6th
Annual WUSA Magazine /
Cliff Keen Dream Team Classic Dual Meet
Dream Team 36, Wisconsin 9
103 - Gerrad Contreras USA beat Matt Demars WIS 14-1; 112 - Josh Miller WIS beat Tim Hunt USA 5-2; 119 - Mark Moos USA beat Nick Conklin WIS 14-7; 125 - Matt Ciasulli USA beat Scott Schramm WIS 8-4; 130 - Burke Barnes USA beat Zach Chambers WIS 19-9; 135 - Teyon Ware USA beat Cole Wunnicke WIS 3-2; 140 - Joe Henning WIS beat Andy Simmons USA 7-5OT; 145 - Trent Paulson USA beat Tyler Turner WIS 7-1; 152 - Zach Esposito USA beat Matt Pell WIS 10-6; 160 - Johnny Hendricks USA beat Ben Askren WIS 7-5; 171 - Matt Herrington USA beat Jason Lulloff WIS 10-2; 189 - Kurt Backes USA beat Kelby Mack WIS 9-4; 215 - Nathan Moore USA beat Joe Whipperfurth 6-3; 275 - Cole Konrad WIS beat Mike Behnke USA 5-3.
Wisconsin
Dream Team vs USA Dream Team
The event will be held at the D.C. Everest High School in Schofield, Wisconsin, on March 16th at 2:30 p.m. The D.C. Everest Treetopper Booster Club will manage the site and the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation will handle the selection of our state team.
The class of 2002 has many high caliber wrestlers with national freestyle and Greco experience and multiple state titles in high school. There are two wrestlers going for their fourth state title and seven going for their third. Wisconsin has had five four time champions in the past, they include Matt Hanutke of Pittsville 87-90, Kraig Underwood from Athens 92-95, Brian Slater of New Lisbon 93-96, Scott Hady from North Crawford 94-97 and Kevin Black of River Falls 95-98. This years class will be the first that will have the possibility of two wrestlers accomplishing this feat at the same time.
The honorary coaches for this event have a long list of accomplishments and have recently enjoyed their retirement from high school coaching. Vern Pieper of Stoughton started coaching at Richland Center, WI, in 1958 and moved to Stoughton, WI, in 1962 until his retirement in 1996. During Vern's tenure he coached his team to seven state titles, while accomplishing this he had twenty-eight individuals crowned as champions and another seventeen finished in second place. Vern had the good fortune of coaching his two sons in which Ron was a four-time finalist with three state titles. Amongst other high school coaching accomplishments he had twenty conference crowns and won the regionals 24 times and had nineteen sectional championships. Vern was the high school coach of Olympians Russ Hellickson and Andy Rein, who both represented the USA with silver medals.
In his spare time, Vern and his wife Bev have been heavily involved at the local and state level of USA /Wisconsin Wrestling Federation as pairers, mat officials, ticket takers, hotdog sellers or just socializing with the many folks they've come to know through the great sport of wrestling. Vern was recently an official at the NCAA Division III national wrestling tournament.
Fred Lehrke began his exceptional coaching career in Oregon, WI, in 1964, he later moved to Kettle Morraine then to Monroe, WI, where he won a state title in 1973. Fred's last stop was at D.C. Everest High School where he retired in 1990, while there he won three state titles, making him the only head coach in Wisconsin to win titles at two different schools. Fred was named Wisconsin Wrestling Coach of the year in 1978 and 1986 and was able to coach both his sons, Eric and Fritz on those high powered teams. Fred and his wife, Sally, and their two sons and three daughters have been relentless in their support of wrestling. Fred is the past Chairman and is the current Vice-Chairman of the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation.
Lehrke has served on several local, state and national committees and was very involved in the development of USA Wrestling. Fred and Sally can still be seen matside in many capacities, either coaching, pairing, refereeing, cheering or just offering a friendly smile or a pleasant hello.
Both Fred and Vern are members of the Wisconsin Coaches Hall of Fame and have been recently inducted into the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Our team leader and clinician is Troy Steiner. Troy comes to Wisconsin via a stellar career at Iowa. Troy was a four-time All-American, three-time Big 10 champion and a 1992 national champion at 142 pounds. He won a title in 1996 at the Pan-Am Championships and took second at the 1998 National Freestyle Championships. Currently he's the state clinician and coaching coordinator for the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation and was recently the strength and conditioning coach for the Wisconsin Badgers. Troy and his wife, Shawn, live in Madison and have been a great addition to Wisconsin wrestling at all levels.
We are planning an overnight and cultural outing for the national team in the Chequamogon (Sha-waum-ee-gon) Forest. They will be hosted by Glen Goessl's family and will be offered our great traditional Wisconsin hospitality. They will tour an Amish farming community, an Amish harness shop and hopefully a little ice fishing if the ice is thick enough. Glen is our state's kids director and has his thumb on the pulse of many of our programs.
Our host community will be under the direction of high school coaches Eric Lehrke and Jeff Micholic and their families and club members. I would like to extend a special thanks to the Keen and Bryant families for their support of wrestling and the opportunity to participate in this great event.
WISCONSIN vs. USA - DREAM TEAM
On March 16, 2002 at DC Everest High School Wisconsin Wrestling Federation will host the Wrestling USA Magazine/Cliff Keen Dream Team Classic. This is a prestigious event that the State of Wisconsin is fortunate to host. A select team from around the USA will come to the State of Wisconsin to take on our best.
These are the eligibility and criteria set by USA Wrestling Magazine & Cliff Keen that athletes must meet to be eligible to compete in this event:
1. Wrestlers must be seniors in high school class of 2002
2. Wrestlers must meet the eligibility requirements of their high school athletic association to be able to wrestle in the Dream Team Classic.
3. Wrestlers must have competed in the 2002 High School state tournament
4. A wrestler may not wrestle in a lower weight
class than they competed in the 2002 State High School Tournament.
(7 lbs. allowance will be given for this event)
5. All wrestlers must compete in the Minnesota-Wisconsin Senior
2002
The committee has an established this set of parameters and criteria that will be used to notify potential team members:
1. Athletes notified will not be guaranteed a spot in this event, your only guarantee is a tryout.
2. High school titles, high school records, head to head competitions, and past USA wrestling participation will be taken into consideration when inviting athletes to tryout.
If you have any questions or concerns on this event please contact me at 608.238.3353 or by email at steinertroy@hotmail.com. I look forward to seeing you at the event.
Sincerely,
Troy Steiner
Wisconsin Wrestling Federation
State Developmental Coach