MADISON - Arrowhead senior Nick Hucke kept alive his bid to win three straight state titles when he advanced to the semifinal round of the 65th annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association individual state wrestling tournament Thursday night. Hucke (37-0) pinned Oak Creek's Ray Hernandez in 2 minutes, 55 seconds in a preliminary Division 1 round match at 135 pounds. He then pinned West Allis Central's Nick Werner in 2:42 to advance to the semifinal round Friday evening. "It was great to get a couple of pins," Hucke said. "My whole family thinks I'm going to win it. I just tried to block out the pressure and go out there and wrestle my match." The 2006 Division 1 state champion at 125 pounds, Hucke won the title at 130 a year ago. He was also one of nine wrestlers to finish unbeaten in all three divisions a year ago. But Hucke said it was failing to qualify for state his freshman year that continues to motivate him on the mat. "My freshman year set the tone," said Hucke, a Missouri recruit, who was one of five returning state champions to advance to the semifinal round. "I wrestled up a couple of weights and wrestled some of the toughest guys in the state. That's what helped put me over the top." Other returning champions who will compete in the semifinals include: Manitowoc senior Alex Becka, the defending champion at 103, who is 44-2 at 103; Mukwonago senior Billy Schlottke, the defending champion at 152, who improved to 43-0 at 152; Kaukauna senior Joe Budi, the defending champion at 189, who improved to 47-0 at 189; and Ashwaubenon senior Jody VanLaanen, the defending champion at 171, who is 28-1 at 189 this season. Both Budi and VanLaanen are four-time state qualifiers. Hucke, Schlottke and Budi were among 11 Division 1 wrestlers who will take unbeaten marks into the semifinal round. Budi will meet Mukwonago's Brad Baus (43-0) in the only battle of unbeatens in the Division 1 semifinals. Also heading into the semis with perfect records are: Port Washington's Alex Dieringer (43-0 at 103); Germantown's Jesse Thielke (44-0 at 112); Green Bay Preble/East's Malachi Root (46-0 at 125); Waukesha North's Jerick Kuester (29-0 at 145); Milwaukee Bradley Tech/South's Jeff Lemmer (50-0 at 160); Neenah's Sam Engelland (43-0 at 171); and Ashwaubenon's Zak Saevre (46-0 at heavyweight). Hortonville senior Jake Abhold made sure that it wasn't an even dozen when he knocked off previously unbeaten Brett Ballweg (42-1) of Sauk Prairie 9-8 in their Division 1 quarterfinal match at 152 pounds. A first-time state qualifier, Abhold (32-8) flashed a wide grin when he said there are no bonus points for entering the state tournament field without a loss. "The only better feeling would be winning a state championship," Abhold said of his victory over Ballweg, who was ranked third in the Wisconsin Wrestling Online final poll. "I looked at it like just another match. The score was 0-0 when we went out there. It came down to patience, using my head and having fun." Dodgeville's Bobby Wunnicke and Luxemburg-Casco's Zac Cibula will try to keep their quest to become four-time state champions alive when they compete in quarterfinal action in Division 2 Friday morning. The duo received first-round byes in Thursday night's preliminary Division 2 and 3 rounds. The Division 2 champion at 103 pounds in 2005, Wunnicke lost in the 2006 state finals but was awarded the Division 2 title at 112 when the champion was declared ineligible and forced to vacate the title. Wunnicke won the Division 2 119-pound title a year ago. He has a 43-1 mark at 125 this season. Wunnicke's oldest brother, Cole, is one of seven four-time state champions. Cole, who is now an assistant coach with the Dodgers, won Division 3 titles in 1999 (119 pounds), 2000 (125), 2001 (135) and 2002 (135). Cibula, who is 39-4 at 152, won Division 2 titles at 130 in 2005, 140 in 2006 and 145 in 2007. He will also help Luxemburg-Casco try to win the Division 2 team title at the WIAA team state meet at the UW Field House next weekend. (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)