Former WI vaulter Justin Wickersham killed in crash

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http://www.wiscnews.com/bdc/news/283221

Three die in crash
By CITIZEN STAFF

Aaron Martin
A Dodge County Sheriff's official takes measurements Friday morning at the scene of a crash that killed three Beaver Dam residents and injured another.
Three Beaver Dam residents ranging in age from 17 to 20 years old were killed in a one-vehicle crash in the town of Beaver Dam early this morning.
The Dodge County Sheriff's Department has identified the victims as Karissa L. Gerber-Lechman, 18, Justin A. Wickersham, 20, and Phillip H. Lawton, 17. A fourth passenger in the car, Krystopher A. Lawton, 18, escaped the crash with minor injuries.
According to the sheriff's department, initial investigation shows that Gerber-Lechman was driving south on Highway G when she failed to negotiate a slight curve just north of Highway S. The vehicle left the roadway, struck a culvert, vaulted, struck a utility pole and rolled over several times.
A homeowner who was awakened by the crash notified authorities at 1:34 a.m. that a car was on fire in front of his home at N5728 on Highway G, according to the sheriff's department.
Beaver Dam Fire Chief George Sheets said an on-call firefighter lives in the area and was the first on the scene.
"He tried to use a fire extinguisher to put the fire out," Sheets said. "When a sheriff's deputy arrived, the deputy tried to use the extinguisher. There is a creek in the area. They got water out of the creek to dump on the fire but it was too intense. It didn't make a difference."
Many members of the fire department and sheriff's department are taking this accident very hard Sheets said.
Gerber-Lechman, Wickersham and Lawton were all pronounced dead at the scene by the Dodge County Medical Examiners Office.
Lawton was able to free himself from the wreckage and was transported to Beaver Dam Community Hospital, Nehls said.
The Dodge County Crash Investigation Team continues to investigate the crash, but initial reports indicate that speed and wet pavement from overnight thundershowers both contributed to the crash.
"Sheriff's deputies, Beaver Dam Fire and EMS, local homeowners and Alliant all responded quickly to provided vital assistance," Nehls said, noting that emergency responders did a great job on scene despite heavy rain.
Nehls said that Alliant Energy responded to the scene to fix downed power lines. Beaver Dam Police, Dodge County Sheriff's Chaplain, Beaver Dam Fire and EMS, all responded to the scene in addition to the sheriff's department.
Friday morning's crash brings the total number of Dodge County traffic fatalities in 2008 to six.

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http://www.madison.com/wsj/topstories/283187

A crash, a fire, and three young people from Beaver Dam are dead
State Journal staff, Beaver Dam Daily Citizen
Word spread quickly through the classrooms and hallways in the Beaver Dam School District Friday and by day's end, school officials said, it was a somber place.

Three young people were killed in a car crash early Friday on a country road south of Beaver Dam. Two were recent high school graduates — one a young mother and the other a former state wrestling champion — and the other a high school junior.

Pronounced dead at the scene on Highway G were Karissa L. Gerber-Lechman, 18, a 2007 graduate of Beaver Dam Charter School; Justin Wickersham, 20, a 2005 graduate of Beaver Dam High School; and Phillip H. Lawton, 17, a student at the charter school.

Injured in the crash was Krystopher A. Lawton, 18, a senior at the charter school.

According to the Dodge County Sheriff's Department, Gerber-Lechman was driving south on Highway G and missed a slight curve. The car left the road, struck a culvert, vaulted, struck a utility pole and then rolled several times.

One of the victims was thrown from the car. Krystopher Lawton pulled himself from the car, which started on fire, according to sheriff's reports. The preliminary cause of the crash was excessive speed on wet pavement.

Gerber-Lechman was a dedicated mother to her 3-year-old son Anthony, said a friend, Anna Kessler.

"She was a good mother," Kessler said. "She worked very hard to finish school with a baby."

Becky Thompson worked with Gerber-Lechman at John Deere.

"She was a wonderful girl," Thompson said. "She was always cheerful and hard working. She was a pleasure to be around."

Wickersham earned the 2005 Division 1 state wrestling title at 119 pounds, the school's first wrestling title since 1968, while also qualifying for the state track meet in the pole vault.

He endeared himself to wrestling coaches Jeff Slayton and Gary Broome because of the effort and perseverance it took to win the state championship.

"Everybody knew Justin and everybody is hurting," Slayton said. "He defied all the odds his entire life to become a state champion. He leaped a ton of hurdles to get to the top."

Britni Bunker, an 11th-grader at Beaver Dam High School, remembered Phil Lawton as also having a great personality.

Phil Lawton, who left the high school at the beginning of the school year to attend the charter school, went to homecoming with one of Bunker's friends.

"He took some of those little dice that go around a rearview mirror and put them around his neck," Bunker said. "He was dancing around and acting crazy."

Beaver Dam Schools Superintendent Don Childs released a statement Friday afternoon on behalf of the 3,200-student district.

"While we were trying to conduct business as usual, we were making every opportunity available for kids who needed to talk with someone, spend some time with someone, working through issues," he said.

He said crisis-response staff had been with students and district staff most of the day, and would continue to be available next week.

A homeowner who was awakened by the crash notified authorities at 1:34 a.m. that a car was on fire in front of his home at N5728 on Highway G, according to the Sheriff's Department.

Beaver Dam Fire Chief George Sheets said an on-call firefighter lives in the area and was the first on the scene.

Krystopher Lawton was taken to Beaver Dam Community Hospital, Sheriff Todd Nehls said.

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http://www.wiscnews.com/bdc/news/284216

Fund set up in support of Wickersham family
By TERRI PEDERSON/Staff Reporter
tpederson@capitalnewspapers.com
Justin Wickersham's death Friday saddened family and friends locally and in the large extended family of wrestling throughout Wisconsin.
"Justin was big in the wrestling world," Jackie Slayton said. "Everybody wants to do something to help his family."
Jackie Slayton is the wife of Jeff Slayton, Wickersham's coach at Beaver Dam High School. The couple are working with others who cared for the young wrestler to establish a memorial fund and organize a remembrance and fellowship meeting Friday.
The memorial fund will be used for family funeral expenses with any money leftover being used to create a wrestling scholarship.
"Jeff helped Justin through a lot," Jackie Slayton said. "He helped him to get through school and over a lot of hurdles."
Wickersham graduated from Beaver Dam High School in 2005. His life was cut short on Friday in a car crash that also claimed the lives of Karissa Gerber-Leckman, 18, and Phillip H. Lawton, 17.
Jeff Slayton said he knew Wickersham since Justin was a student at Washington Elementary School. Slayton was his teacher at both the elementary school and in science at Beaver Dam Middle School.
Slayton said Wickersham spent about a decade wrestling.
"It was a privilege to have known him and to have been his coach," Jeff Slayton said. "He did things that no one else could do."
Wickersham earned the 2005 Division 1 state wrestling title at 119 pounds, the school's first wrestling title since 1968, while also qualifying for the state track meet in the pole vault.
"The state championship was probably the highlight of his life," Slayton said. "He worked his hardest to get there and he overcame many odds."
Jackie Slayton said her family was close to the Wickershams off the wrestling mats as well.
"We were close to Justin and his whole family," Jackie Slayton said.
When word of Justin's death spread, many people from around the state knew that the Slaytons were close to Wickersham and contacted them.
"Justin wrestled throughout his childhood in the whole state," Jackie Slayton said.
It was that outpouring of support that prompted the Slaytons to organize a time of remembrance at the Beaver Dam Senior Center in Justin's honor.
Jackie Slayton said she only had to make five phone calls and people began networking and organizing what they would bring on Friday.
A service for Wickersham will be on Friday at 5 p.m. at Koepsell Funeral Home. A visitation will be from 2 p.m. until the time of service. The remembrance and fellowship will follow at the Beaver Dam Senior Center