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It was an exciting Saturday as Jake Stewart, Eric Schilling, Marc Liechty, and Mark Heyn participated in the toughest Division 2 sectional at Richland Center. The article following the photo gallery is from before the tournament and it lists all of the tough schools involved.

RICHLAND CENTER — Junior Eric Schilling and senior Marc Liechty became the first Lakeside Lutheran wrestlers in
school history to qualify for the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament by advancing out of the Richland Center
sectional Saturday.

Schilling (23-8) came up huge, winning all three of his matches to capture the 130-pound weight class title.
"Eric has been peaking at a phenomenal rate over the last two weeks in practice," Lakeside Lutheran co-
wrestling coach Jason Nickels said. "I knew coming in he would knock a couple guys off. I didn't know if he'd
take first, but I knew he was going to have a great day. "Each match was similar. He didn't always get on top of
the guy right away, but in the second and third periods, he was so solid. He did not allow his opponents to do
anything to him."

Schilling began the day with a 6-4 decision over Lodi's Kevin Haupt. Haupt put Schilling on his back early on with a
cradle, but he worked his way out of it and was never in any danger the rest of the tournament. "The old Eric would have
shut down from that point," Nickels said. "The way he's wrestling now, he's so mentally tough, and that's what you
need to do. That's what you need to do to be a state placewinner."

In the semifinals, he won by injury default over Sugar River sophomore Scott Fahey, who had beaten Schilling
14-2 in a dual meet in December. Schilling led 4-1 at the time of the injury to Fahey's knee. "He threw in a whizzer,
but the guy turned into him and faced him, and the knee went," Nickels said. "I feel very confident Eric was on his way to
winning that match anyway."

In the title match. Schilling edged Cuba City/Southwestern's Robbie Lang 8-6 to become the school's first ever sectional
champion in a WIAA sponsored tournament. Lang came in rated third in his class in the latest Crossface rankings.
"That last match was a great match," Nickels said. "He trailed 2-0 after one period, and I got a little nervous because Eric
gets down on himself. The guy shot in three times and got deep, but Eric was so relentless, he refused to give up the
takedown and ended up getting the takedown. "The other guy had a flabbergasted look on his face like, 'I couldn't do
anything.' That kid was throwing his best stuff at Eric, and it wasn't good enough. He's gained a great deal of
confidence. He has eight losses and I can think of only one of those guys that could beat Eric now, the way he is
wrestling."

"Schilling impressed the heck out of me," Lake Mills-Johnson Creek wrestling coach Mark Ward said. "He just totally
dominated Lang. All the Cuba City kids are really good on their feet, but Schilling was way better on his feet. He was
just relentless.''

Liechty (34-7) went 3-2 on the day at 189 to finish third. He beat Prairie du Chien's Adam Sinram 4-0 in the first round,
then lost by fall to Lodi's Mike Ramsden in 1 minute, 16 seconds of the semifinals. In the consolation bracket, Liecthy
beat Cuba City/Southwestem's AJ Vogt 4-2, then beat Brodhead/Juda's David Green 6-5 with two takedowns in the third period
to earn a wrestle-back for second place against Mount Horeb/Barneveld's Derek Ackerman. Ackerman beat Liechty 6-4, but
Liechty still managed to earn a berth to the state meet next week with his third place finish.

"It took his smarts," Nickels said. "It wasn't his brawn. (Co-coach Jerry) Ewings calls him a savvy wrestler. He picked
his moments. He's very used to being down by one point or tied going into the third period. Any time Marc's within two
points in the third period, he's going to win. We have been very good at outlasting our competition. They are our first
qualifiers for state. Not only one, but two. That was pretty excitng."

Lakeside Lutheran senior Mark Heyn(215) and freshman Jake Stewart (103) did not advance to state. Heyn (32-2) pinned 
Sugar River junior Nate Schultz in 2:56, but suffered his first loss of the season when Viroqua's Lance Keenan pinned him 
in the semifinals at 3:24. In the consolation bracket. Mount Horeb/Barneveld's Nick Zimpel beat Heyn 17-5. "I knew it was 
going to be an extremely tough road," Nickels said. "He's giving away 30 pounds of muscle. He probably could have dropped 
to 189 if he wanted to, but he's such a humble caring guy for his team, he knew it was best for his team. 
"He's been willing to do it all last year and this year, and he never complains, never uses it as an excuse. He just goes 
out and gives it everything he had. It was very tough to see him go down. It's tough coming in with no loses. He had a 
target on his back. "He helped us win in all the tournaments. He placed first in every single tournament. He was just a 
great leader for whole team. He works harder than anybody else. That's what made our team good. Eric and Liechty are good 
because of him. They realize it. I hope he does, too."

Stewart (19-9) lost a 9-8 decision to Clinton's Kevin Hesebeck in the first round. "He probably should not have lost that 
match," Nickels said. "The other! guy was just stronger. Jake was controlling the match pretty well, but he couldn't hold 
his opponent down. That's the reason he fell so far behind. He'd go in on a shot, and the guy blocked him and knocked him 
right on his back. He gave up five points when the match (was still on the line)."

Area wrestlers face tough road through Richland Center By Kevin Wilson of the Daily Times staff Every year, without exception, the competition at the sectional hosted by Richland Center this year is some of the best in the state. "One referee from Dodgeville said, 'If any kid makes it out of the sectional, he will be in the top five at state,'" Lake Mills-Johnson Creek wrestling coach Mark Ward said. "If we get more than one through, I'll be really really happy. They've got enough talent. It just depends on (which head they show up with) and how smart they wrestle." Ward has high hopes that Johnson Creek senior Dominic Caminata (171pounds) will advance out of Saturday's sectional and earn a second trip to the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament, which will be held at the Kohl Center in Madison on Feb.27-28. ^ Caminata placed fourth at state as a sophomore at 160, but has been hampered by injuries the past two seasons. He appears to be back in form after missing the first half of the season due to a knee injury suffered in football. Lake Mills-Johnson Creek's three other sectional qualifiers are Johnson Creek junior Ben Larson (119), Lake Mills junior Chris Hart (135) and Johnson Creek senior Josh Yager (160). While Lake Mills-Johnson Creek's program is looking to return its wrestlers to state competition. Lakeside Lutheran has yet to qualify one of its wrestlers to the WIAA tournament. Luther Prep has only sent one wrestler to state since the private schools joined the WIAA system for the 2000-01 season. Jake Stewart (103), Eric Schilling (135), Marc Liechty (189) and Mark Heyn (215) are competing for Lakeside. Jon Scharrer (119), Phil Scharrer (135) and Jeff Grundmeier (140) are competing for Luther Prep. "You'll face the toughest guys here," Lakeside Lutheran co-wrestling coach Jason Nickels said. "If you get through, you'll place at state. If we get any of these guys through, it'll be the first guys we've ever taken to the WIAA. We hope to start a good tradition."

Listed below is a breakdown of the pairings for each area wrestler's weight class. 103 Ryan Dobbs, Richland Center (32-7) vs. Joey Phelan, Dodgeville (25-7) Jake Stewart, Lakeside Lutheran (19-8) vs. Kevin Hesebeck, Clinton (23-13) Jake Madigan, Lodi (36-3) vs. Zach Elliot, Prairie duChien (28-11) Dustin Amenda, Belmont/Platteville (22-12)vs. Matt Reuter, Columbus (17-17) Outlook: Stewart's second cousin is Madigan from Lodi, and those two have wrestled since grade school. "I think Jake has very good chance coming in third," Nickels said. "It would be a huqe upset to beat Dobbs, but he can do it if he's got his head on right. He's not going to beat everybody this year, but that doesn't mean he's going to lay down for anybody."

130 Orry Hanson, Viroqua (28-9) vs. Robbie Lang, Cuba City/Southwestern (28-7) Cory McKelvey, Lancaster (36-6) vs. Phil Scharrer, Luther Prep (20-4) Scott Fahey, Belleville/Monticello, New Glarus (29-2) vs. Tony Owens, Mauston (17-5) Eric Schilling, Lakeside Lutheran (20-8) vs. Kevin Haupt, Lodi (16-12) Outlook: Lang was a state qualifier at 125 last year. Scharrer has a tough first round draw in McKelvey. Schilling has a much more favorable draw, and will likely have to face Fahey in the second round if he beats Haupt. Schilling lost to Fahey in a dual meet, but it should be closer this time around if they meet again. "Even a Lodi wrestler with a record like that has to be respected," Nickels said. "Eric's had a great week of practice. His win over Scharrer last week was a real confidence builder for him."

189 Sam Knutson, Westby (26-12) vs. Ryan Kelley,Whitewater(31-11) David Green, Brodhead/Juda (26-7) vs. Derek Ackerman, Mount Horeb/Barneveld (33-3) Marc Liechty, Lakeside Lutheran (31-5) vs. Adam Sinram, Prairie du Chien (21-15) Mike Ramsden, Lodi (39-0) vs. AJ Vogt,Cuba City/Southwestern (28-7) Outlook: Liechty will probably face Ramsden, a third place finisher at state last year, in the semifinals. Knutson and Ackerman will be competing with Liechty for the remaining two state berths. "He might be the smartest wrestler out there," Nickels said of Liechty. "He's aggressive and he's very elusive. He's really picked it up the last three weeks. He's wrestling a tough road."

215 Lance Keenan, Viroqua (38-2) vs. Nick Zimpel, Mount Horeb/Barneveld (30-9) Mark Heyn, Lakeside Lutheran (31-0) vs. Nate Schultz, Belleville/Monticello/New Glarus (24-12) Kory Locher, Lodi (35-4) vs. Seth Yagar,Prairie du Chien (29-8) Mitch Martin, Cuba City/Southwestern (22- 13) vs. Ben Reuter, Columbus (13-6) Outlook: Keenan was a state qualifier at 215 last year. Heyn beat Schultz in a high-scoring dual match. Locher and Martin are the best wrestlers in the other half. "I know nobody gives Mark Heyn a chance," Nickels said. "That's fine by me. They're totally overlooking him being in the finals, that's fine. We've dealt with that all year. These guys are used to nobody thinking they're good."