This story is sponsored by Victory Apparel
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MADISON – Four Stratford wrestlers who had to compete in Division 3 preliminaries will join four teammates in the quarterfinal round after winning matches Thursday at the 2018 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament at the Kohl Center.
Max Schwabe (120 pounds), A.J. Schoenfuss (126), Aiden Hoffman (195), and Dylan Schoenherr won preliminary-round matches Thursday night to advance to Friday’s D-3 quarterfinals for Stratford.
Stratford junior Derek Marten (132), and Spencer/Columbus Catholic’s Dominick Wichlacz (113) and Carson Hildebrandt (170) all lost close matches in the preliminaries and were eliminated from the tournament.
Schwabe (39-9) won his match at 120 over Anthony Rautmann of Random Lake, 8-2, to move on to a quarterfinal match on Friday afternoon against Jake Nadeau (28-5) of Glenwood City.
Schoenfuss, a three-time state champion, was on the ropes against Danny Pittz of Mineral Point, but prevailed with a 3-0 win. After the first two periods were scoreless, Schoenfuss (42-4) earned an escape early in the third period and had a takedown in the final seconds to advance. He will go up against Carson Strong (31-3) of Glenwood City in the quarterfinals.
Stratford senior Aiden Hoffman was dominant in his 195-pound match, beating Austin Lambrecht of Mishicot with a pin in the final second of the second period. Hoffman had a takedown and two three-point nearfalls in the first period to open up an 8-0 lead.
Hoffman built a 12-1 lead before earning the pin at the 3:59 mark. He will wrestling undefeated Garrett Joles (39-0) of Boyceville in the quarterfinals.
Dylan Schoenherr blanked Garret Wilmot of Riverdale 6-0 in a 220-pound preliminary match. He had takedowns in the first and second periods, and earned a pair of stalling points as Wilmot never threatened. Schoenherr will take on Noah Wieczorek of Clear Lake (41-1) in a quarterfinal Friday afternoon.
The four Thursday winners for Stratford will join teammates Manny Drexler (106), Jeremy Schoenherr (138), Jake Drexler (145) and Trevor Dennee (170) in the quarterfinals. Those four were sectional champions that earn byes into the quarterfinal round.
Marten was the lone Tiger eliminated, losing his 132-pound match to Bailey Gillett of Cadott 5-0.
The pair from Spencer/Columbus wrestlers couldn’t get anything going offensively and were both shutout.
Wichlacz (39-10) dropped a 1-0 decision to Colby McHugh (32-15) of Freedom in a Division 2 113-pound prelim. The only point of the match was an escape by McHugh in the second period.
Hildebrandt (30-15) had similar luck, losing to Jake Dessart of East Troy (33-15), 7-3. Following a scoreless first period, Dessart earned an escape in the second period and added a takedown in the third to keep Hildebrandt at bay.
Spencer/Columbus’ Hunter Luepke (220 pounds) and Logan Zschernitz (285) will wrestle in quarterfinal matches on Friday afternoon. Both won sectional titles to earn byes into the quarterfinals.
2018 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament
Feb. 22-24, at Kohl Center, Madison
Friday, Feb. 23
Division 1 consolation matches, 10 a.m.
113: Gabe Pugh (37-6), fr., Marshfield vs. Parker Bevilacqua (37-12), jr., Muskego
126: Tanner Kanable (32-15), jr., Marshfield vs. Aaron Schulist (9-1), sr., Mukwonago
170: Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (38-4), jr., Marshfield vs. Luke Geister-Jones (36-14), jr., Stoughton
Division 2 quarterfinals, 11:15 a.m.
220: Hunter Luepke (46-0), sr., Spencer/Columbus vs. Nate Lloyd (42-6), sr., Luxemburg-Casco
285: Logan Zschernitz (40-2), jr., Spencer/Columbus vs. Scott Klemme (29-15), jr., Sheboygan Falls
Division 3 quarterfinals, 11:15 a.m.
106: Manny Drexler (40-3), jr., Stratford vs. Markus Brown (40-6), fr., Bayfield/Washburn
120: Max Schwabe (39-9), so., Stratford vs. Jake Nadeau (28-5), sr., Glenwood City
126: A.J. Schoenfuss (43-4), sr., Stratford vs. Carson Strong (31-3), sr., Glenwood City
138: Jeremy Schoenherr (33-0), sr., Stratford vs. Nick Sempf (40-5), jr., Clear Lake
145: Jake Drexler (43-2), sr., Stratford vs. winner of Guenther Hebbe (41-6), jr., Princeton
170: Trevor Dennee (38-5), so., Stratford vs. Travis Reinke (38-12), jr., Kewaunee
195: Aiden Hoffman (29-5), sr., Stratford vs. Garrett Joles (39-0), sr., Boyceville
220: Dylan Schoenherr (46-3), jr., Stratford vs. Noah Wieczorek (41-1), sr., Clear Lake
Division 1 consolation semifinals, 1:45 p.m.
Division 2 & 3 consolation semifinals, 2:45 p.m.
Semifinals, all divisions, 7 p.m.
Division 1
182: Sam Mitchell (45-2), jr., Marshfield vs. Isaac Lohr (48-3), sr., Holmen
Saturday, Feb. 24
Consolation wrestlebacks all divisions, through third- and fifth-place matches, 10 a.m.
Championship matches, all divisions, 5 p.m.