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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
WAUSAU – The Marshfield High School wrestling team had dreams of winning Saturday’s WIAA Division 1 regional tournament at Wausau East High School and moving on to the team sectional.
However, the Tigers came up 10.5 points short of first-place Wausau West and will have to settle for 11 individual sectional qualifiers and five regional champions.
Daniel Barton (125 pounds), Torin Boernke (130), Brad Dolezal (145), Trenton Larson (160) and Jordan Koranda (215) won regional championships for Marshfield, which finished with 226.5 points, 10.5 behind Wausau West’s 237. Merrill was third with 198.
The Tigers’ five champions were the most of any team at the regional. West had four champs.
“I’m very proud of the guys that were in the finals, with five champions,” Marshfield coach Don Lang said. “Overall, it was good. We’re disappointed (to finish second in the team points) – we had a couple of chances throughout the day to beat a Wausau West wrestler and it just didn’t quite go our way in a couple of those matches.
“We’ve had a very good year to this point and now we are going to focus on the individuals at sectionals.”
Barton’s was the most dramatic as he needed a reversal in the final seconds to knock off Mitch Barnetzke of Wausau West 2-1 in the 125-pound championship match.
“I was pretty good on the bottom (in the third period), he got a couple of flurries and it kept going and going and I was able to pull it out at the end. It was pretty nice, felt good,” said Barton, who improves to 35-8. “I just want to get to state, no matter what it takes. I’ll do anything, that’s my dream.”
Boernke, Dolezal, Larson and Koranda dominated their matches.
Boernke (31-2) avenged just his second loss of the season at last week’s Wisconsin Valley Conference Tournament with a 3-0 record on Saturday, including a 15-0 technical fall victory over Ray Paul of Merrill in the 130-pound finals.
Dolezal also rolled through his bracket with two pins and a 15-4 major decision over Conner Monk of Wausau West in the 145-pound championship, improving to a perfect 44-0 this season.
Larson (35-5) duplicated his Wisconsin Valley Conference title with a regional crown, pinning Erik Hendrickson of Antigo 45 seconds into the second period in the 160-pound championship.
Koranda cruised as well, pinning Zach Wendorf of Merrill only 55 seconds into his 215-pound championship match to improve to 44-1 this year. He also had a pin and a technical fall in his first two matches.
“I bumped up to 215 (from 189), I’ve been eating all week. It felt great,” Koranda said. “I am about 10 or 12 pounds heavier, didn’t lose any energy from not eating to make weight, so that was nice.
“I just don’t want to change anything the way we’ve been practicing. Obviously it’s been working, so just keep practicing the way we have been and we’ll be fine.”
Marshfield had two second-place finishers – Josh Schupe at 135 pounds and Cale Schliesman at 285.
Schupe(30-14) lost 5-1 to Connor Whitehead of Wausau East in the finals, then beat Nate Kuehl of Wausau West with a late move, 5-3, in a second-place wrestleback for his 30th win this season.
Schliesman (30-15) won his semifinal match before being pinned by Wausau West’s Evan Knutson in 45 seconds.
Toran Nieman (30-7) was third at 103 pounds and Robert Wille (28-16) finished third at 189. Cody Wilson (26-17 at 171) and Justin Sternweis (9-8 at 152) also qualified for sectionals by finishing fourth.
Sternweis won his fifth-place match by pin over Ben Kleist of Wausau East, then beat Nathan Bloechl of Merrill 8-4 in a fourth-place wrestleback to grab a spot in sectionals.
WIAA Division 1 regional at Wausau East
Team scores: 1. Wausau West 237; 2. Marshfield 226.5; 3. Merrill 198; 4. D.C. Everest 117.5; 5. Wausau East 106; 6. Rhinelander 77; 7. Lakeland 72; 8. Antigo 50.
Finals and other sectional qualifiers
103: Joe Umlauf (WW) def. Wyatt Booth (MER) 5-1; Toran Nieman (MAR); Austin Helmer (DCE).
112: Nate Hettinga (WW) pinned JD Openhagen (LAK) in 1:20; Garrett Schmelling (MER); Brandon Kittel (WE).
119: Rickie Pody (WW) def. Matt Natzke (MER) 6-4 in 2 OT; Alex Parson (DCE); Jake Schumacher (WE).
125: Daniel Barton (MAR) def. Mitch Barnetzke (WW) 2-1; Matthew Reinhardt (MER), Alex Bessette (WE).
130: Torin Boernke (MAR) won by technical fall over Ray Paul (MER) 15-0; Josh Dupuis (DCE); Joshua LaFave (WW).
135: Connor Whitehead (WE) def. Josh Shupe (MAR) 10-5; Nate Kuehl (WW); Curtis Rich (LAK).
140: Mike Cinfio (RHI) won by major decision over Logan Keding (DCE) 10-0; Jake Tatro (ANT); Jacob Rusch (WW).
145: Brad Dolezal (MAR) won by major decision over Conner Monk (WW) 15-4; Justin Bloch (MER); Sam Kamps (ANT).
152: Jake Olson (LAK) pinned Ethan Zastrow (DCE) in 5:21; Seth Trulen (WW); Justin Sternweis (MAR).
160: Trenton Larson (MAR) pinned Erik Hendrickson (ANT) in 2:45; James Mataczynski (WW); Kyle Swan (MER).
171: Mat Rieckhoff (DCE) def. Shawn Walmer (MER) 5-1; Keegan Edwards (ANT); Kody Wilson (MAR).
189: Noah Lassa (MER) def. Brandon Lenz (WW) 7-0; Robert Wille (MAR); Josh Robertson (WE).
215: Jordan Koranda (MAR) pinned Zach Wendorf (MER) in 0:55; Randy Platek (RHI); Travis Teske (WW).
285: Evan Knutson (WW) pinned Cale Schliesman in 0:45; Grant Collins (MER); David Hamlin (WE).
