Even before the 2023-24 high school wrestling season began, it was clear it was going to be a special one for the Sun Prairie United program. The season prior, United had won the Big Eight conference, both in the regular season and tournament. This success extended into the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) state tournament as Sun Prairie qualified for team sectionals before six individuals qualified for state.
Nearly that entire group returned this past winter. The team was undoubtedly led by its seniors. Two-time state participants Christopher Anderson and Sophia Bassino and one-time state qualifiers Dylan Muehlenberg and Parker Olson brought experience and talent to the roster that allowed Sun Prairie to rip through the regular season.
Evidence of Sun Prairie’s potential came at the Mid-States Wrestling Classic, a 42-team invitational hosted at UW-Whitewater on Friday, Dec. 29 and Saturday, Dec. 30. United had already had a handful of warmup matches, but this event invited not only Wisconsin’s best programs, but a handful of powerhouses from Illinois, as well.
Sun Prairie had the highest finish of any program from Wisconsin, taking second place with a team score of 284.5. Anderson won the 132 lbs. bracket, junior Jaxon Johnson finished second at 215 lbs., junior Brennan Hoffman earned third at 138 lbs., and both Olson (144 lbs.) and junior Corbin Smith (285 lbs.) placed fourth.
Positive momentum garnered here pushed United into a dominant run in Big Eight conference play. Sun Prairie continued its trend from the season prior, where it won an undefeated regular season championship, by doing the same in 2023-24. United has not lost a regular season Big Eight conference match since its inception.
Naturally, this lended itself to continued success at the 2024 Big Eight conference meet, hosted at Janesville Parker High School on Saturday, February 3. Anderson and Olson repeated as three-time individual conference champions. Smith and Johnson added their first individual conference championships, as did freshmen newcomers Jack Ireland (126 lbs.), and Ramon Quintana (106 lbs.). Additionally, Hoffman finished as runner-up at 138 lbs. and senior Dylan Muehlenberg (157 lbs.), senior Randy Shaw (165 lbs.), freshman Niko DeZiel (175 lbs.) and Horan all picked up third place finishes for the team.
The leader of the pack, head coach Jim Nelson, was recognized for his dominance. He was named the 2024 Big Eight conference Coach of the Year, repeating as the recipient from the season prior. Additionally, Sophia Bassino was named Female Wrestler of the Year. All individual conference champions earned first team all-conference honors, all runners-up were on the second team, a third place finishers earned honorable mention.
Sun Prairie only continued to pick up steam as it entered the 2024 WIAA state tournament. United made history at WIAA regionals, hosted at Oregon High School on Saturday, Feb. 10. They outpaced every other team in attendance, winning their first WIAA regional team championship since 1980.
Plenty of Sun Prairie’s usual suspects were at the forefront of this top-notch effort. Anderson, Horan, Smith, Johnson, Hoffman, and Quintana all claimed regional titles. Three more United wrestlers reached the precipice of a regional title, finishing as runner-up: Olson, Muehlenberg, and DeZiel. Ireland also extended his individual season with a fourth place finish to reach sectionals.
United’s run as a team came to an end at team sectionals, hosted at Mukwonago High School only three days after regionals on Tuesday, Feb. 13. Things got off to a good start in the semifinals, where Sun Prairie outpaced Big Eight conference rival Janesville Parker 43-36 to reach the team regional title match. Host Mukwonago put an end to this, handing Sun Prairie a 48-27 loss to claim the sole spot at team state from the four-team sectional.
Undeterred, Sun Prairie still showed up and put on a show at WIAA sectionals, hosted at Milton High School on Saturday, Feb. 17. Five United wrestlers punched individual tickets to the 2024 WIAA state meet. Three of them did it by winning individual sectional titles: Anderson, Horan, and Bassino. Olson finished as runner-up, as did Johnson, to claim spots at state of their own. Quintana, DeZiel, and Smith all finished just shy of state qualification by placing third in their respective weight classes.
Sun Prairie’s chosen five made the short trek to UW-Madison’s Kohl Center for the 2024 individual state meet, hosted from Thursday, Feb. 22 through Saturday, Feb. 24.
Bassino entered the state meet with respect as the No. 3 seed, having already finished as state runner-up as sophomore and fourth place as a junior, all in the 165 lbs. weight class. She won her first two matches at state before bowing out to No. 2 seed Rachel Schauer, who would go on to win the state championship, in the semifinals. Bassino proceeded to win a pair of matches in the consolation bracket to emerge with a third place finish.
2024 marked Bassino’s second-best finish at state, trailing only her runner-up finish as a sophomore. The high mark is a fitting end to her high school career before she heads off to compete for Northern Michigan University.
The only other Sun Prairie wrestler to place was Johnson in the 215 lbs. bracket. He was an underdog tale at state, succeeding despite his seeding of No. 11. He showed his capabilities in his opening match on Thursday by earning a 5-2 decision win over the No. 6 seed.
A tight 2-1 loss to the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinals knocked Johnson to the consolation bracket. He bounced back with a pair of pin wins before scoring his second upset of the tournament, a first period pin of the No. 4 seed. This earned Johnson a spot in the third place match, a rematch against the No. 3 seed. Johnson battled valiantly again but fell in an 8-2 decision.
Anderson, Olson, and Horan all bowed out in their first and only matches of the meet. Anderson, the No. 4 seed in the 132 lbs. bracket, was shocked by the No. 13 seed to bring his final trip to state to an unexpected end. Olson, the No. 8 seed, battled with the No. 9 seed but took a 5-4 decision loss. Horan, the No. 9 seed, fell to the No. 8 seed in a tight 5-3 decision.
Sun Prairie will surely miss the graduating senior class of 2024, which contained valuable, longtime contributors like Anderson, Olson, Horan, and Bassino, Muehlenberg and Randy Shaw. This group proved to be historically great, helping to lead Sun Prairie to Big Eight conference titles in both the regular season and conference tournament as both juniors and seniors. They led United to the program’s first team sectional berth in 2023 as well as a team regional title in 2024.
The program is still in good hands with what remains, too. Johnson will be an obvious leader after his inspiring state performance this season, as will fellow juniors Brennan Hoffman and Corbin Smith. The freshman class also showed promise this season with breakout newcomers like Ramon Quintana, Jack Ireland, Colton Rockwell, and Niko DeZiel making immediate impacts on the varsity level.
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