This story is sponsored by: Wisconsin Homes of Marshfield
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – With six forfeits coming, the Marshfield wrestling team figured to come out on top of its Wisconsin Valley Conference wrestling dual with Wausau East on Thursday night.
However, with the match coming on the first day back to school off of winter break and five days after last weekend’s grueling Bi-State Classic in La Crosse, the intensity and focus of the Tigers was a concern.
As it turned out, there was nothing to worry about. Marshfield won six of the eight contested matches, five by pin, and rolled to a 71-6 victory at the Fredrick Construction Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School.
Brok Carolfi started out the match with a pin at 285 pounds, winning 18 seconds into the second period. Cater Williquette later added a 19-2 technical fall win at 120 and with five forfeits, Marshfield led 41-0 halfway through.
“We were hoping for the guys to be ready to go after Bi-State, that was a big tournament,” Marshfield head coach Cody See said. “Then they relaxed a little bit, we gave them two days off. This was a make-up in our schedule, it wasn’t planned, we were supposed to have a nice 10-to-12 day break after Bi-State and get some good training in, so I’m glad they were ready to go and kept their weight under control. For the most part, the guys that got matches were attacking. I’m proud of their effort and everyone fought hard for six minutes, that’s all I can ask for.”
Easton Ledden (150 pounds), Brett Barlow (165), Aaron Ongna (175) and Caleb Dennee (190) earned pins for the Tigers to finish off the win. Marshfield improves to 3-0 in conference dual meets and will host Stevens Point next Thursday, Jan. 9, for its final home match of the season.
A pair of milestones were set on Thursday for the Tigers as Ava Gardner picked up her 100th career win with a forfeit victory at 103 pounds, and Dennee earned his 172nd win in his stellar career, which ties him with Brad Dolezal for the program record in victories set from 2007-11.
Dennee, a University of Wisconsin recruit, pinned Cash Ryan Seefeldt 42 seconds into the second period to improve to 23-1 this season.
“He’s a very talented wrestler, obviously, but his leadership in the room is what’s stood out for me,” See said. “He’s helped a lot of kids that need to work on technique or whatever. He’s a guy when we get home from a tournament and there’s trash on the bus, he stays and picks it up. He’s taken a more mature role and it’s awesome to see. I think it comes with the territory in that you have that many wins, you are one of the best wrestlers in Marshfield history, everybody is looking at you. Whether it’s how you tie your shoes or how you warm up, they’re always watching. I think he’s noticed that. He’s matured and his leadership really sticks out to me, above the wrestling honestly, and that’s been great to see.”
Marshfield 71, Wausau East 6
285: Brok Carolfi (MAR) pinned Logan Glovinski, 2:19.
103: Ava Gardner (MAR) won by forfeit.
113: Micah Bremer (MAR) won by forfeit.
120: Carter Williquette (MAR) won by technical fall over Jacob Schuett, 19-2.
126: Carter Tollers (MAR) won by forfeit.
132: Jon Sternweis (MAR) won by forfeit.
138: Kashton Kilty (MAR) won by forfeit.
144: Christian Simmons (WE) def. Jayden Landwehr, 12-9.
150: Easton Ledden (MAR) pinned Jalon Bailey Clark, 2:54.
157: Grayden Rode (MAR) won by forfeit.
165: Brett Barlow (MAR) pinned Gaige Stockwell, 3:03.
175: Aaron Ongna (MAR) pinned Peyton Nest, 2:42.
190: Caleb Dennee (MAR) pinned Cash Ryan Seefeldt, 1:48.
215: Elmer Heard (WE) def. Jace Frick, 6-5.