By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
Following a stellar career on the football gridiron and the basketball court, recent Stratford High School graduate Ben Barten has been named the WDLB-WOSQ Radio and MarshfieldAreaSports.com High School Athlete of the Year.
Barten was chosen by WDLB-WOSQ Radio and MarshfieldAreaSports.com staff for the award, which is also sponsored by Burt Trophy & Awards, Stevens Point Orthopedics and Cost Cutters Family Hair Care of Marshfield.
The Athlete of the Year announcement is the culmination of our 2019-20 Athlete of the Month program, which gave out awards based on voting each month prior to the shutdown of all school activities in March.
Varsity athletes from the following high schools were eligible for the monthly award: Abbotsford, Athens, Auburndale, Colby, Columbus Catholic, Edgar, Granton, Greenwood, Loyal, Marathon, Marshfield, Neillsville, Owen-Withee, Pittsville, Spencer, Stratford and Thorp.
Barten, who will be attending the University of Wisconsin this fall and playing football for the Badgers, was a unanimous first-team all-Marawood Conference pick on both the offensive and defensive lines for the Stratford football team, earning Marawood Lineman of the Year. He had 58 tackles as a defensive lineman, 13 for loss, and three quarterback sacks as the Tigers reached the WIAA Division 5 state championship game for the second year in a row.
Barten was also named the Tim Krumrie Award winner, which is given to the most outstanding senior defensive lineman in Wisconsin by Wisconsin Sports Network and WisSports.net.
On the basketball court, Barten averaged 15.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game for the Tigers, who finished the season undefeated at 24-0 and reached the Division 4 sectional finals before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Barten was a two-time first-team all-Marawood Conference South Division selection and earned Co-Player of the Year honors this season. He shot 73.1 percent from the field and 72.3 percent at the free throw line for the Tigers. In his final game as a Tiger, Barten made all nine of his field goal attempts and all three of his free throw attempts, scoring 21 points and grabbing eight rebounds in a 66-50 win over Auburndale in the Division 4 sectional semifinals on March 12.
The 2019-20 Athlete of the Month award winners were: Marshfield soccer and football player Kyle Tremelling (September), Marshfield Columbus Catholic volleyball player Meghan Kibbel (October), Auburndale cross country runner Erricka Zenner (November), Spencer/Columbus Catholic wrestler Ashton Ackman (December), Spencer girls basketball player Heavyn Kind (January), Stratford wrestler Gavin Drexler (February), and Pittsville boys basketball player Matthew Kissner (March).
Previous Athlete of the Year award winners are: Owen-Withee football and basketball player, and track athlete Albert Goerlitz (2014), Athens football, basketball and baseball player Seth Coker (2015), Marathon football, basketball and baseball player Ryan Gassner (2016), Marshfield Columbus Catholic soccer, basketball and baseball player Tyler Fuerlinger (2017), Spencer football player, wrestler and baseball player Hunter Luepke (2018), and Spencer football player, wrestler and track athlete Logan Zscernitz (2019).