Sponsor MarshfieldAreaSports.com’s sports coverage: Advertise with us
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MADISON – Marshfield wrestlers Torin Boernke and Brad Dolezal stand one win away from having the opportunity they are both looking for.
Boernke and Dolezal both won their first two matches Thursday at the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament at the Kohl Center to advance to the semifinals at their respective weight classes on Friday night. A win there and the Marshfield juniors will have a shot at their second career state championships on Saturday night.
Boernke (33-2) whipped Taylor Wirtz of Greenfield in a Division 1 130-pound preliminary match, then had his hands full with Pulaski senior Jonathan Enderby in the quarterfinals.
Boernke, the 112-pound state champion last season, fell behind 4-3 in the second period before gaining a takedown to briefly regain the lead.
Enderby escaped in the last 30 seconds of the period, the third time he got out of Boernke’s hold, and the match was tied heading into the third period.
Boernke quickly got out from the down position and snagged a takedown with 1:27 to go to take an 8-5 lead. Unlike the first two periods, Boernke was able to ride Enderby (45-3) for nearly all of the remainder of the period and won 8-6.
“We planned on that match being that way,” said Boernke, who will wrestle Jared Kissinger (42-8) of Verona in a semifinal Friday night. “We worked on some things in practice that he likes to do on his feet. He’s a really good takedown technician. We worked on how to defend it, how to get out of that situation, how to score from it. He did just what the film showed he would, we prepared for it and it paid off.”
“I was really impressed with the way Torin wrestled in his second match. That kid from Pulaski is tough,” Marshfield coach Don Lang said. “He took him down in the first period and from there Torin wrestled a really smart match. He really looked tough out there.”
Dolezal remained undefeated on the season as he shoots for his second state championship. Marshfield’s 145-pounder beat Brandon VanSchyndel of Kaukauna 3-0 in the preliminary round, then handled Nick Jazdzewski of Burlington 7-0 to improve to 46-0 and move into the semifinals for the third straight season.
“The strategy going into them was to wrestle smart and conservative, not force anything,” Dolezal said. “The first one was 3-0, kind of close but got the win keeping it conservative. Second one, same thing, attacking the whole time and it turned out good.”
Dolezal will face Joey Woppert (20-3) of Brookfield East in a semifinal match Friday night, and waiting on the other side of the bracket will be a familiar face – Wisconsin Rapids’ Zak Benitz and Wausau West’s Conner Monk will wrestle in the other semifinal.
“Sometimes we get a little nervous with Brad – he thinks he needs to score 10 or 15 points to win a match,” Lang said. “He was up by 3 in the third period (of the first match) and stayed calm. He hasn’t been scored on yet. He’s on the top of his game as usual.”
Marshfield 160-pounder Trenton Larson and 215-pounder Jordan Koranda will wrestle in the consolation bracket on Friday morning.
Larson won his first match Thursday, beating Watertown’s Justin McFarland 8-4 before losing in the quarterfinals to Ian Johnson of Milton 10-4.
Against McFarland, Larson earned a reversal with 40 seconds left in the second period to tie the match at 2-2, then scored points on a reversal, takedown and nearfall in a 30-second stretch of the third period to forge ahead.
Larson (35-7) begins his quest in the wrestlebacks, with the possibility of earning a third-place medal should he win four consecutive matches, on Friday morning against Darvel Winfrey (36-7) of Wisconsin Lutheran.
Koranda (44-2) also is alive in the wrestlebacks despite losing his first match.
Koranda lost to Appleton North’s Kolby Knuth 9-5 in his 215-pound preliminary match. Because Knuth won his quarterfinal, Koranda moves into the consolation bracket. He will face Brett Geilenfeldt (20-5) of Milwaukee Marquette University on Friday morning.
Koranda led 3-1 after an escape early in the second period, but a takedown and nearfall by Knuth in the final one-half minute put Koranda at a 7-3 disadvantage and he never recovered.
Paul Lecker can be reached by e-mail at paul@marshfieldareasports.com.
Be the first to comment