The second day of the 2026 Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association boys and girls state individual wrestling tournament featured 20 Milwaukee-area grapplers still in the hunt for state championships across all three boys divisions and in five of the 12 girls brackets.
The semifinal round commenced Friday, Feb. 27, at the Kohl Center in Madison with eight of the 20 area wrestlers advancing to Championship Saturday on Feb. 28.
Here’s a look at who will be wrestling for state championships on the final day of the individual wrestling season, starting in Division 1 where a bulk of the area was represented entering the tournament.
Division 1
Arrowhead sophomore and top-seeded Zahn Beal will look to capture the 120-pound title after a 4-1 decision victory over South Milwaukee’s George Hamilton in the semifinals to improve to 41-5 on the season.
Brown Deer/Messmer/Shorewood’s Maxmius Hay will get his shot at redemption after last year’s heartbreaking loss in the 126-pound title match with a 20-3 technical fall victory over No. 5 seed Thomas Heraly from West De Pere in the 126 semifinals.
Elsewhere at 150 pounds, it’ll be an all-area final as No. 1 seed and three-time defending state champion Kellen Wolbert from Oconomowoc will face Slinger’s Samuel Gehring in the final. Wolbert moved to 51-0 on the season with a fall victory over Holmen’s AJ Alesch in one semifinal, while Gehring took a 10-4 decision win over No. 2 seed Landen Sheppard from Neenah to improve to 49-2 on the year.
In the 285-pound bracket, top-seeded Ayden Grulke from Hartford advanced to his second straight state title match with a 10-2 major decision victory over Kaukauna’s Nehemiah Lendobeja in the semifinal round. Grulke moves on to face Monona Grove/McFarland’s Deangelo Clay, who won the second semifinal with a 17-4 major decision over Kenosha Indian Trail’s Brendan Grabot.
Divisions 2 and 3
Port Washington’s Garett Kawczynski can make it back-to-back state titles at 215 pounds in two different divisions after a 4-1 decision victory over Stoughton’s Kade Splinter in the Division 2 semifinal round. The Army West Point recruit moved to a perfect 37-0 on the season with the victory and can win his second state title with a win over fellow unbeaten Max Matthias from Two Rivers, who moved to 30-0 with a 10-6 decision victory over New London’s Preston Krueger in the other semifinal.
Lake Country Lutheran’s McAllister Ramage will wrestle for the 132-pound crown in Division 3 after a dominant 17-1 technical fall victory against Auburndale’s Zade Grassel, the bracket’s No. 3 seed. Ramage improved to 43-2 on the season and will face top seed Lukas Orloff (51-1) of Pecatonica/Argyle for the title after Orloff’s 24-9 technical fall victory over No. 4 seed Jordan Lisiecki from Lomira in the other semifinal.
Girls
Five semifinalists entered Friday’s action and heading into Championship Saturday, there’s one left standing – Wisconsin Lutheran’s Izabella Riebe at 235. The three-time podium finisher at state cruised into her second state title match with a 10-3 decision victory over No. 4 seed Autumn King from Bay Port in the semifinals. Riebe has finished second, third and fourth in her three previous state experiences and can win her first state title with a victory over West De Pere’s Mercedes Kruse, who won the other semifinal with an 11-4 decision over Assumption/Pacelli’s Lexie Stoflet.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: WIAA high school state wrestling championships recap: Day 2
