The following write up was written by Hortonville Coach Chris Gennerich. HIs team has been attending this tournament for many years. Sorry about the format, I copied and pasted from word.
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As a lifetime Wisconsin Resident and lifelong wrestling fan certain High Schools are synonymous for rich wrestling traditions. One of those high school at the top of the list is Freedom High School. The Irish Wrestling program is a perennial powerhouse in the State of Wisconsin, always a top contender to compete for the division II State title, as well as to be heavily represented at the individual State tournament. It's no wonder then that when the Irish host an invitational you can count on them doing it right. Want to watch some great wrestling in a small gym setting, then the Irish gymnasium in Freedom should be your destination for Saturday, January 15th, 2022.
The 49th annual Irish Invitational will be loaded with not only State ranked talent, but nationally ranked talent as well!! Nineteen teams from Wisconsin and Michigan will take the mat Saturday, seven of them bring State rankings with them, including the State's #1 ranked division II team Amery, Wisconsin. Three DII teams will enter the Irish Invite with rankings: Evansville sits a #5 in the latest polls, Brillion will enter ranked #6, and host Freedom brings with them the #10 rank. Shiocton one of only two division III teams sport the #9 ranking in their division. Bay Port will be the only DI ranked team participating as they are Honorable Mention. Denmark rounds out the ranked teams also carrying an Honorable Mention ranking in DII. Bark River, Michigan has been added to this tournament, giving the Irish Invitational some out of state talent as they make their way down from the Upper Peninsula. They will bring some upper level talent to this field, particularly at 113, 145 and 182 pounds where they are highly ranked in the UP polls.
Even more impressive is the 66 State ranked individuals that make up the line ups of this year's 19 team field. Four number one ranked wrestlers will be competing: DI #1 Noah Tonsor at 120 pounds for Slinger, as well as three DII #1's from Amery. Kale Hopke, Koy Hopke, Robert Beese, 195, 220, 285 respectively. The tournament will also boast five number two ranked wrestlers. Evansville, a new comer to this year's event, bring the DII #2 ranked 170 pounder Owen Heiser, Jacob Ward of DI Bay Port at 145, along with hometown favorite DII Nathan VandeHey of Freedom also at 145, should make that weight class a real dogfight. The other two #2 ranked wrestlers both of DII Amery, 106 pounder Brendan Burke and 152 pounder Wyatt Ingham.
The Irish Invite will also display a couple wrestlers who have had success on Wrestling biggest stage, Fargo. Jr Wyatt Skebba from Hortonville brought home All-American honors this summer placing 6th at 106 pounds and also captured the Pre-season Nationals title at 113 pounds. While Sophomore sensation, Amery's Koy Hopke, was crowned National Champ in both Freestyle and Greco at 220. Koy is also the 9th ranked 220 pounder in the country according to Flowrestling. Hopke is also fresh off a Cheesehead Title in Kaukauna last weekend.
The Irish Invite teams at a glance
Team Team Rank # of Individual ranked wrestlers
Amery DII #1 9
Appleton North 3
Ashwaubenon 1
Auburndale 5
Bark River, MI
Bay Port DI HM 4
Brillion DII #6 6
Burlington 3
Denmark DII HM 5
Evansville DII #5 6
Freedom DII #10 2
Hortonville 5
Medford 1
Mishicot 1
Sheboygan North 0
Shiocton DIII #9 9
Slinger 4
Two Rivers 1
West DePere 1
Weight Classes at a glance
106 (five ranked wrestlers) 152 (four ranked wrestlers)
DI #5 Tristin Ellerman Hortonville DI HM Austin Skrundz Burlington
DI #8 Owen Wathke Bay Port DII #2 Wyatt Ingham Amery
DII #2 Brendan Burke Amery DII #4 Garnett Stebane Brillion
DII #6 Logan Muller Brillion DIII #11 Dylan Herb Shiocton
DIII #8 Derek Godard Auburndale
113 (six ranked wrestlers) 160 (five ranked wrestlers)
DI #3 Wyatt Skebba Hortonville DII #3 Mason Tylee Amery
DI HM Eli Becker Slinger DII #7 Ricky Braunschweig Evansville
DII #8 Bob Huntley Brillion DII HM Thomas Ullmer Denmark
DII #11 Thad Sigmund Medford DIII #3 Brant Cracraft Mishicot
DII HM Lane Anderson Amery DIII #11 Bradley Demerath Shiocton
DIII #3 Colten Weiler Auburndale
120 (five ranked wrestlers) 170 (five ranked wrestlers)
DI #1 Noah Tonsor Slinger DI HM Andrew Karnes Burlington
DI #11 Griffin Jens Hortonville DII #2 Owen Heiser Evansville
DII #4 Danny Heiser Evansville DII #5 Eddie Simes Amery
DII #9 Trenton Nicklaus Brillion DII #6 Elijah Shefchik Denmark
DII #10 Brett Soquet Denmark DIII #9 Dion Helser Shiocton
126 (five ranked wrestlers) 182 (five ranked wrestlers)
DI #11 Owen Noel Bay Port DI #11 Carter Amidon Slinger
DI HM Nolan Skebba Hortonville DII #6 Grant Cook Amery
DII #10 Alec Bergelin Denmark DII #9 Damon Schmidt Brillion
DII HM William Penn Evansville DIII #3 Sloan Welch Auburndale
DIII HM Jordan Jahnke Shiocton DIII #7 Hunter Schuh Shiocton
132 (three ranked wrestlers) 195 (five ranked wrestlers)
DI #8 Henry Niebauer Hortonville DI #3 Brock Arndt Appleton North
DIII #10 Blake Carton Shiocton DII #1 Kale Hopke Amery
DIII #11 Noah Altman Auburndale DII #5 Chase Mathias Two Rivers
DII #7 Eagan Babiash Denmark DIII #6 Dylan Larsen Shiocton
138 (one ranked wrestlers) 220 (seven ranked wrestlers)
DIII #12 Isaiah Carton Shiocton DI #4 Zeke Tiedt Burlington
**expect to see Jake Stoffel here DII #1 Koy Hopke Amery
DII #3 Garrett Kilgas Brillion
145 (five ranked wrestlers) DII HM Lucas VanGrinsven Freedom
DI #2 Jacob Ward Bay Port DIII#7 Iliajah Sanchez Shiocton
DI #7 Alek Ukkola West DePere DII #11 Baylin Crull Evansville
DI #12 Jake Stoffel Appleton North DIII HM Brice Theil Auburndale
DI HM Aidan Ford Slinger 285 (five ranked wrestlers)
DII #2 Nathan VandeHey Freedom DI #5 Troy Dietzler Ashwaubenon
DI #6 Ethan Hansen Appleton North
DI #10 Vaughn Campbell Bay Port
DII #1 Robert Beese Amery
DII #9 Cutter Lange Evansville
*** all Wisconsin State rankings courtesy of www.wiwrestling.com January 6th rankings.
Get there early, find a seat and don't leave it!! Going to be some awesome talent on display and some very exciting matches!!!!! Don't miss this tournament!!!!
I apologize.......i found a mistake..............i included William Penn at 120 pounds..............Mr. Penn is from Ellsworth not Evansville........he will not be wrestling as the Irish Invite..............sorry!!!
Armdag - maybe you meant 126 Camden Staver Evansville - HM 8)
You forgot one of Freedom's own. Patrick Moore #195 D-2 is also ranked!!
Updated information with a better format can be found on the tournament website: https://www.freedomirish.com/irishinvitational (https://www.freedomirish.com/irishinvitational)
Should be fun! Many good wrestlers attending
Koy Hopke has jumped to #4 nationally ranked 220 after his Cheesehead title.
Did Koy wrestle 195 last night, or was that a typo on track?
Typo. He wrestled 220 last night.
120 Pound Final:
Danny Heiser Evansville D2#4 over Noah Tonsor Slinger D1#1 11-0!
Who won Outstanding Wrestler at Freedom?
Quote from: justwrestle on January 15, 2022, 05:11:38 PM
120 Pound Final:
Danny Heiser Evansville D2#4 over Noah Tonsor Slinger D1#1 11-0!
Was this match live-streamed or videoed? I'd love to see this kid wrestle.
Danny Heiser took home the Most Outstanding Wrestler award.