This story is sponsored by: Valley Communities Credit Union
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
Click here to hear the complete interview with Marshfield wrestlers Brad Dolezal
Click here to hear the complete interview with Marshfield wrestler Torin Boernke
MADISION – Success continues to come to Marshfield wrestlers Torin Boernke and Brad Dolezal, but it certainly doesn’t come easy.
Boernke and Dolezal are the first two four-time state qualifiers for Marshfield, and now, they are both semifinalists for the fourth time in a row.
Boernke and Dolezal each won their first two matches Thursday to advance to the Division 1 semifinals at the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament at the Kohl Center.
Boernke (43-3) blew past Cory Heid of Kaukauna 17-2 in the opening round, then beat Siven Furseth of Janesville Craig in the 135-poumd quarterfinals to advance to Friday night’s semifinals against Jake Raflik of Wisconsin Rapids.
Dolezal (45-0) extended his winning streak to 93 matches with a pin of Antoine Davis of Milwaukee Riverside and a 6-3 hard-fought victory over Kegan Gennrich of Hortonville.
Dolezal will battle Weston Klink (47-5) of Hartford in a 160-pound semifinal Friday night.
Marshfield’s other state qualifier, Justin Sternweis, dropped his 171-pound quarterfinal match.
Sternweis (38-8) beat Sami Khatib of Appleton North 7-6 in the opening round before losing a 15-4 major decision to Ben Fiers (31-6) of Holmen in the quarterfinals. Sternweis will wrestle Josh Regazzi (33-9) in a consolation bracket match late Friday morning.
Boernke, who beat Furseth to win the 112-pound championship as a sophomore and lost to the Craig wrestler last year in the 130-pound title match, used a seven-point second period to take control of the match and pull out to a 9-2 lead, before eventually winning 11-4.
“It was a meaningful match, having wrestled him the past two years in the finals – winning one and losing the last one,” Boernke said. “It really meant a lot to win that match. With that good of a wrestler, I never feel that secure. When you’re wrestling at this level, I feel that you could get caught at any moment. It keeps you on your feet all the time.”
Dolezal had a much tougher match, which went down to the wire.
Gennrich tied the match 3-3 with a takedown early in the third period before Dolezal, the defending 145-pound state champ, got an escape with just under one minute to go.
A flurry late in the match could have went either way, but Dolezal regained control and earned a takedown in the final seconds for a 6-3 win – his second against Gennrich this season.
“I knew he was a tough kid. I wrestled him earlier this year and it was a one-score match,” Dolezal said. “We just had to stick to our game plan. Last time I didn’t get out on him. I was able to get out twice and that helped me win the match.”
Dolezal is excited he and Boernke will get another chance at wrestling together in the semifinals, and have a chance to both advance to the finals for the third year in a row.
“It’s pretty cool that me and Torin have both made it through to the semifinals four years in a row,” Dolezal said. “It’s really nice to have one match at night, to get the whole day to rest. That kind of drives us to that. You want to have that rest time so we’re ready for our next match.
Check out MarshfieldAreaSports.com throughout the day Friday for more coverage from the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament in Madison.