This story is sponsored by: American Family Insurance – Randy LeMoine Agency, LLC
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MADISON – Five athletes from Stratford and a pair from Spencer/Columbus Catholic will wrestle in semifinal matches Friday night after winning quarterfinals earlier in the day at the 2018 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament at the Kohl Center.
Manny Drexler (106 pounds), Jake Drexler (145), Trevor Dennee (170), and three-time state champions A.J. Schoenfuss (126) and Jeremy Schoenherr (138) will compete in the Division 3 semifinals for Stratford.
Spencer/Columbus’ duo of Hunter Luepke (220), a state champion a year ago, and Logan Zschernitz (285), who finished third at last year’s state meet, will take part in the Division 2 semifinals.
Max Schwabe (120), Aiden Hoffman (195) and Dylan Schoenherr (220) all lost quarterfinal matches for Stratford, but secured state tournament medals with wins in the consolation round. All three are guaranteed at least a sixth-place finish.
Manny Drexler, Schoenfuss and Dennee all made quick work of their opponents, earning pins to advance to the semifinals.
Manny Drexler (41-3) pinned Markus Brown (41-7) of Bayfield/Washburn in 51 seconds to advance to a 106-pound semifinal against Javis Pinter of Kenosha Christian Life (49-4).
Schoenfuss stayed alive for his quest for a fourth-straight state title by pinning Carson Strong (32-4) of Glenwood City with four seconds left in the second period. Schoenfuss led 2-0 after a reversal early in the second period before finally getting Strong on his back and pinning him just before the buzzer.
Schoenfuss (44-4) will wrestle Landon Kasper (31-11) of Reedsville in a 126-pound semifinal Friday night.
Dennee (39-5), in his first state tournament, pinned Travis Reinke (38-14) of Kewaunee in 1:50 and will take on Riley Workman (39-6) of Mineral Point in a 170-pound semifinal.
Jeremy Schoenherr remained undefeated with a dominating 22-7 technical fall victory over Nick Sempf (41-6) of Clear Lake in the quarterfinals. Schoenherr had seven takedowns and a three-point nearfall in the victory to move to 34-0 this season. He will take on Zachary Foth (43-5) of Laconia in a 138-pound semifinal.
Jake Drexler (44-2) was also dominant in his quarterfinal match, whipping Guenther Hebbe (41-8) of Princeton, 12-4. Drexler had a takedown and three-point nearfall in the first period to earn control, and closed out the major decision with another nearfall in the third period. Drexler will battle Bill Condon (41-6) of Horicon in a semifinal at 145 pounds.
Luepke continued his undefeated season with a 13-1 major decision over Nate Lloyd (43-7) of Luxemburg-Casco in a Division 2 220-pound quarterfinal.
Luepke (47-0) had three takedowns, a reversal, and two nearfalls in the victory. He will take on Chris Stornadt (46-2) of East Troy in a semifinal.
Zschernitz (41-2) barely broke a sweat in his 285-pound quarterfinal for the Rockets. He earned a takedown in the opening seconds and pinned Scott Klemme (29-17) in just 42 seconds to advance to a semifinal match against Josh Frerk (42-1) of Denmark. Zschernitz beat Frerk in the third-place match at 285 pounds at last year’s state tournament.
Schwabe was pinned in his Division 3 120-pound quarterfinal by Jake Nadeau (29-5) of Glenwood City before beating Paul King (33-9) of Darlington/Black Hawk in a consolation quarterfinal. Schwabe (40-10) will wrestle in a consolation semifinal Saturday morning.
Hoffman couldn’t get anything going offensively in his 195-pound quarterfinal, dropping a major decision to Garrett Joles (40-0) of Boyceville 14-3. Hoffman (30-6) went on to beat Caleb Johnson (45-4) in a consolation match to secure a state medal in his senior season.
Dylan Schoenherr led early in his quarterfinal against Noah Wieczorek of Clear Lake before Wieczorek (42-1) turned the tables in the second period and earned a pin in 4:42. Schoenherr (47-4) pinned Frank Koeppel (30-16) of Mishicot in 41 seconds in a 220-pound consolation match to advance in a semifinal Saturday and guarantee himself a spot on the awards podium.