By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Wisconsin Rapids is the measuring stick for every high school wrestling team in Wisconsin, and Marshfield is no exception.
The Raiders, winners of 15 of the last 16 Wisconsin Valley Conference championships and 13 of 15 WIAA state team tournament titles, invade the Marshfield High School Fieldhouse on Thursday night to take on the Marshfield Tigers.
Rapids (3-0 in the Valley) is ranked No. 1 by Wisconsin Wrestling Online (wiwrestling.com), and Marshfield (15-4, 3-1 Valley) is No. 11, but Tigers coach Don Lang said he realizes it will be tough to knock off the Raiders.
“They are very, very talented with a very talented group of sophomores,” Lang said. “We’re working on things in practice to slow them down. We look at generating some things on offense based on our countering.
“But I am realistic. We’re going to be outmanned in half the weight classes. It will be a good night if we can get out of there with five or six wins. I think we can be competitive.”
Wisconsin Rapids boasts three of the top-ranked wrestlers in their weight classes, according to Wisconsin Wrestling Online’s rankings. Rylan Lubeck at 140, Zak Benitz at 145 and Curt Fuller at 285 will pose big problems for the Tigers.
Marshfield has top-ranked Brad Dolezal at 152 pounds and Jordan Koranda (28-1) is ranked second at 215, giving the Tigers some firepower as well.
The Wisconsin Valley Conference Tournament is coming up Feb. 6, and Lang said he is very happy with the way the Tigers’ season is going with the postseason looming.
“If we can roll into regionals with the lineup we have, we are going to be in the thick of things,” Lang said. “Wausau West and Merrill are there with us – we should all be vying for regional championship.”
Freshman Toran Neiman (19-2 at 103 pounds), Josh Shupe (18 wins at 135), Daniel Barton (4-0 in the Valley at 130) and heavyweight Cale Schliesman (18 wins at heavyweight) have given the Tigers depth behind Dolezal, Koranda and 125-pounder Torin Boernke.
Contact Paul Lecker at paul@marshfieldareasports.com.
