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AUBURNDALE – Two weeks after Marathon held off Stratford to win the Marawood Conference Tournament title, the Tigers returned the favor on Saturday, finishing first at a WIAA Division 3 wrestling regional at Auburndale High School.
Stratford finished with 274 points, well ahead of second-place Marathon (221.5), and both advance to a WIAA Division 3 team sectional at Cadott on Tuesday. Stratford will take on Shell Lake and Marathon will face Cumberland in the semifinals, with the winners meeting up for a chance to advance to the 2024 WIAA State Team Wrestling Tournament on March 1-2 at the UW Fieldhouse in Madison.
Stratford won two regional titles and had 12 of its 14 wrestlers advance to next week’s Division 3 individual sectional, which will be Feb. 17 at Edgar High School. Auburndale, which finished fifth in the team standings, also had two individual champions and will send six to sectionals.
The top four finishers in each weight class qualified for sectionals, where the top three in each weight class will earn berths at the 2024 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament at the Kohl Center in Madison on Feb. 22-24.
Carter Lueck and Noah Lucio each earned regional titles for Stratford with first-period pins. Lueck won the 175-pound final over Caden Kingston of Cadott in 1:05, and Lucio took the 190-pound title match over Mitchell Reineke of Cadott in 1:10.
Auburndale’s Derek Godard and Colton Weiler won titles. Godard slid past Colin Cournoyer of Stratford 2-1 in the 113-pound final, and Weiler pinned Cayden Paulson of Clear Lake in 5:32 of the 144-pound final.
In addition to Colin Cournoyer, Stratford had three other runner-up finishes as Trenton Cournoyer (120), Mathias Kaiser (132) and Kaleb Krummel (150) all placed second. Also moving to sectionals for the Tigers were third-place finishers Aaron Knetter (126) and Jack Tubbs (165), and fourth-place finishers Brandon Knetter (157), Walker Weis (215) and Drew Gage (285).
Zade Grassel took second at 126, Brett Thiel was third at 150, Wyatt Malsin finished third at 157 and Trevor Trowbridge was fourth at 132 to also move on to sectionals for Auburndale.
WIAA Division 3 Wrestling Regional
Feb. 10, at Auburndale High School
Team scores: 1. Stratford 274; 2. Marathon 221.5; 3. Glenwood City 217; 4. Clear Lake 160; 5. Auburndale 158; 6. Cadott 124; 7. Edgar 107; 8. Boyceville 92; 9. Spring Valley/Elmwood 61; 10. Cornell/Gilman/Lake Holcombe 54; 11. Athens 35; 12. Durand-Arkansaw 30.5; 13. Thorp/Owen-Withee 0.
Top four advance to D-3 individual sectional at Edgar on Feb. 17
106 pounds
Championship: Blake Underwood (MAR) pinned Roman Schmidt (ST), 1:19.
Third place: Isaiah Kraft (ED) def. Garrett Frahm (ATH), 7-2.
Second-place wrestleback: Schmidt (ST) def. Kraft (ED), 8-4.
113 pounds
Championship: Derek Godard (AUB) def. Colin Cournoyer (ST), 2-1.
Third place: Kaleb Lodahl (CAD) pinned Landon Obermueller (GC), 2:52.
120 pounds
Championship: Cale Quaintance (MAR) won major dec. over Trenton Cournoyer (ST), 13-4.
Third place: Logan McVeigh (GC) def. Rony Ramos (BOY), 4-0.
Second-place wrestleback: Cournoyer (ST) pinned McVeigh (GC), 1:36.
126 pounds
Championship: Wyatt Unser (GC) pinned Zade Grassel (AUB), 3:11.
Third place: Aaron Knetter (ST) def. Levi Krautkramer (MAR), 4-2.
Second-place wrestleback: Grassel (AUB) def. Knetter (ST), 11-6.
132 pounds
Championship: Swayne Stencil (MAR) pinned Mathias Kaiser (ST), 2:43.
Third place: Brock Wood (GC) pinned Trevor Trowbridge (AUB), 5:11.
Fourth-place wrestleback: Trowbridge (AUB) pinned Owen Fasbender (CAD), 1:40.
138 pounds
Championship: Dylan Dodson (MAR) pinned Trevor Gilbertson (CL), 0:43.
Third place: Sam Schmitt (SVE) def. Zeb Holden (GC), 10-3.
144 pounds
Championship: Colton Weiler (AUB) pinned Cayden Paulson (CL), 5:32.
Third place: Derek Vesely (MAR) won by technical fall over Andrew Blaser (GC), 15-0.
Second-place wrestleback: Paulson (CL) def. Vesely (MAR), 7-0.
150 pounds
Championship: Mitchell McGee (GC) won major dec. over Kaleb Krummel (ST), 12-0.
Third place: Brett Thiel (AUB) def. Jacob Smith (MAR), 10-8.
157 pounds
Championship: Tyler Sunday (CL) def. Troy Duellman (CGLH), 1-0.
Third place: Wyatt Malsin (AUB) def. Brandon Knetter (ST), 5-1.
165 pounds
Championship: Reed McCain (MAR) def. Jack Tubbs (ST), 9-4.
Third place: Blake Harris (CL) pinned Will Standaert (GC), 1:36.
Second-place wrestleback: Harris (CL) pinned Tubbs (ST), 1:17.
Fourth-place wrestleback: Standaert (GC) pinned Magnus Lukic (DA), 2:54.
175 pounds
Championship: Carter Lueck (ST) pinned Caden Kingston (CAD), 1:05.
Third place: Jase Apfelbeck (ED) pinned Dylan Laberee (CL), 3:07.
190 pounds
Championship: Noah Lucio (ST) pinned Mitchell Reineke (CAD), 1:10.
Third place: Conner Gross (GC) pinned Lucas Stahnke (ED), 2:29.
Second-place wrestleback: Gross (GC) pinned Reineke (CAD), 1:31.
215 pounds
Championship: Zach Hellendrung (BOY) def. Axel Tegels (CAD), 4-3.
Third place: Taydyn Angell (CGLH) pinned Walker Weis (ST), 1:53.
Second-place wrestleback: Tegels (CAD) won major dec. over Angell (CGLH), 14-2.
285 pounds
Championship: Harrison Graveen (ED) pinned Ethan Wagner (CL), 0:45.
Third place: Blake Fayerweather (GC) def. Tyler Vanasse (SVE), 4-1.
Second-place wrestleback: Fayerweather (GC) pinned Wagner (CL), 3:58.
Fourth-place wrestleback: Drew Gage (ST) pinned Ganasse (SVE), 0:51.