Thiry claims Bi-State Championship
Submitted by admin on Thu, 01/02/2025 - 14:03
Prairie du Chien’s Blake Thiry (top) holds on tightly to Port Washington’s Garret Kawczynski as he tries to escape in the waning moments of their Bi-State Classic Championship Match at 215 pounds. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Blake Thiry poses with his 215 pound bracket following his championship victory at the 42nd Bi-State Classic. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
PdC’s Carter Simmons tries to pin River Valley’s Drew Riedel before time expires in their match at 175 pounds. Simmons would win 14-1. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
The Prairie du Chien Boys Wrestling team take a photo with their D2 runner-up trophy at the 2024 Bi-State Classic. Pictured in the bottom row (from left to right) - Keaton Achenbach, Porter Kossman, Landon Thiry, Hunter Reid, Jake Kramer and Jack Simmons. Pictured in the middle row (from left to right) - Blake Thiry, Carter Simmons, Jack MacEachern, Jackson Perkins, Mason Hird, Bryce Lenzendorf and Clark Fritsche. Pictured in the top row (from left to right) - Assistant Coach Ryder Koenig, Assistant Coach Cory Koenig, Head Coach Mike Rogge and Assistant Coach Stephen Ronnfeldt. (Prairie Wrestling Facebook)
Irelynd Cejka puts the squeeze on Lancaster's Alyvia Bahl as the official looks for Bahl's shoulders to hit the mat. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Prairie du Chien's Rosalie Kossman works from on top during a consolation match at 100 pounds. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
By Derick Kelly
Prairie du Chien senior Blake Thiry got a measure of revenge this past Saturday night at the La Crosse Center when he beat undefeated Port Washington junior Garret Kawczynski 4-2 in the championship match of the 215 pound weight class at the 42nd annual Bi-State Classic. Kawczynski (currently the no. 1 ranked wrestler in D1 at 215 pounds in Wisconsin, the 19th ranked wrestler in the nation at 215 pounds by FloWrestling and the 30th ranked wrestler by SI.com) had defeated Thiry in last year’s 215 pound title match by a score of 6-5.
In order to reach the championship match for the second consecutive year, Thiry had to get past the number one ranked wrestler in D3 in the semifinal round, La Crosse Aquinas junior Tyson Martin. The two had faced each other just two weeks prior at the Duals in the Dells Tournament with Martin coming out on top 11-1. Thiry gained revenge by beating Martin 11-2. Kawczynski and Martin both entered into their matches against Thiry with undefeated records and left with their first losses of the season. Thiry is the sixth Bi-State Champion in program history, joining Mike Lenzendorf (first at 275 in 2004), Taylor Elliott (first at 106 in 2012 and 113 in 2013), Tyler Hannah (first at 195 in 2019) and Rhett Koenig (first at 132 pounds). Thiry also joined Elliott (2010-13) as the only PdC wrestlers to place all four years at the meet.
Prairie du Chien wrestling had ten total place winners during the tournament with six of them coming on the men’s side and the other four on the girls side. Also placing in the top 12 for the PdC boys team was sophomore Hunter Reid (12th at 120 pounds), junior Mason Hird (6th at 144 pounds), senior Jackson Perkins (12th at 150 pounds), senior Bryce Lenzendorf (6th at 165 pounds), senior Thiry and junior Jack Simmons (9th at 285 pounds).
The girls team had four top 12 place winners in their first appearance as a program in the girls tournament. Leading the way for the PdC girls was senior Irelynd Cejka, who finished in sixth place at 138 pounds. She was joined by sophomore Addyson Claycomb (ninth place at 235 pounds) and ninth-graders Aspen Gelo (seventh place at 120 pounds) and Rosalie Kossman (10th place at 100 pounds). Hannah Ingham also wrestled for the Hawks, going 1-2 (with the win over Boscobel/Wauzeka-Steuben’s Mallory McCullick) to earn 3 points for the PdC girls team score. Prairie would finish the girls meet with 95.0 points, putting the team in 17th place out of 75 teams.
The Prairie du Chien boys team scored 170.5 points during the tournament to claim a second place finish in D2 and 13th place overall out of 70 teams. The Hawks have now placed in the top five of their division at the Bi-State Classic in each of the last five tournaments and six of the last seven after having done so only once previously (2004).
Prairie wrestlers will return to the mats on Tuesday, Jan. 7 when they host Lodi in another tough conference dual. It will also be Senior/Parents/Youth/Alumni Night.
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