FVL’s Kufner, Xavier’s Faulkner stay in medal contention at day 2 of WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament

AppletonSportsPage.com

MADISON – Fox Valley Lutheran’s Austin Kufner and Xavier’s Madeline Faulkner will fight for medals after staying alive at the second day of the 2025 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament at the Kohl Center on Friday.

Kufner (40-5), lost a Division 2 165-pound semifinal to Stevens Kielpikowski of Denmark (48-3) 10-4 on Friday night, moving him to a third-place match against Drake Petersen (43-7) of St. Croix Falls on Saturday afternoon.

Faulkner (46-10) kept her medal hopes going as she won a girls 138-pound consolation quarterfinal by pin in 4:46 over Jasmine Heberg of Auburndale. Faulkner will take on Natalie Poplawski (34-10) of New Berlin West/Eisenhower in a consolation semifinal, with the winner moving on to a fifth-place match.

Appleton North’s Jackson Esser and Xavier’s Cristian Rodriguez-Salgado were eliminated with consolation bracket losses on Friday morning.

Esser (31-8) lost to Braeden Borreson (35-12) of Franklin 4-0 in a Division 1 126-pound match, while Rodriguez-Salgado (42-12) dropped a 2-0 decision to Parker Owens of Coleman in a Division 2 106-pound consolation match.

Consolation bracket matches start at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The championship finals begin at 5:30 p.m.