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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MADISON – Stratford senior Andrew Murdaugh came into the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament with high hopes of earning a medal, but those dreams came to an end Friday at the Kohl Center.
Murdaugh finishes his season with a 39-5 record after losing a pair of Division 3 285-pound matches and was eliminated from the tournament.
Mardaugh’s quarterfinal match against Ben DenBoer of Oostburg was looking good for the Tigers’ heavyweight until everything unraveled in the final 35 seconds.
Leading 1-0, Murdaugh was called for stalling while riding and DenBoer was given a point to tie the match with 35 seconds to go in the third period. DenBoer then gained a reversal with just 12 seconds left and earned two more points on a nearfall in the final seconds to grab a 5-1 win.
The effects of the tough loss carried over into Murdaugh’s consolation bracket match when he was pinned in 2:37 by Garrett Eide of Blair-Taylor, ending his season.
Stratford’s other state qualifier, sophomore Alex Heiden, was eliminated on Thursday.