, and Garrett Kawczynski 215. That means at least 8 weight classes will crown a new champion.
Every bracket is worth keeping an eye but there are a few in particular that I may tape my eyelids open for. The first is at 132 pounds with 15 state ranked wrestlers, 7 of those 15 ranked in the top 5, and 5 of those 7 in the top 2. This weight has 3 #1 ranked wrestlers Liam Neitzel D1 Hudson, Westin Ingham D2 Amery, and MN Hastings 3A Trey Beissel. There are also 2 number 2 ranked wrestlers with Roger Flege from D3 Aquinas and Turner Campbell from D1 Holeman. There’s a lot to unpack in this bracket at a whole with 15 ranked, but I want to focus on the top. Westin Ingham is a returning freshman State runner up last year at 106 pounds and 3rd place finisher at BI State. He’s made a big jump up in weight and is now in the toughest bracket at Bi State. This will be a very tough test for him and I want to see how he responds. If he can finish inside the top 4 I will be very impressed. Turner Campbell the hometown guy is ranked 2nd right now in D1 and he has consistently been one of the top state ranked wrestlers. He has the talent to be at the top and I want to see if this will be the weekend he puts it all together and knocks off a couple of these guys. Then there are the two big dogs at this weight. Liam Neitzel, a 2x D1 State Champion from Hudson and 3A State Champion Gopher commit Trey Beissel. These two will be the favorites to make the finals and if they do it might be one I am most excited for. A win for either would be an impressive win to add to their resume but only one will.
The next weight that deserves a little extra mention is 157 pounds. 3 number one ranked wrestlers but sitting at the top is Missouri commit, 3x State Champion, returning Bi State Champion Danny Heiser from D2 Evansville. There might be 3 #1’s at this weight but he will be the heavy favorite. Can anyone knock him off? State Champion form 1A Chatfield MN Carson Rowland might be the most likely. Stopping Heiser from earning an early match termination by period or tech is incredibly hard, let alone beating him. If someone can take him to deep waters then they have a shot, but that’s easier said than done.
Let’s also keep an eye on the 175 pound weight class with #1 Caleb Denee from D1 Marshfield, Kade Rule from D3 Mineral Point, Espyn Sweers from D2 Mauston/Necedah. Also watch out for #2 ranked Eli Lenoard from D1 Mount Horeb. Kade Rule is the only returning State Champion of this group but Denee is a Cadet and Junior Fargo All American and returning state finalist. With Dennee defeating Rule in last year’s 165 pound final it will be fair to say he is the favorite at this weight. But a heavy mix of the state’s top talent he will have to defeat some very talented wrestlers to repeat. The round of 16 on will be fun to watch at this weight, but the semis will have some extra attention from me.
The final weight class I want to mention is similar to the last one we just talked about. At 215 pounds it has every #1 ranked wrestler from Wisconsin and #2 from MN 1A. Garret Kawczynski from D1 Port Washington, Blake Thiry from D2 PDC and Tyson Martin from D3 Aquinas. Last year Kawczysnki defeated Thiry in the finals and Martin finished 3rd at 190. Of all the weights with 3 #1 ranked wrestlers this one could be the most up for grabs between the bunch. Kawczynski will be the favorite but Martin is a very formidable opponent, both of them have earned cadet Fargo All American honors in the past. Thiry is a D1 football commit to top 10 Indianna who just made the CFP and a multiple time state placer. The results of this weight would likely determine the order of the 215 all state ranking.
That may be all from the individual bracket side for the boys, but not all on the Bi State. From a team side it is returning Team State Champions from MN 1A Chatfield who won last year with 291.5 points. Aquinas finished 2nd with 270 and IGH 3rd with 254.5. Will Chatfield repeat this year as team champs or will one of these other teams knock them off?
From the girls’ side of things, this tournament has continued to grow and get tougher. There are 41 state ranked wrestlers this year. At 4 of the weights there are 5 state ranked wrestlers; 100, 107, 132 and 138 pounds. Every weight has a ranked wrestler and they all have a handful of notable wrestles based on last season’s Bi State and Individual State results. That means no weight will be easy. To win the girls tournament you will have to earn it.
At 132 pounds there are 5 ranked wrestlers and 15 notable wrestlers. Of the 5 ranked 4 of them are Wisconisn’s top 4. #1 Dealya Collins, #2 Riley Hanrahan, #3 Avery Loisewicz, #4 Hayli Fletcher and then #9 Leah Kapla. At the top Collins and Hanrahan are both nationally ranked wrestlers and a possible finals matchup between these two will be electric!
At 107 pounds there are no #1 ranked wrestles but there are 3 #3’s! Ava Gardner from Marshfield, Macy Schaefer from Minnesota and Kylie Klum from Westby Wisconsin but she is dropping down from 114. Then hometown girl #4 Kaytlynn Lambries from Holmen #5 Alexa Thomas, a freshman from Badger. Ava Gardenr won last year’s WI state title at 100 pounds over 2x State Champ Corrigan, but has taken a couple losses so far this season at 107 and finds herself ranked 3rd. I’m excited to see if she takes the title this weekend or if one of these other girls will knock her off. This is a weight with some top end talent and is open for anyone to take the weight.
The final weight I want to mention is 132 pounds. With 5 state ranked wrestlers and one of the best in the country with Carley Ceshker how can you not. Ceshker will be looking to win her 4th Bi State Championship this weekend, an extremely rare feat. She will have a very solid bracket, but as one of the country’s best will anyone be able to push her. If there was one who could potentially keep things close it would be #3 Natalie Klavetter from Hudson. This will be a great test for Klavetter to see where she stands. Klavetter, who has had success both in state and nationally, will potentially get her toughest test here at Bi State.
No matter where you look this weekend every mat will have good wrestling. To take it a step even further no matter where you look this weekend there will likely be a state ranked wrestler competing with 165 boys ranked wrestlers and 41 girl ranked wrestlers. It’s important to recognize the quality of wrestling we have in front of us and just how dang hard it will be for any individual to win this thing. There are no fluke Champions at Bi State. To claim a title you will have to prove you are not only among the best in La Crosse but the best in the state. Tune in on the WIwrestle page on Rokfin to watch every match live this weekend starting at 9am Friday and Saturday! Finals should begin around 8:15 pm Saturday night.
Bi-State Classic Website: https://bistateclassic.com/
;
