This story is sponsored by: All Insurance of Marshfield
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
A total of 17 athletes from three area schools will be taking part in the 2018 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament at the Kohl Center in Madison this week.
Stratford (nine in Division 3), Marshfield (five in Division 1), and Spencer/Columbus (four in Division 2) will be well represented as wrestling begins Thursday and ends with championship matches Saturday night.
Three of the wrestlers are back to defend state titles and a pair of Stratford seniors have a chance to join an historic list.
Spencer/Columbus senior Hunter Luepke takes a perfect 46-0 mark into the Division 2 220-pound field as he tries to win two-straight state titles.
Luepke won the 195-pound title last season after taking fifth at 182 as a sophomore. In the past three seasons, the North Dakota State football recruit is 127-9. Luepke will wrestle in the Division 2 quarterfinals on Friday afternoon.
Of Stratford’s nine state qualifiers, six are back for at least their second time.
Included in that group are three-time state champions A.J. Schoenfuss and Jeremy Schoenherr. They are looking to add themselves to a list of four-time state champions that stands at just 14 through the previous 74 state meets.
Schoenfuss won the 106-pound Division 3 title as a freshman and took the 120-pound championship the past two seasons. He takes a 41-4 record this season and a 174-14 career mark into a Division 3 126-pound preliminary match against Danny Pittz (38-6) of Mineral Point on Thursday night.
Schoenherr won titles at 113 pounds as a freshman, 126 as a sophomore, and 138 last season. He returns to 138 this season with a perfect 33-0 record and a 136-6 career mark, and will wrestle in a Division 3 quarterfinal Friday afternoon.
Also back for Stratford are four wrestlers who earned medals last season. Manny Drexler (40-3) took second at 106 and is back that weight this season; Jake Drexler (43-2 at 145) and Aiden Hoffman (28-5 at 195) each finished third last year; and Derek Marten (28-6 at 132) was a fourth-place finisher at the 2017 state meet.
Trevor Dennee (38-5 at 170), Max Schwabe (38-9 at 120), and Dylan Schoenherr (45-3 at 220) will be making their first state appearances for the Tigers.
Spencer/Columbus junior Logan Zschernitz, who finished third at 285 pounds in Division 2 last year, is back after piling up a 40-2 record this season and winning a sectional title. He will wrestle in a D-2 quarterfinal Friday afternoon.
Senior Dominick Wichlacz (39-9 at 113) and junior Carson Hildebrandt (30-14 at 170) will be making their first trips to state for the Rockets, and will wrestle in Division 2 preliminaries Thursday night.
All five Marshfield qualifiers will be in action Thursday afternoon in Division 1 preliminaries. If they would win their first matches, they advance to D-1 quarterfinals, which will be held starting at 5:15 p.m. Thursday.
Junior Nolan Hertel (29-6 at 145) is making his third-straight state meet appearance and looking for his first victory on the Kohl Center floor. Fellow junior Sam Mitchell (43-2 at 182) is back for his second state tournament.
Freshman Gabe Pugh (37-5 at 113), and juniors Tanner Kanable (32-14 at 126) and Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (38-3 at 170) will be making their state tournament debuts.
The five state qualifiers for Marshfield ties a program record for the most wrestlers to reach state in a single season.
2018 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament
Feb. 22-24, at Kohl Center, Madison
Thursday, Feb. 22
Division 1 preliminaries, 3 p.m. (quarterfinals to follow)
113: Gabe Pugh (37-5), fr., Marshfield vs. Mason Dutcher (39-9), jr., Milton
126: Tanner Kanable (32-14), jr., Marshfield vs. Cooper Hunt (41-4), sr., Mequon Homestead
145: Nolan Hertel (29-6), jr., Marshfield vs. Brett Von Ruden (39-3), sr., Sparta
170: Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (38-3), jr., Marshfield vs. Jacob Stachowski (35-10), sr., Mukwonago
182: Sam Mitchell (43-2), jr., Marshfield vs. Tyler Theisen (24-16), sr., Hartland Arrowhead
Division 2 preliminaries, 7 p.m.
113: Dominick Wichlacz (39-9), sr., Spencer/Columbus vs. Colby McHugh (31-15), so., Freedom
170: Carson Hildebrandt (30-14), jr., Spencer/Columbus vs. Jake Dessart (32-15), jr., East Troy
Division 3 preliminaries, 7 p.m.
120: Max Schwabe (38-9), so., Stratford vs. Anthony Rautmann, (43-6), sr., Random Lake
126: A.J. Schoenfuss (41-4), sr., Stratford vs. Danny Pittz (38-6), jr., Mineral Point
132: Derek Marten (28-6), jr., Stratford vs. Bailey Gillett (38-7), sr., Cadott
195: Aiden Hoffman (28-5), sr., Stratford vs. Austin Lambrecht (17-17), jr., Mishicot
220: Dylan Schoenherr (45-3), jr., Stratford vs. Garret Wilmot (30-14), sr., Riverdale
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Friday, Feb. 23
Division 1 consolation matches, 10 a.m.
Division 2 quarterfinals, 11:15 a.m.
220: Hunter Luepke (46-0), sr., Spencer/Columbus vs. winner of Nate Lloyd (41-6), sr., Luxemburg-Casco, and Colten Wall (42-9), so., Prairie du Chien
285: Logan Zschernitz (40-2), jr., Spencer/Columbus vs. winner of Tyson Welsch (36-10), sr., Monroe, and Scott Klemme (28-15), jr., Sheboygan Falls
Division 3 quarterfinals, 11:15 a.m.
106: Manny Drexler (40-3), jr., Stratford vs. winner of Markus Brown (39-6), fr., Bayfield/Washburn, and Dylan Weiss (28-19), so., Random Lake
138: Jeremy Schoenherr (33-0), sr., Stratford vs. winner of Tristin Grant (20-15), so., Cashton and Nick Sempf (39-5), jr., Clear Lake
145: Jake Drexler (43-2), sr., Stratford vs. winner of Gabe Colbeth (38-7), sr., Clear Lake, and Guenther Hebbe (40-6), jr., Princeton
170: Trevor Dennee (38-5), so., Stratford vs. winner of Justin Malean (36-9), sr., Boyceville and Travis Reinke (37-12), jr., Kewaunee
Division 1 consolation semifinals, 1:45 p.m.
Division 2 & 3 consolation semifinals, 2:45 p.m.
Semifinals, all divisions, 7 p.m.
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Saturday, Feb. 24
Consolation wrestlebacks all divisions, through third- and fifth-place matches, 10 a.m.
Championship matches, all divisions, 5 p.m.