Bay Port’s Meeuwsen wins D1 heavyweight state title
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MADISON – Max Meeuwsen is a powerhouse.
The Bay Port junior added to his lore Saturday night at the Kohl Center in winning the WIAA Division 1 heavyweight state championship.
Knocking off top-ranked Janesville Craig senior Keeanu Benton (42-2) would be an impressive feat for any wrestler, let alone one who is only in his second year in the sport, like Meeuwsen.
The Bay Port junior did it with a pin early in the second period.
“I think it’s an awesome feeling,” Meeuwsen said. “I don’t think I can truly understand it, but I think it will hit me in the next few days.”
In doing so he became Bay Port’s 14th state champion and first since Alec Ingold won the 220-pound D1 title in 2015.
Like Ingold did, Meeuwsen made the climb to the second tier at the Kohl Center to greet his family immediately after the match.
“Those are steep steps,” he said.
Meeuwsen’s climb to the top of the state podium was nothing short of impressive. He went 40-1 in moving up a weight class this year and seemingly chopping down trees as a lean heavyweight at 230 pounds.
He took down an impressive athlete in his own right in Benton, who is a University of Wisconsin football recruit.
“Watching his matches, he tosses kids left and right,” Meeuwsen said. “I didn’t want to be the one getting tossed, so I just had to make sure I kept my distance.”
The two-sport standout’s junior season is about as dominant as the Green Bay area has seen from a football player and wrestler since Ingold, who is preparing for the NFL Draft following a standout career at the University of Wisconsin.
The fun part for Bay Port is they will get to have Meeuwsen around for another year and see what he can do during his senior year.
“He does everything right,” said Bay Port wrestling coach Brad Shefchik, who watched from the stands as he let his assistants that work with Meeuwsen coach him in the match.
“We have a lot of great athletes. I would put them at kind of the same level. They’re both hard workers. They both do everything that we ask and at the end they’re competitors. No matter what their chips are or what the score is. I’m just super proud.”
