L-C’s Bosman aims for historic finish
Bryce Bosman knows what is at stake this weekend.
The Luxemburg-Casco senior has the opportunity to etch his name in the record books by becoming the 17th wrestler in the 76-year history of the WIAA individual state tournament to win four state titles.
“That’s the end goal,” Bosman said. “I would feel really accomplished if I can do that one more time. All this practicing I’ve put in, all this time, would finally pay off.”
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Bosman will enter the Kohl Center in a rare spot for a three-time state champion.
The 132-pounder isn’t the favorite to win his bracket.
Bosman (33-6) will actually be competing in Division 2’s opening round on Thursday night for the first time since his freshman year since he didn’t win a sectional title to earn a bye into the quarterfinals.
If the L-C senior can somehow make his way through a tough path to win title No. 4, his six losses this season would be the most that any four-time state champion had their senior season.
Zac Cibula, the only four-time champion in L-C’s history, is the only individual to win a fourth state championship with more than three losses on his resume. Cibula went 42-4 during his senior season in 2008.
“He knows he’s getting everybody’s best effort,” L-C coach Chas Treml said of Bosman. “He knows he has to be on point. It’s going to be tough. He’s going to have to deal with that.
“He’s had some tough losses throughout the year. He’s wrestled some really good guys.”
One of those being Two Rivers sophomore Matty Bianchi, who defeated Bosman 4-2 at regionals and 3-0 at sectionals.
Although those marked the first matches between the two, Bianchi is quite familiar with Bosman, who defeated Bianchi’s older brother, Joey, the previous three years in the state finals.
A Bosman vs. Bianchi match again in the state finals is anything but a given, though.
Bosman’s potential opponent for the quarterfinals would be Ellsworth junior Charlie Stuhl, whose older brother, Sam, became a four-time state champion last year to allow Ellsworth to become the first program to produce two four-time state champions.
Bosman would like nothing more than to add L-C to that list by winning the program’s 40th state championship.
“If I would get that four, it would mean a lot because it represents my school and my name,” said Bosman, who is 174-17 in his decorated career. “It just goes to show how good of a program that Luxemburg-Casco has.”
The potential to be a four-time champion is bestowed upon anyone that wins a state championship as a freshman.
That goal became amplified from the moment Bosman became the fifth individual in L-C’s history to win three state championships last year.
But this by far has been the most difficult path to Madison that Bosman has had.
It started last spring with a nagging knee injury, which only got worse during soccer for him.
Bosman ultimately got surgery to remove a majority of his meniscus in his left knee at the end of fall.
“It would always puff up and stuff and hurt,” Bosman said. “One day, during soccer practice, I couldn’t walk on it anymore. Once I got healthy, I pushed my conditioning a lot more to get back to where I was last year. I just look at the end picture.”
No matter what the outcome is at the Kohl Center this weekend, Bosman will be soaking in his time on the mat and with his teammates. L-C advanced five individuals to state, including seniors Nathan Ronsman and Colton Worachek.
Not only will it be the end of Bosman’s high school career, but it will mark the conclusion of his wrestling days, overall.
Although he has received plenty of interest from collegiate programs, Bosman doesn’t plan to pursue the sport at the next level.
He will attend Northeast Wisconsin Technical College to pursue a career as an electrical linesman, a valuable and much-needed trade.
His outlook on and off the mat is the mark of someone who truly gets the big picture.
“I’m having fun more this year instead of being worried about my matches,” Bosman said. “It’s the last ones with the guys and stuff, so I’m just having more fun.
“In the finals at state, I will be a little more nervous because it’s so important. But I just have to think that I have to take one match at a time, and that’s what I’ve been doing.”
