This story is sponsored by: All Insurance of Marshfield
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MADISON – Three Stratford athletes finished third and three other local wrestlers earned medals as the consolation round of the 2018 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament wrapped up Saturday afternoon at the Kohl Center.
Stratford senior Jake Drexler (46-3) earned his second-straight Division 3 third-place finish at the state tournament after pinning a pair of opponents Saturday. Drexler took down Gavin Burch of Ithaca/Weston in 1:52 and Weston Wichman of Johnson Creek in just 34 seconds to secure a third-place medal at 145 pounds.
Sophomore Max Schwabe and junior Dylan Schoenherr, both making their first state tournament appearance, also earned third-place finishes.
Schwabe (42-10) defeated Jack Severin of Kewaunee 6-4 and Marawood Conference rival Javyn Freeman of Phillips 12-7 to win third place at 120 pounds.
Schoenherr (49-4) dominated Jack Horihan of La Crosse Aquinas 7-1 and pinned Justin Chadwick of Marshall in 51 seconds to take third at 220 pounds in Division 3.
Aiden Hoffman (31-7), who finished third a year ago, was forced to withdraw midway through his third-place 195-pound match against Jacob Geise of Bonduel due to injury and ended up fourth in the three-day tournament. The Stratford senior won his opening consolation match Saturday by topping Levi Galoff of Brillion, 9-3.
Marshfield’s two remaining wrestlers in the tournament also secured medals Saturday.
Junior Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann won his opening consolation match at 170 pounds, beating Jacob Sklenar of Pewaukee 9-2. He lost his Division 1 third-place match to Hayden Krein of Sparta by pin in 2:06 to finish fourth.
Marshfield junior Sam Mitchell, who lost a semifinal match on Friday night, ended up fifth. He lost his first consolation match to Nate Crayton of Burlington 4-3 before coming back to win a fifth-place match against Brooks Empley of Stoughton by major decision, 16-3.
Stratford’s Manny Drexler (106), A.J. Schoenfuss (120), Jeremy Schoenherr (138), and Trevor Dennee (170) will wrestle in the Division 3 championship round Saturday night, along with Spencer/Columbus Catholic’s Hunter Luepke (220) and Logan Zschernitz (285) in Division 2. Wrestling begins at 5 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 24
Consolation semifinals
Division 1
170: Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (41-4), jr., Marshfield, def. Jacob Sklenar (49-5), sr., Pewaukee, 9-2.
182: Nate Crayton (46-6), sr., Burlington, def. Sam Mitchell (45-4), jr., Marshfield, 4-3.
Division 3
120: Max Schwabe (41-10), so., Stratford, def. Jack Severin (45-5), fr., Kewaunee, 6-4.
145: Jake Drexler (45-3), sr., Stratford, pinned Gavin Burch (40-8), sr., Ithaca/Weston, 1:52.
195: Aiden Hoffman (31-6), sr., Stratford, def. Levi Galoff (32-14), fr., Brillion, 9-3.
220: Dylan Schoenherr (48-4), jr., Stratford, def. Jack Horihan (33-6), sr., La Crosse Aquinas, 7-1.
Third-place matches
Division 1
170: Hayden Krein (43-7), sr., Sparta, pinned Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (41-5), jr., Marshfield, 2:06.
Division 3
120: Max Schwabe (42-10), so., Stratford, def. Javyn Freeman (42-5), jr., Phillips, 12-7.
145: Jake Drexler (46-3), sr., Stratford, pinned Weston Wichman (8-2), sr., Johnson Creek, 0:34.
195: Jacob Geise (44-7), jr., Bonduel, def. Aiden Hoffman (31-7), sr., Stratford, injury default, 2:02.
220: Dylan Schoenherr (49-4), jr., Stratford, pinned Justin Chadwick (52-7), sr., Marshall, 0:51.
Fifth-place match
Division 1
182: Sam Mitchell (46-4), jr., Marshfield, won major dec. over Brooks Empley (31-22), fr., Stoughton, 16-3.
Championship matches, all divisions, 5 p.m.
Division 2
220: Hunter Luepke (48-0), sr., Spencer/Columbus, vs. Jack Dietzen (42-1), sr., Omro.
285: Logan Zschernitz (42-2), jr., Spencer/Columbus, vs. Dan Ausioos (36-3), sr., Oconto Falls.
Division 3
106: Manny Drexler (42-3), jr., Stratford, vs. Ryan Anderson (45-0), sr., Clear Lake.
126: A.J. Schoenfuss (45-4), sr., Stratford, vs. Jordan Boldt (43-4), sr., Bonduel.
138: Jeremy Schoenherr (35-0), sr., Stratford, vs. Jake Baldwin (45-5), jr., Coleman.
170: Trevor Dennee (40-5), so., Stratford, vs. Ryan Neu (43-0), jr., Dodgeland.