Stanley-Boyd juniors Willy Graham and Aaron Sturm competed in the WIAA State Individual Wrestling tournament last weekend. Graham, in the heavyweight bracket, made his second appearance after placing fifth last year. As a two-time qualifier he “felt more confident in his wrestling ability and didn’t let anyone’s size or record affect” him. In the first round, he had a rematch with Regional and Sectional opponent Hellendrung (Boyceville). After besting him at Regionals, Graham lost at Sectionals. When the two met on Thursday at the Kohl Center, Graham took another loss (fall 2:54) to Hellendrung who finished in third place. Graham came roaring back through the consolation round with a 1:17 tech fall Friday afternoon and a 1-0 decision in his third match Saturday morning, giving him a spot in the battle for fifth place. Graham finished off his State tournament run with a speedy 27 second pin over Lopez, the four seed from Ozaukee, earning a step on the podium at Saturday night’s award ceremony. Graham shared that he “had a great time and made a lot of memories with Aaron and the coaches.” Head coach Jake Fitzsimmons pointed out that Willy “is only the eighth Stanley-Boyd wrestler to be a two-time state place winner.”
After two trips to Madison as a spectator at the tournament, Sturm had set a season goal to qualify. With that accomplished, he set his sights on getting his first win. In the preliminary round Thursday, he gave a strong showing against the eventual sixth place finisher (Waldner - Ithaca Weston), but eventually lost by tech fall (18-3) in the third period. He moved on to the consolation round Friday afternoon for a matchup against the eventual fifth place finisher (Fischer - Bonduel). After three solid periods, Sturm’s hopes for a win at State came to an end with a 7-1 decision. In his first trip as a competitor, he noted that “walking out of the tunnel onto the mats” topped his favorite moments.
Although this was his first season as head coach, Jake Fitzsimmons has been coaching Graham and Sturm through middle school wrestling and into high school. “I have been in Aaron and Willy’s corner for hundreds of matches over the past six years. I am grateful to have been able to help them get to Kohl Center and watch them wrestle their last matches of their junior season at state.”
Looking back on their junior season, Willy’s favorite match came at the conference tournament when he scored another 27 second pin against an opponent who had previously taken him through three full periods, and Aaron’s favorite match happened in January at the CWPF Scramble. The showdown with Foss (CWPF), who had beaten him previously, came in the final round, and Sturm took the top of the podium for the first time in his varsity career with a heart-stopping (4-3 decision). Both wrestlers are determined to put extra time in this off-season in hopes of a return trip and stronger performance at State in their senior year, and Coach Fitzsimmons hopes to have at least one girl qualify next year, as well.