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PREP WRESTLING: BADGER STATEStoughton-s back in chargeBEN SMIOTDerek Rauls of DeForest (left) celebrates after pinning Chris Larson of Stoughton at 3 minutes, 9 seconds of their 112-pound championship match Thursday in the Badger State Classic at the UW Field House._By Dennis Semrau__The Capital TimesDerek Rauls had extra motivation at the Badger State wrestling tournament Thursday night at the UW Field House.The oldest of the three Rauls brothers who competed fos DeForest at the 33rd annual invitational, Derek said his parents inspired him to win the 112-pound championship.“We run a dairy farm and my parents came to watch after milking, said Rauls, who rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to pin Stoughton junior Chris Larson in 3 minutes, 9 seconds in their title match. They said they didn’t, want to come up for nothing.The Rauls brothers — including Tyler, a freshman, who was runner-up at 119 pounds, and Jason, a junior, who was fifth at 145 — all helped make their parents’ trip a memorable one.Derek Rauls (11-1), a senior who was third at the Badger State tournament as a sophomore and second as a junior, also helped the Norskies strike first in their rivalry with tournament host Stoughton.But the Vikings won the remaining two title matchups against DeForest to roll to their first Badger State team title since 1999 with 261V2 points.Mineral Point, which crowned three champions in Curtis Fiedler (130 pounds), Greg Burke (140) and Robbie Goldthorpe (275), was second with 201 !/2 points. DeForest (148), Milton (1401/2) and Clinton (1191/2) rounded out the top five.“This group of guys has wrestled extremely well as a team,” Stoughton qo-coach Dan Spilde said. “After sending 12 to the semis and seven to the finals, whatever we did tonight in the finals was icing on the cake.”Added Stoughton co-coach Bob Empey:“It was a great team effort. All 14 of our guys placed and we finished strong with three titles,” he said. This was a real con-fidence-builder.”Stoughton junior James Willford beat Tyler Rauls 3-2 for the first of the Vikings’ three individual champions at the meet, which returned to the Field House after a two-year hiatus to Mineral Point,It took forever, said Willford (15-4), who survived a mental lapse to notch his hard-fought victory. “I thought the second period was the last.“But I pulled it out, like the rest of my teammates. This was a great night for the team.”Senior Isaac Olstad, who pinned Milton junior David Miller in 1:08 at 160 pounds,and junior Dallas O’Malley, who pinned DeForest freshman Drew Barman in 2:44 at 189 pounds, accounted for Stoughton’s remaining two titles.“This is what you come here for, to win,” said O’Malley, who grasped his first-place medal in one hand and the 189-pound bracket chart in the other.Mineral Point senior Curtis Fiedler, the defending WIAA Division 3 state champion at 130 pounds, had to mount a furious rally to top Stoughton sophomore Brad Larson 6-5 in their 130-pound championship match.Larson stormed out to a 5-0 lead and had Fiedler on his back as the first period ended.But Fiedler, who won the Badger State title at 130 in 2003 and was third a year ago, used a third-period takedown to top Larson for the second time this season. Fiedler defeated Larson 3-1 at the MineralPoint duals on Dec. 10.“It’s not a place anybody wants to be, obviously, Fiedler (17-0) said of the nearfall that nearly ended his unbeaten season. “I just made a mistake. But once I got out of it, luckily I adjusted and came back.Fiedler said the victory and Mineral Point’s runner-up finish helped ease the pain of last year’s 32-31 semifinal loss to eventual Division 3 team state champion Wrightstown at the Field House last March.“Team state left a little sour taste in our mouths last year, he said. “Obviously, we can't make up for what happened last year. But this definitely eases the pain a little bit.“I’m happy to get the win and help our team finish strong here tonight. Now it’s on to the next match.”■ Results In Scorecard, 6D
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