Pair of Wrestlers to Represent Blackshirts at State

The will have two wrestlers taking to the mat when action begins Thursday at the WIAA Individual State Wrestling Tournament at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Sophomore Bill Prochniewski (39-2) and junior Kyle Johnson (34-9) earned their way to Madison with strong performances at the Fort Atkinson Sectional.

“It’s real exciting anytime you have state qualifiers,” said Blackshirts head coach Ryan Green. “These guys have been working hard and getting better all year.”

Prochniewski, a 103-pounder, won his sectional with a technical fall, 16-0, and two pins. Johnson took second in his sectional by going 3-1 including a pin and a major decision. He lost in the championship match of the sectional by decision to Keith Day of Brookfield Central 4-3 in overtime.

Although the two wrestlers will end their seasons in the same place, they took very different paths to getting there.

Prochniewski, in his coach’s words, has been “phenomenal” all year long. The sophomore spent the off-season in the weight room and upped his weight from in the 90’s last year closer to the 103 pounds he wrestles at.

“I always thought that Bill would get there (to state) this year, but I didn’t think he would dominate as he did," Green said. "He went until mid-January undefeated.”

Johnson, while putting in the same off-season effort as Prochniewski, struggled a little bit out of the gates. Going into December with a record hovering around .500, many wrestlers might have gotten down on themselves, but Johnson understood that he was right there with some of the top wrestlers in the state.

“Getting wins against weaker opponents isn’t as good as tough losses to quality opponents," Green said. "Kyle understood this and knew he was right there."

Johnson used those tight losses as experience and motivation. After all it’s not how you start the season but how you finish that matters and Johnson has really hit his stride at the end of the season.

Green knows that both his wrestlers will face tough matches at state, but he knows that if his guys wrestle to their ability they both have the opportunity to medal.