This story is sponsored by: The University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MADISON – Five of the six Stratford wrestlers that took part in preliminaries advanced with victories on Thursday night in the Division 3 field at the 2016 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament at the Kohl Center in Madiosn.
Along with the five wrestlers who won sectional titles last week and earned byes, Stratford will have 10 athletes taking part in the Division 3 quarterfinals, which begin at approximately 11:15 a.m. Friday.
Macey Kilty started things off for the Tigers on Thursday with a resounding 8-1 victory at 106 pounds.
The freshman earned two takedowns in the first period and never trailed against Jake Nadeau of Glenwood City. She earned a reversal and nearfall midway through the second period and held on from there.
Kilty will face Kenosha Christian Life sophomore Caden Calabrese (35-8) in the quarterfinals.
A.J. Schoenfuss improved to 46-3 with a pin of Kolbe Ubersox of Darlington/Black Hawk in a 120-pound preliminary. Schoenfuss, a sophomore, won the 106-pound title last year. He will take on Zachary Foth (41-6) of Laconia in a quarterfinal.
Derek Marten made quick work of Random Lake’s Cesar Luis at 132 pounds. Marten (42-9), a freshman, earned a takedown and two-point nearfall in the opening seconds and Luis was forced to retire with an injury at the end of the first period.
Marten moves on to a quarterfinal match against Logan Newton (32-9) of Spring Valley/Elmwood.
“Macey looked great, got a big lead and kind of held on in the third period,” Stratford coach Joe Schwabe said. “A.J. Schoenfuss wrestled the way we know he can, being a former state champ. He came out and got things done.
“Derek Marten’s match was kind of fun. A freshman comes down and wrestles a guy with a similar record and threw a headlock right off the bat and started cranking a couple of times. (Luis) hurt his shoulder unfortunately.”
At 138 pounds, senior Sam Wenzel trailed 2-1 late in his match against Adam Becker of Johnson Creek. He was able to gain a reversal with 19 seconds to go and held on in the final seconds. Wenzel (41-7) will face Dodgeland freshman Ryan Neu (35-8) in the quarterfinals.
“In prelims, if you lose, you’re done, so that was a huge match,” Schwabe said. “He was losing, but he wrestled hard and it kind of went back and forth and he got the win at the end by one. I’m pretty proud of him.”
David Marquardt continued the winning streak for the Tigers at 145 pounds, dominating Independence/Gilmanton’s Josh Conrad.
Marquardt led 10-2 after the first period as he used a flurry of moves to earn three nearfalls. With 19 seconds left in the second period, Marquardt (36-11) pinned Conrad to win the match and advance to a quarterfinal against Luke Meihack (37-1) of Winnebago Lutheran.
Stratford’s Jon Aguirre dropped his 220-pound preliminary to Clear Lake senior Ian Ruble (34-7).
Aguirre fell behind 4-1 and on Ruble’s second takedown of the opening period, Aguirre was unable to get out of the hold and was pinned at the 1:21 mark. He finishes his junior season with a 25-10 record.
Jake Drexler (113 pounds), Jeremy Schoenherr (126), Mason Kauffman (152), Kamren Bornbach (182) and Tyson Kauffman (285) earned byes into the quarterfinals and will open their action at the state tournament on Friday.
Winners of the quarterfinal matches will participate in the semifinals Friday night starting at 7 p.m. Losers move into the consolation bracket, where competition begins at approximately 2:45 p.m.
“It’s crazy,” Schwabe said. “We’ll take that anytime, and anybody would. You hope something like that can happen, but you don’t plan on it. Now the goals is to get a few guys in the semis and go from there.”
2016 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Championships
Feb. 25-27, Kohl Center, Madison
Friday, Feb. 26
10 a.m. – Division 1 consolation matches
11:15 a.m. – Division 2 & 3 quarterfinals
1:45 p.m. – Division 1 consolation semifinals
2:45 p.m. – Division 2 & 3 consolation semifinals
7 p.m. – Semifinals, all divisions
Saturday, Feb. 27
11 a.m. – Consolation wrestlebacks, all divisions; followed by fifth-place and third-place matches in all divisions
6 p.m. – Championship matches, all divisions
Stratford matches for Friday
Division 3 quarterfinals (Friday morning/afternoon)
106: Macey Kilty (26-4) Stratford vs. Caden Calabrese (35-8) Kenosha Christian Life.
113: Jake Drexler (45-2) Stratford vs. Dylan Bune (37-10) Spring Valley/Elmwood .
120: A.J. Schoenfuss (46-3) Stratford vs. Zachary Foth (41-6) Laconia.
126: Jeremy Schoenherr (38-0) Stratford vs. Ethan Leis (34-13) Cashton.
132: Derek Marten (42-9) Stratford vs. Logan Newton (32-9) Spring Valley/Elmwood.
138: Sam Wenzel (41-7) Stratford vs. Ryan Neu (35-8) Dodgeland.
145: David Marquardt (36-11) Stratford vs. Luke Meihack (37-1) Winnebago Lutheran.
152: Mason Kauffman (48-0) Stratford vs. Dustin Reynolds (39-7) Lancaster.
182: Kamren Bornbach (45-2) Stratford vs. Jaden Schmidt (40-10) Cashton.
285: Tyson Kauffman (45-3) Stratford vs. Carson McCauley (30-11) Ithaca/Weston.