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OSSEO – The Stratford and Spencer/Marshfield Columbus Catholic wrestling teams brought nine athletes to the WIAA Division 3 individual sectional on Saturday at Osseo-Fairchild High School, all with hopes of qualifying for next week’s state tournament.
However, just one wrestler from each school finished the job.
Stratford 285-pounder Indy Spindler finished second and Spencer/Columbus’ Tye Ackman was third at 160 pounds to qualify for the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament, which will be at the Kohl Center in Madison on Thursday through Saturday.
Spindler pinned his first two opponents to reach the finals and qualify for state, where he lost to Matt Wyss of Boyceville 5-0. Spindler won the second-place wrestleback with another pin, downing Chris McConville of Cadott in 1:03 to improve to 40-4 this season.
Ackman beat Mike Niles of Ladysmith 5-1 and Cody Wolfe of Cochrane-Fountain City to reach the finals and earn a spot in the state field as well. Ackman (31-8) lost the title match to Garrett Bonte of Glenwood City by pin in 5:25, then lost the wrestleback to Gage Burish of Cadott 3-2 to finish third.
Three of Spencer/Columbus’ other four wrestlers at the sectional lost to eventual champions.
Josh Werstovshek won his first match at 215 pounds with a first-period pin, but lost in the semifinals to eventual champ Cole Myren of Whitehall by pin in 3:10. With a chance to qualify for state on the line, Werstovshek was pinned by Darrin Helgeson of Blair-Taylor in 1:56 of the third-place match to finish his season at 33-8.
S/C’s James Rogers lost to 140-pound champ Devon Meyer of Chequamegon by pin in 5:17 and dropped his first wrestleback match to Zach Gillis of St. Croix Central 6-5 to end his season at 25-14.
The Rockets’ Luke Bump also lost to an eventual champ in the first round, dropping a tough 8-6 decision in overtime to Sam Hayes of Boyceville at 171 pounds. Bump (22-17) dropped out of contention when he was pinned in the wrestleback bracket.
Aaron Dunbar lost his first two matches at 135 pounds for the Rockets, ending his season at 11-7.
All of Stratford’s other three wrestlers at the sectional lost their first-round matches and didn’t qualify for wrestlebacks, ending their seasons.
Mark Marquardt (145) finished 31-10 on the season after losing a major decision to Drew Knoop of Shell Lake 12-2.
Ben Robers (171) lost a major decision to Drake Kessler of Glenwood City 12-1 to finish the year with a 32-6 record.
The Tigers’ Luke Radke lost by injury default after breaking his leg in his 189-pound opener and finishes 32-8.
Check throughout the week at MarshfieldAreaSports.com for coverage of Ackman’s and Spindler’s trip to the state, including coverage from Madison throughout the tournament.
Division 3 sectional at Osseo-Fairchild
Team scores: 1. Boyceville 99.5; 2. Cadott 66.5; 3. Bruce 50.5; 4. Glenwood City 48.5; 5. Arcadia 41; 6. Clear Lake 35.5; 7. Saint Croix Central 35; 8. Ladysmith 33.5; 9. Cornell/Gilman 33; 10. Spring Valley/Elmwood 23.5; 11. Whitehall 22; 12. Blair-Taylor and Chequamegon 20; 14. Flambeau 19; 15. Stratford 16; 16. Spencer/Marshfield Columbus Catholic 13; 17. Cameron 11.5; 18. Shell Lake 10.5; 19. Athens 10; 20. Loyal 6; 21. Cochrane-Fountain City/Alma 4; 22. Independence/Gilmanton, Luther, Northwood/Solon Springs, Phillips and Turtle Lake 0.
Finals and state qualifiers (top three finishers qualify for WIAA state tournament)
103: Brady Webb (SV/E) pinned Riley Knops (GLEN) 1:54; wrestleback – Knops def. Jace Paterson (LADY) 7-5.
112: Jason Stuart (BOY) pinned Ricky Anderson (CL) 1:03; third-place – Ryan Behnke (BRWH) def. Tyler Peters (C/G) 7-0.
119: Corey Hodowanic (C/G) def. Josiah Yeager (CAD) 2-1; third-place – Kyle Johnson (BRWH) def. Josh Cormican (BOY) 6-4.
125: Mike Sonnentag (CAD) def. Nathaniel Behnke (BRWH) 8-7; wrestleback – Behnke pinned Chais wakefield (CHE) 1:03.
130: Bubba Gudis (BRWH) won by major decision over Laricc Henderson (BOY) 14-6; wrestleback – Hender def. Erik Ullrich (CL) 7-1.
135: Felipe Martinez (ARC) def. Eric Gunderlach (C/G) 10-5; third-place – Zack Rivard (CAM) def. Carl Moll (SCC) 2-0.
140: Devon Meyer (CHE) def. Cory Matott (CAD) 7-3; wrestleback – Zach Gillis (SCC) def. Matott 7-5.
145: Cadyn McKeeth (ARC) def. Roy Munroe (CAD) 8-4; wrestleback – Munroe won by major decision over Drew Knoop 9-0.
152: Brayden Wienke (CL) pinned Matt Smith (SCC) 1:33; third-place – Brian Guza (BT) def. David Trimner (ATH) 1-0.
160: Garrett Bonte (GLEN) pinned Tye Ackman (S/C) 5:25; wrestleback – Gage Burish (CAD) def. Ackman 3-1.
171: Sam Hayes (BOY) pinned Rockford McKittrick (FLAM) 5:29; third-place – Drake Kessler (GLEN) def. Kyle Tamke (ARC) 8-4.
189: Keith Rudesill (LADY) def. Caleb Thompson (BOY) 13-7; wrestleback – Thompson won by injury default over Andrew Prusinski (LOY).
215: Cole Myren (WHI) def. Cody Hegeman (BOY) 10-7; third-place – Darrin Helgeson (BT) pinned Josh Werstovshek in 1:56.
285: Matt Wyss (BOY) def. Indy Spindler (STRAT) 5-0; wrestleback – Spindler pinned Chris McConville (CAD) 1:03.
