This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Third-year head coach Jackson Hein has been trying to build up the Marshfield wrestling team to be a contender in the Wisconsin Valley Conference.
It’s hard to say if the Tigers are already at the level of being a top-tier team in the always competitive Valley, but they are definitely on their way.
A strong group of returning athletes has Marshfield off to great start to the 2016-17 season. After routing Wisconsin Rapids 64-6 on Thursday, their first win over Rapids since 1958, the Tigers have won eight-straight dual matches.
Marshfield went a perfect 5-0 to win the Neenah Duals on Dec. 10 and followed that up with a 55-22 rout of Stevens Point in its WVC dual opener on Dec. 15 before routing Rapids this week and improving to 2-0 in the Valley.
This week the Tigers head to the Bi-State Classic in La Crosse on Thursday and Friday, where they will face the toughest overall field of teams and athletes they will see all season.
Senior Anthony Kanable, a 2015 conference and 2016 regional champion, is wrestling at 138 pounds,; sophomore Nolan Hertel, a state qualifier last season; and 152-pounder Bentley Ostermann-Schwanebeck, a conference champ at 145 a year ago; are back for the Tigers.
Seniors Conner Peterson (195 pounds) and Sam Bauman (220) also return for Marshfield, as well as sophomores Caden Dennee (113), Tanner Kanable (120), Caden Pearce (132), Alex Wehrman (152) and Sam Mitchell (170), and juniors Alex Brost (182), A.J. Leonhardt (285) and Peyton Young (152).
Freshmen Shane Westerhausen (106) and Brayden Richardson (126) have also been seeing varsity time.
Westerhausen, Anthony Kanable, Hertel and Ostermann-Schwanebeck all were 5-0 at the Neenah meet.
“It has been a great start to the year,” Hein said. “We are currently 10-2 in dual meet competition. This has been a great group of student athletes to coach. They are great wrestlers and even better people. I am excited to see what the future will hold for this team.”
Hein said he is taking the day-by-day approach with this team, but by continuing to get better each day could lead to big things at the end of the season, which is what really matters.
The Wisconsin Valley Conference Meet is at Stevens Point on Feb. 4, followed by the regionals and sectionals, and eventually the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament in Madison on Feb. 23-25.
“Our goals for the season are to improve every day, keep wrestling fun and exciting, and always wrestle our style when competing,” Hein said. “If we can do this, big things will happen this year for this team.