Article By John J. Schimming, Photos by Bob Mischka
On Saturday, six Whippet wrestlers competed in the WIAA Cedar Grove-Belgium Sectional hoping to place in the top three, thus punching their tickets to the WIAA D2 State Wrestling Championships. When it was all said and done, the Whippets have two student-athletes, Tommy Duval (182#) and Tyler Gamble (106#), who have extended their senior seasons one more week.
Jimmy DuVal opened up the day taking care of business with a pin in 1:05. DuVal then defeated his next two opponents to claim the championship. In the finals, DuVal looked very calm and in control throughout winning 9-3. By winning the title, he has earned a bye at the first round of the state tournament and will compete on Friday morning. This is a great accomplishment for DuVal and it marks his second trip to the state competition.
Gamble started off the day with a tough loss to the eventual champion from Jefferson. He bounced back with an 18-3 victory to put himself into the third-place match, which put Gamble against a very tough young man from Chilton. Gamble wrestled his best match I have ever seen. He opened up with a great move to the opponent’s back to build a 5-0 lead. He did not look back and closed out the match winning securing a 9-3 final score.
The state tournament will begin on Thursday night. If you are unable to attend the competition at the Kohl Center, it can be seen by going to Trackwrestling.com.
