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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MADISON – Marshfield senior Jordan Koranda said nerves did him in on the first day of the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament. Once he calmed those nerves, the rest of the Division 1 215-pound field stood no chance.
Koranda breezed through the consolation bracket by winning three matches by pin and then defeating Wisconsin Rapids’ Vaughan Grube 11-2 to finish third in his weight class Saturday at the Kohl Center.
Koranda (48-2) earned his school-record 28th pin by taking down Steve Sizer (42-7) of West Bend West at the 2:20 mark of his first consolation match on Saturday.
Ending his high school career with a win was important to Koranda.
“That’s what I was thinking the whole time … ‘If I’m fourth instead of third, I’m going to look at that the rest of my life that I could have won that match,'” Koranda said.
Koranda said he had never won against Grube, also a senior, through youth wrestling but finally beat him 7-6 in a dual meet earlier this season and again on Saturday when it mattered most.
“Jordan just unloaded there in the third period with a flurry of nearfalls using his leg ride,” Marshfield coach Don Lang said. “He got the major decision against a very tough Wisconsin Rapids wrestler and there’s no sweeter way to ending your season and your career than beating a guy in red.”
Koranda dominated the second period against Sizer, earning a nearfall and a takedown to build a 5-1 lead before he was able to pin Sizer.
“I got back on track and tuned it out like I was at any old tournament,” Koranda said. “I didn’t even put it in my head of how big it was. I just wrestled the way I have the whole year.”
The two other area wrestlers competing in the consolation bracket also ended their senior seasons with victories.
Marshfield’s Trenton Larson lost his 160-pound match to Al Yde (46-7) of Hartland Arrowhead. Larson trailed the entire match and was pinned at the 1:12 mark.
Larosn (38-8) came back to beat Mitch Hanson of DeForest (38-17) 1-0 to finish in fifth place and end his career on a positive note.
Larson rode Hanson the entire third period to preserve the narrow victory.
“I talked to Trenton and Jordan before the last match and told them, ‘Let’s end this on a good note,’ and they did,” Lang said. “Trenton wrestled an outstanding match. He rode him out in the entire third period and got the win.”
Stratford 285-pounder Indy Spindler also lost his first Division 3 consolation round match on Saturday, losing 4-2 to Jordan Zeitler of Coleman.
Spindler suffered a takedown near the end of the second period to fall behind 4-0 and could do nothing from the bottom position in the third period.
Spindler (43-6) came back strong, pinning Dylan Lange (31-10) of Milwaukee Heritage Christian in just 38 seconds for fifth place.
“I was nervous (against Zeitler), that didn’t help,” Spindler said. “After losing I was down, wanted to take a nap, then (Andy) Borchardt of Edgar came up and kicked me. The Nowaks from Edgar came back and started kicking at me. I guess the season is over and everyone’s joking around. I was like, ‘I’m going to go out there and have fun.’
“I don’t care, 10 years from now if I take fifth or sixth, it’s not going to matter, so I just wanted to have fun.”
Marshfield’s Torin Boernke and Brad Dolezal will compete in Division 1 finals tonight beginning at 6 p.m.
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