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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MADISON – The stage is set for what could be a magical day in Marshfield High School wrestling history.
Marshfield juniors Torin Boernke and Brad Dolezal won their semifinal matches on Friday night at the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament and will both battle for their second career state championships on Saturday night at the Kohl Center.
Boernke and Dolezal have a chance to push the program’s total number of state championships to 11 – four of which would be tallied by the duo.
The two join teammates Trenton Larson and Jordan Koranda as guaranteed medalists at the state tournament, the first time in Marshfield history four team members have medaled at state.
“It’s pretty cool seeing all four of us get up on the podium,” Dolezal said. “It’s pretty sweet that Torin is in the finals with me too. A lot of parents were excited to see if me and Torin could win it in the same year. Hopefully we can get that done.”
Boernke, the 112-pound champion last year and a third-place finisher at 103 as a freshman, downed Jared Kissinger of Verona 5-2 in a 130-pound semifinal to improve to 34-2 on the season. He will wrestle undefeated Siven Furseth (39-0) of Janesville Craig for the title.
Boernke trailed 2-1 after the first period but quickly turned around his fortunes, taking down Kissinger and turning him on his back for four total points. Boernke rode out the match on the bottom in the third period and pointed enthusiastically to the Marshfield crowd in the upper deck of the Kohl Center.
“Our community is really devoted to wrestling,” Boernke said. “The people that are in it are very committed to our program. We have it set up nice with a bus, it’s really great to have a big cheering section. It really motivates you to do the best you can and really keeps you in it.”
Dolezal whipped Joey Woppert of Brookfield East 9-2 to advance to the 145-pound championship match. Dolezal will be making his third state finals appearance, having won the 140-pound title as a freshman and he placed second at that weight last season.
Dolezal (47-0) was tactical as usual, using a takedown with 10 seconds to go in the first period to take the lead. He had an escape and a takedown in the second period, and added a pair of takedowns in the third to control the match.
“I had wrestled him before, knowing what to watch for, what to look for,” Dolezal said. “I just stayed aggressive. That’s what I did and it helped me rack up the points.”
Dolezal will face Wisconsin Rapids’ Zak Benitz (49-2) in the final. Dolezal didn’t wrestle against Benitz this year, but beat him last year at the state meet on his way to the championship match.
“He’s a tough kid,” Dolezal said. “It will be a good match.”
With Dolezal and Boernke fighting for titles, and Larson and Koranda with a chance to finish as high as third, this year’s state tournament will go down as the best in school history. By the end of the night Saturday, it could be something extremely special.
“This is the first time we’ve gotten four medals down here in one year, all four guys that qualified are getting medals, we have two in the finals,” Marshfield coach Don Lang said. “Brad and Torin wrestled great matches in the semifinals. Both of them wrestled very controlled matches, and Larson and Koranda today, winning two matches and getting into the medal round … you really couldn’t ask for a better day from our four wrestlers.”
Check back at MarshfieldAreaSports.com throughout the day Saturday for updates on the Marshfield wrestlers from the WIAA state tournament.
Paul Lecker can be reached by e-mail at paul@marshfieldareasports.com.
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