By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
STEVENS POINT – The Marshfield High School wrestling team went 3-2 in championship matches and had two other wrestlers finish third on Saturday at the Wisconsin Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament.
Brad Dolezal (152 pounds), Trenton Larson (160) and Jordan Koranda (189) won titles for the Tigers, while Daniel Barton (125) and Torin Boernke (130) lost to a pair of Wisconsin Rapids wrestlers in the title matches and finished second.
Toran Nieman (103) and Kody Wilson (171) finished third for Marshfield.
The Tigers finished third as a team with 182 points. Wisconsin Rapids won its 16th title in the last 17 years of the tournament with ease, totaling 270.5 points thanks to eight individual champions. Wausau West was second with 210.5 points and also had three individual champions.
“We weren’t sure what to expect going into Dolezal’s and Larson’s matches because neither one of those two had wrestled them at the high school level,” Marshfield coach Don Lang said. “Both of them took control of the match and really set the tone and won with majors. I am very confident with those two guys going into regionals against Wausau West.
“I think Koranda controlled the match in the championship and scored the points when he needed to to get the championship.”
Dolezal, who won a state title as a freshman and took second last year, got the title parade started for the Tigers.
The junior won his second Wisconsin Valley Conference championship with a workman-like 11-0 major decision over Seth Trulen of Wausau West, and improved to 37-0 on the season.
“In the Valley, with all these tough teams, a lot of tough guys, it’s good to win it again,” Dolezal said. “I’ve been working hard in practice, working with the coaches on little stuff, fixing things that need to be worked on and everything’s coming together right now.”
Larson took to the center mat next and captured his first WVC title with a 16-7 win over James Matczynski of Wausau West.
Larson led 4-3 after the first quarter and had a pair of three-point nearfalls in the final two periods to extend his lead.
“Watching him before, knowing what he was going to do – I came out with confidence and knew what to do today,” Larson said. “Once the season got going and I realized I was doing pretty good, I just made this a goal, to get a conference championship. It’s pretty awesome.”
Kordanda improved to 37-1 with a solid 8-3 win over Dusty Foth of Wisconsin Rapids, staying in control the entire way. Koranda posted a pair of pins to reach the title match.
“I was expecting him to know everything I do, being a Rapids wrestler, he follows you and watches tape on you,” Koranda said. “I did what I needed to do. I got him down right away, got the momentum and I just carried it into the rest of the match.”
Barton lost 11-6 to Ben Westover of Wisconsin Rapids in the 125-pound championship and was unable to recover after falling behind 6-2 early.
Boernke was in a tight match with Kasey Einerson of Wisconsin Rapids, down 5-3 after two periods before he was pinned with 20 seconds to go in the third.
Josh Shupe (135), Tyler Strobel (140), Robert Wille (215) and Cale Schliesman (285) lost their third-place matches to finish fourth for Marshfield.
Wisconsin Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament
Team scores: 1. Wisconsin Rapids 270.5, 2. Wausau West 210.5, 3. Marshfield 182, 4. D.C. Everest 107.5, 5. Wausau East 106.5, 6. Stevens Point 86, 7. Rhinelander 82.
Finals
103
Championship: Joe Umlauf (WW) def. Jason Munoz (WR) 7-4.
3rd Place: Toran Nieman (MAR) def. Nick Diny (WE) 6-2.
5th Place: Austin Helmer (DCE) pinned Ashlyn Tiegs (SP) in 5:31.
112
Championship: Nate Hettinga (WW) def. Jake Jaborek (WR) 6-5.
3rd Place: Brandon Kittel (WR) def. Terrin LaBelle (SP) 7-3.
5th Place: Brett Pernsteiner (MAR) pinned Pete Furyk (RH) in 0:24.
119
Championship: Keegan Einerson (WR) def. Rickie Pody (WW) 6-2.
3rd Place: Alex Parsons (DCE) pinned Jacob Randall (RH) in 4:44.
5th Place: Jake Shumacher (WE) pinned Chris Schmidt (MAR) in 0:45.
125
Championship: Ben Westover (WR) def. Daniel Barton (MAR) 11-6.
3rd Place: Mitch Barnetzke (WW) def. Alex Bessette (WE) 9-3.
5th Place: Richard Klaver of (RH) def. Alex Spatz (DCE) 12-5.
130
Championship: Kasey Einerson (WR) pinned Torin Boernke (MAR) in 5:40.
3rd Place: Jacob Rusch (WW) def. Rory Rusch (WE) 6-1.
5th Place: Josh Dupuis (DCE) pinned Dan Solberg (RH) in 0:20.
135
Championship: Jake Raflik (WR) won by major decision over Connor Whitehead (WE) 21-8.
3rd Place: Nate Kuehl (WW) def. Josh Shupe (MAR) 13-7.
5th Place: Emmett Simkowski (SP) pinned Nick Gore (DCE) in 3:47.
140
Championship: Rylan Lubeck (WR) won by tech fall over Logan Keding (DCE) 19-4.
3rd Place: Joey Mathe (SP) pinned Tyler Strobel (MAR) in 1:38.
5th Place: Caleb Zahl (WW) def. Bryan Yang (WE) 5-0.
145
Championship: Zak Benitz (WR) def. Conner Monk (WW) 4-1.
3rd Place: Ethan Zastrow (DCE) def. Mike Cinfio (RH) 10-6.
5th Place: TJ Tiegs of (SP) def. Bronson Dunow (MAR) 5-1.
152
Championship: Brad Dolezal (MAR) won by major decision over Seth Trulen (WW) 11-0.
3rd Place: Ryan Cone (WR) pinned Lucas Christiansen (DCE) in 1:52.
5th Place: Ben Hirst (SP) pinned Ben Kleist (WE) in 4:39.
160
Championship: Trenton Larson (MAR) won by major decision over James Matczynski (WW) 16-7.
3rd Place: Garrett Schilling (WR) pinned Will Fath of (RH) in 2:48.
5th Place: Dylan Wagner (DCE) won by major decision over Richard Witz (WE) 11-3.
171
Championship: Devin Peterson (WR) pinned Mat Rieckhoff (DCE) in 2:22.
3rd Place: Kody Wilson (MAR) won by major decision over Nick Molski (SP) 9-1.
5th Place: Trae Neumann (WW) pinned Collin Smith (RH) in 2:57.
189
Championship: Jordan Koranda (MAR) def. Dusty Foth (WR) 8-3.
3rd Place: Brandon Lenz (WW) pinned Jake Hare (RH) in 4:30.
5th Place: Josh Robertson (WE) def. Sam Erickson (DCE) 5-1.
215
Championship: Vaughn Grube (WR) def. Travis Teske (WW) 7-3.
3rd Place: Randy Platek (RH) pinned Robert Wille (MAR) in 1:56.
5th Place: Brandon Wachholz of (WE) def. Jace Klemm (DCE) 5-4.
285
Championship: Evan Knutson (WW) pinned Alex Wachowiak (SP) in 1:34.
3rd Place: Curt Fuller (WR) def. Cale Schliesman of (MAR) 10-1.
5th Place: David Hamlin (WE) received a bye.
Paul Lecker can be reached by e-mail at paul@marshfieldareasports.com.
