Stratford sends eight to quarterfinals, Marshfield has four still alive after first day of 2019 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament

MADISON – Stratford had six of its seven wrestlers win and qualify for the quarterfinals, while Marshfield had four of its nine wrestlers eliminated, and Spencer/Columbus Catholic had two bow out after the first day of the 2019 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament on Thursday at the Kohl Center.

Stratford, which had nine overall qualifiers in Division 3, saw seven of its athletes participating in preliminary matches on Thursday night.

Six of the Tigers earned victories to move into the quarterfinals and join teammates Max Schwabe (132 pounds) and Trevor Dennee (170), who had first-round byes by virtue of their sectional titles they won last Saturday.

Manny Drexler, a two-time state runner-up, won his first match with a 9-6 win over Kaleb Sonnentag of Cadott. Drexler (43-4), a senior, will move into the 120-pound quarterfinals Friday.

Jacob Heiden (31-9) won by major decision over Nick Goodell of Boyceville, 9-0, in a 138-pound preliminary match.

Mavrick Licciardi (41-6) edged Hayden Kurth of Dodgeland, 9-7, to win his 145-pound first-round match.

Senior Derek Marten, making his third-straight state appearance, improved to 21-3 with an 11-7 win over Korben Brown of Parkview in a 152-pound prelim.

Also moving on for the Tigers are 160-pound junior Devin Dennee (38-12), a 7-4 winner over Spencer Kraus of Cornell/Gilman, and 285-pound senior Dylan Schoenherr (45-3), who won by pin over Clay Berra of La Crosse Aquinas in just 51 seconds.

All eight of the remaining Stratford wrestlers will take part in Division 3 quarterfinals on Friday, which begin at approximately 11:15 a.m.

The only Stratford wrestler to be eliminated from the tournament was senior Trevor Steiner (32-14), who lost a 195-pound match to Bryce Best of Flambeau, 10-4.

Marshfield went 4-5 in its Division 1 preliminary matches, but had three of those winners lose in Division 1 quarterfinal matches later Thursday night.

Only senior Sam Mitchell is still alive for a championship for the Tigers. Mitchell (44-1) pinned Azarion Waits of Milwaukee Morse/Marshall/Carmen Northwest in 5:09 in his preliminary match, and later he defeated Ben Kawczynski of Oak Creek, 10-5, in the quarterfinals.

Mitchell will take on Charlie Hooyman (44-3), a senior from De Pere, in a 195-pound semifinal on Friday night.

Ryan Dolezal (132 pounds), Tanner Kanable (138) and Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (182) won their preliminary matches for Marshfield, but fell into the consolation bracket after hard-fought quarterfinal losses.

Dolezal (29-8), a freshman, beat Ryan Kuesel of Glendale Nicolet 8-2 before losing to Zach Weiler (43-3) of Burlington, 7-1.

Kanable (39-8), a senior making his second-straight state appearance, beat Ben Kumprey of Burlington 6-3 in a 138-pound opener. He lost to Jack Ganos (35-10) of Hartland Arrowhead, 8-5.

Schwanbeck-Ostermann (43-2), also a senior making his second trip in a row to Madison, rolled to a major decision over Joe Sidenar of Pewaukee 11-2, before suffering just his second loss of the season to undefeated Parker Keckeisen (45-0) of Glendale Nicolet, 17-6.

Dolezal, Kanable, Schwanbeck-Ostermann, and Nolan Hertel will wrestle in Division 1 consolation matches beginning at 10 a.m. Friday.

Hertel, a four-time state tournament qualifier, lost in the opening round to undefeated Kevin Meicher (32-0) of Middleton, 14-6. Hertel will look for his first-ever state win in the consolation round.

Marshfield’s other four state qualifiers lost opening matches and were eliminated by virtue of their opponents they lost to losing in the quarterfinals.

Freshman Kegan Cliver (30-12) was pinned by Michael Parker of Slinger in 2:46 at 113 pounds; junior Shane Westerhausen (26-13) lost by technical fall to Jake Stritesky (40-1) of Lake Geneva Badger, 15-0, at 120; sophomore Gabe Pugh (36-5) also lost by tech fall to Joshua Cherba (42-11) of Waterford, 17-2; and senior Caden Pearce (39-7) fell in a tight match to Tucker Smith (29-14) of Kimberly, 12-8.

Spencer/Columbus Catholic’s two wrestlers participating in Division 2 prelims both lost and were eliminated from the state tournament.

Freshman Treyton Ackman (39-8) was pinned by Quintin Gehrmann (35-3) of Jefferson in 1:26 at 113 pounds, and junior Ashton Ackman (40-8) lost by tech fall to Colby McHugh (25-6) of Freedom, 16-1, at 120.

SC senior Logan Zschernitz (43-0), the defending Division 2 state champion at 285 pounds, had a first-round bye and will wrestle Michael Douglas (36-13) in a quarterfinal match Friday afternoon.

Pittsville’s Hunter Grimm (38-7 at 170), Edgar’s William Raatz (16-1 at 195), and Athens’ Connor Westfall (31-6 at 220) and Mitchell Gore (32-9 at 285) all advanced to the Division 3 quarterfinals. Pittsville’s Beau Merritt (37-9 at 138) and Edgar’s Ethan Heil (32-0 at 220) had first-round byes.

Medford had two wrestlers with byes in Division 2 – Zeke Sigmund (27-5 at 145) and Andy Poetzl (40-10 at 138) – and two others win their opening round matches and move on to quarterfinals in Dane Higgins (27-7 at 132) and Jake Rau (32-2 at 220).

Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal senior Stephen Buchanan, a champion last year at 182 pounds, had a first-round bye at 195 pounds and will take on Will Schaefer (41-4) of Belmont/Platteville in a D-2 quarterfinal Friday afternoon.

2019 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament
Feb. 21-23, At Kohl Center, Madison’
Friday, Feb. 22
Division 1 consolations, 10 a.m.
Division 2 & 3 quarterfinals, approx.. 11:15 a.m.
Division 1 consolation quarterfinals, approx.. 1 p.m.
Division 2 & 3 consolation quarterfinals, approx. 2:30 p.m.
Division 1, 2 & 3 semifinals, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 23
Consolation semifinals, fifth- and third-place matches, 10 a.m.
Finals, 5:30 p.m.
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Area Matchups
Thursday, Feb. 21
Division 1 preliminaries
106: Justin Groshek (42-0), jr., Stevens Point, pinned Dawson Enge (36-12), Sauk Prairie, 2:41; Kolby Heinz (36-12) def. Preston Spray (41-7), fr., Wisconsin Rapids, 7-3 (Spray eliminated).
113: Michael Parker (37-9), so., Slinger, pinned Keagan Cliver (30-12), fr., Marshfield, 2:46 (Kliver eliminated); Karter Stuttgen (31-5), so., Stevens Point, def. D’evin Gore (39-3), so., Plymouth, 7-0.
120: Jake Stritesky (40-1), jr., Lake Geneva Badger, won by technical fall over Shane Westerhausen (26-13), jr., Marshfield, 15-0. (Westerhausen eliminated).
126: Joshua Cherba (42-11), so., Waterford won by technical fall over Gabe Pugh (36-5), so., Marshfield, 17-2 (Pugh eliminated); Luke Eliszewski (45-6), sr., Mukwonago, won major dec. over Cale Benitz (37-9), sr., Wisconsin Rapids, 13-3 (Benitz eliminated).
132: Ryan Dolezal (29-7), fr., Marshfield, def. Ryan Kuesel (31-16), sr., Glendale Nicolet, 8-2; Connor Thorpe (39-4), so., Brookfield East, def. Max Schierl (22-9), jr., Stevens Point, 11-4.
138: Tanner Kanable (39-7), sr., Marshfield, def. Ben Kumprey (33-5), jr., Burlington, 6-3.
145: Tucker Smith (29-14), so., Kimberly, def. Caden Pearce (39-7), sr., Marshfield, 12-8 (Pearce eliminated); Wyler Lubeck (43-4), jr., Wisconsin Rapids, def. Chandler Stordeur (31-14), jr., Bay Port, 7-4.
152: Kevin Meicher (32-0), sr., Middleton, won major dec. over Nolan Hertel (41-3), sr., Marshfield, 14-6.
182: Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (43-1), sr., Marshfield, won major dec. over Joe Sidenar (38-14), jr., Pewaukee, 11-2.
195: Sam Mitchell (43-1), sr., Marshfield, pinned Azarion Waits (39-5), jr., Milwaukee Morse Marshall/Carmen Northwest, 5:09.
220: Kyle Bowens (25-4), sr., Kenosha Bradford/Reuther, def. Layne Kalata (29-12), sr., Wisconsin Rapids, 9-4 (Kalata eliminated); Jaren Rohde (31-13), fr., Stevens Point, def. Wyatt Hayes (26-6), sr., Burlington, 11-4.
285: Isac Klarkowski (30-5), sr., Green Bay West/East/Southwest, pinned Mike Iverson (24-11), sr., Wisconsin Rapids, 0:53.
Division 2 preliminaries
106: River Halopka (35-7), so., Abbotsford/Colby, vs. Parker Heintz (31-9), fr., Lodi.
113: Quintin Gehrmann (35-3), sr., Jefferson, pinned Treyton Ackman (39-8), fr., Spencer/Columbus, 1:26 (Ackman eliminated); Blaze Thurber (39-6), jr., Nekoosa/Assumption/Port Edwards, def. Matt Rogge (30-6), so., Prairie du Chien, 6-4, SV-1.
120: Colby McHugh (25-6), jr., Freedom, won by technical fall over Ashton Ackman (40-8), jr., Spencer/Columbus, 16-1 (Ackman eliminated).
132: Dane Higgins (27-7), jr., Medford, def. Cole Hanson (35-14), fr., Delavan-Darien, 6-1.
138: Craig Elsen (42-4), sr., Nekoosa/Assumption/Port Edwards, won by major dec. over Carter Huppert (28-13), jr., Ellsworth, 10-0.
160: Kale Hopke (35-8), fr., Amery, def. Aden Elsen (35-7), sr., Nekoosa/Assumption/Port Edwards, 4-3 (Elsen eliminated).
220: Jake Rau (32-2), jr., Medford, pinned Trevor Daffinson (27-8), so., Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro, 3:04.
Division 3 preliminaries
120: Manny Drexler (43-4), sr., Stratford, def. Kaleb Sonnentag (26-20), fr., Cadott, 9-6.
126: Kolton Tesarik (41-7), so., Mishicot, def. Carter Brunke (30-9), jr., Athens, 11-7 (Brunke eliminated).
138: Jacob Heiden (31-9), so., Stratford, won major dec. over Nick Goodell (32-17), sr., Boyceville, 9-0.
145: Mavrick Licciardi (41-6), sr., Stratford, def. Hayden Kurth (35-9), jr., Dodgeland, 9-7.
152: Derek Marten (21-3), sr., Stratford, def. Korben Brown (30-7), so., Parkview, 11-7.
160: Devin Dennee (38-12), jr., Stratford, def. Spencer Kraus (36-7), jr., Cornell/Gilman, 7-4.
170: Hunter Grimm (38-7), sr., Pittsville, def. Terry Myadze (35-10), sr., Princeton, 5-0.
182: Chase Beinbom (44-6), sr., Boscobel, def. Jordan Decker (28-11), sr., Athens, 9-3 (Decker eliminated).
195: Bryce Best (32-12), so., Flambeau, def. Trevor Steiner (32-14), sr., Stratford, 10-4; William Raatz (16-1), sr., Edgar, won major dec. over Gavin Tegels (34-12), fr., Cadott, 13-5.
220: Connor Westfall (31-6), jr., Athens, def. Brett Feind (32-13), sr., Cedar Grove-Belgium, 12-6.
285: Dylan Schoenherr (45-3), sr., Stratford, pinned Clay Berra (11-18), jr., La Crosse Aquinas, 0:51; Mitchell Gore (32-9), jr., Athens, pinned Garrett Ward (24-16), sr., Mineral Point, 1:40.
Division 1 quarterfinals
106: Justin Groshek (43-0), jr., Stevens Point, def. Alec Hunter (39-2), so., Oshkosh West, 7-0.
113: Payton Jacobson (39-7), so., Elkhorn/Faith Christian, def. Karter Stuttgen (31-6), so., Stevens Point, 2-1.
132: Zach Weiler (43-3), sr., Burlington, def. Ryan Dolezal (29-8), fr., Marshfield, 7-1.
138: Jack Ganos (35-10), sr., Hartland Arrowhead, def. Tanner Kanable (39-8), sr., Marshfield, 8-5.
145: Cody Welker (33-4), jr., Burlington, def. Wyler Lubeck (43-5), jr., Wisconsin Rapids, medical forfeit.
182: Parker Keckeisen (45-0), sr., Glendale Nicolet, won major dec. over Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (43-2), sr., Marshfield, 17-6.
195: Sam Mitchell (44-1), sr., Marshfield, def. Ben Kawczynski (39-5), so., Oak Creek, 10-5.
220: Jacob Solai (46-0), sr., Brookfield Central, pinned Jaren Rohde (31-14), fr., Stevens Point, 1:19.
Friday, Feb. 22
Division 2 quarterfinals
113: Blaze Thurber (39-6), jr., Nekoosa/Assumption/Port Edwards, vs. Taedon Nichols (39-2), fr., Luck/Frederic/Grantsburg/Siren.
132: Dane Higgins (27-7), jr., Medford, vs. Matty Bianchi (47-2), so., Two Rivers.
138: Andy Poetzl (40-10), sr., Medford, vs. Devan Alt (32-14), sr., River Valley; Craig Elsen (42-4), sr., Nekoosa/Assumption/Port Edwards, vs. Aidan Medora (30-0), jr., St. John’s Northwest Military Academy.
145: Zeke Sigmund (27-5), jr., Medford, vs. Andrew Forsythe (42-5), jr., North Fond du Lac/St. Mary’s Springs.
195: Stephen Buchanan (45-0), sr., Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal, vs. Will Schaefer (41-4), jr., Belmont/Platteville.
220: Jake Rau (32-2), jr., Medford, vs. T.J. Weidman (42-2), sr., Denmark.
285: Logan Zschernitz (43-0), sr., Spencer/Columbus, vs. Michael Douglas (36-13), so., Belmont/Platteville.
Division 3 quarterfinals
120: Manny Drexler (43-4), sr., Stratford, vs. Henry Amborn (7-2), fr., Burlington Catholic Central.
132: Max Schwabe (44-2), jr., Stratford, vs. Brant Cracraft (29-13), fr., Mishicot.
138: Beau Merritt (37-9), sr., Pittsville, vs. Jacob Rogers (36-7), jr., New Lisbon; Jacob Heiden (31-9), so., Stratford, vs. Luke Pulvermacher (36-8), sr., Princeton.
145: Mavrick Licciardi (41-6), sr., Stratford, vs. Logan Schmitz (34-5), sr., Mineral Point.
152: Derek Marten (21-3), sr., Stratford, vs. Brock Schlough (47-0), sr., Boyceville.
160: Devin Dennee (38-12), jr., Stratford, vs. Colton Clary (31-5), sr., Ithaca/Weston.
170: Trevor Dennee (44-1), jr., Stratford, vs. Austin McCurdy (36-9), sr., St. Croix Falls; Hunter Grimm (38-7), sr., Pittsville, vs. Will Ahnen (40-9), jr., Fennimore.
195: William Raatz (16-1), sr., Edgar, vs. Evan Grubbs (44-1), jr., Kenosha Christian Life.
220: Ethan Heil (32-0), jr., Edgar, vs. Brayden Leffler (31-11), sr., Fennimore; Connor Westfall (31-6), jr., Athens, vs. Drew Hennessey (37-1), sr., Iowa-Grant/Highland.
285: Dylan Schoenherr (45-3), sr., Stratford, vs. Tanner Gaffey (43-1), so., St. Croix Falls; Mitchell Gore (32-9), jr., Athens, vs. Bryce Friday (42-1), jr., Markesan.
Division 1 consolations
113: Karter Stuttgen (31-6), so., Stevens Point, vs. Dylan Ellefson (35-10), fr., La Crosse Logan/Central.
132: Ryan Dolezal (29-8), fr., Marshfield, vs. Josiah Lynden (42-11), sr., Mukwonago; Max Schierl (22-10), jr., Stevens Point, vs. Jalin Conner (39-5), jr., Milwaukee Bradley/Arts/Juneau/Carmen.
138: Tanner Kanable (39-8), sr., Marshfield, vs. John Diener (36-10), sr., Kaukauna.
145: Wyler Lubeck (43-5), jr., Wisconsin Rapids, vs. Joseph Hoffman (25-13), sr., Middleton.
152: Nolan Hertel (41-3), sr., Marshfield, vs. Tyler Locke (30-3), sr., Appleton East.
182: Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (43-2), sr., Marshfield, vs. Larz Gough (23-10), sr., Wilmot Union.
220: Jaren Rohde (31-14), fr., Stevens Point, vs. Keith Tourillott (33-7), jr., Shawano.
285: Mike Iverson (24-11), sr., Wisconsin Rapids, vs. Jesse Fiers (41-11), sr., Holmen.
Division 1 semifinals
106: Justin Groshek (43-0), jr., Stevens Point, vs. Nicholar Rivera (53-0), fr., Stoughton.
195: Sam Mitchell (44-1), sr., Marshfield, vs. Charlie Hooyman (44-3), sr., De Pere.