The Lake Mills wrestling team won the 13-team Doug Trees Invitational hosted by North Butler Saturday, according to a press release.

Despite wrestling without several regular starters, the Bulldogs were able to defend the title they won last January. The team used a balanced attack, winning the tournament despite having only three finalists.

“It is really hard to believe we won a tournament with so few in the finals,” said Lake Mills coach Alex Brandenburg. “Our kids did a great job coming through the back side and securing enough points to win.”

Lake Mills had one champion on the day, as junior Slade Sifuentes ran his record to 40-0 on the season with a win over ninth-ranked Colton Francis of West Hancock in the finals. The other two finalists were freshman Cael Boehmer and sophomore Brett Tyler.

“The three finalists all wrestled very well and met state ranked opponents in their finals matches,” Brandenburg said. “Our kids wrestled great today and showed the quality depth we have.”