YOUNG BUT TALENTED

MEDFORD WRESTLING PREVIEW

Raiders will learn, but also expect to compete

The graduations of impactful senior classes in back-to-back years has almost completely turned over the Medford wrestling roster from just two to three years ago when the Raiders were WIAA Division 2 team sectional contenders and had a noticeable presence at the state tournament.

Youth is the story now in the wrestling room at Medford Area Senior High, but sixth-year head coach Brandon Marcis said Monday there is also a new level of excitement in the room that comes with thinking what this group can become.

“When you have a room full of underclassmen you see the potential that’s there and it’s really exciting,” Marcis said. “Next year you’re going to basically have all of them again. That’s really nice in that respect. That fires me up. The excitement level that I have is similar to my first year. We have a lot of kids with a lot of potential. We just have to put in the time. Wrestling doesn’t lie.”

Without question, freshmen and sophomores will have a major say in how far the 2021-22 team goes. There are two seniors –– Oscar Hinderliter and Kayden Dassow –– and a handful of juniors who do bring some varsity experience.

“This is our youngest crew which is a weird opportunity, just because we have kids who have a lot of wrestling experience, but we’re just young,” Marcis said. “Our goal is to make that transition to the next level of high school wrestling, learning to be physical and raising their pace in matches.”

The first test comes tonight, Thursday, when the Raiders head to Neillsville to face the Neillsville-Greenwood-Loyal Co-op in a 7 p.m. dual meet. Saturday will be a day full of dual meets at the Wausau West Invitational, then the Raiders will host their home opener Dec. 9 against non-conference rival Stanley-Boyd.

The Raiders are coming off a 202021 season that was unlike any other and something Wisconsin’s wrestling community would rather not repeat. COVID restrictions limited the regular season to primarily dual meets, though eventually triangulars and quads were held, and even the state’s top wrestlers were relegated to fewer than 20 matches in most cases.

Medford did share the Great Northern Conference championship with Tomahawk and placed third at the Regis-Altoona regional, but Marcis said the season structure wasn’t a big help for the Raiders, who were already starting to skew to a younger overall roster. However, he is happy with how that young group made the best of the situation.

“One thing that a lot of our younger kids did, which was most of our team, was because we didn’t have much of a season, a lot of kids did the freestyle and Greco thing afterwards last year,” Marcis said. “I think last year was one of the highest years we’ve ever had for numbers of off-season wrestling, just because the WIAA didn’t really offer it, so they went to the club side of things. I can already see it, just with how kids wrestle and their awareness of their hips and things like that.”

Marcis is also quick to point out that the freshmen crew is not inexperienced by any means when it comes to wrestling. That class will just need some time to adjust to wrestling at the varsity level. As for the varsity lineup, the only hole as the season gets underway is at 285 pounds, which is not an uncommon problem for teams in the area. Otherwise, the coaches staff has options for each of the other 13 weight classes with more than 20 wrestlers in the program overall.

The rough draft, so to speak, as the season gets underway shows freshmen Rylan Zoellick and Nick Malchow battling for time at 106 pounds, while Thaddeus Sigmund, the GNC’s 106-pound champion last year, bumps up to 113 pounds.

“Thaddeus is obviously one of our most experienced kids on the team as far as high school seasons go, if not the most experienced,” Marcis said.

Junior Matt Gebert returns after missing last winter due to injury and is penciled in at 120 pounds along with freshman Christian Mahner.

Sophomore Jude Stark and freshman Paxton Rothmeier give Medford solid options at 126 pounds. Stark was third at 120 in last year’s GNC tournament. Junior Itsael Medina and freshman Parker Lissner fill the 132-pound slot. Dassow and freshman Gage Losiewicz start at 138 pounds. Losiewicz’s busy summer included time with Team Wisconsin’s 14U squad wrestling in dual and individual competition.

Sophomore Cory Lindahl is back at 145 pounds. He earned honorable mention in the GNC at 132 pounds last winter. The 152-pound spot includes freshman Evan Wilkins and junior Blake Schilling, another wrestler who missed all of last year but got some varsity matches as a freshman. Hinderliter was one of Medford’s big improvers last year and fills the 160-pound spot.

Logan Kawa, the winner of the team’s Most Improved Wrestler award last winter, fills the 170-pound slot. As a freshman, he was the GNC runner-up at that weight. Freshman Tripp Reamer starts the year at 182 pounds. Junior Wyatt Johnson, a sectional qualifier last year and third-place finisher in the GNC at 220 pounds, starts this year at 195 pounds. Sophomore Braxton Weissmiller, who was put in a tough spot wrestling at heavyweight last year, starts this year in his more natural spot of 220 pounds. “I think we have a solid lineup all the way through,” Marcis said.

Obviously wrestling programs around the state are thrilled to get weekend invitationals back that will give wrestlers more opportunities to compete and improve. The Raiders are scheduled to return to familiar events such as the two-day La Crosse Bi-State Classic and the Eau Claire North, D.C. Everest, Freedom and Arcadia invitationals.

But for Marcis, this Saturday’s tournament at Wausau West is a big one for his young squad as it will compete in five dual meets during the all-day affair.

“It’s competition week,” he said. “We have six duals. I always love to put the emphasis on the team because I know the better the team is, the better our individuals are and that’s always true. That’s why we always make team our first priority. That’s why we start out with six dual meets.”

Of course, the season also includes the Great Northern Conference component. Medford went 5-0 in GNC duals last season but was outscored by Tomahawk in the final tournament resulting in the teams’ co-championships. Tomahawk certainly will be a contender, as it returns three GNC champions and two runners-up. Rhinelander, Antigo, Lakeland and Mosinee will all have a top-notch wrestler or two.

But as Marcis views it, it’s simply up to Medford’s wrestlers to determine how successful the Raiders are as a team and how far the individuals go at season’s end.

“Our juniors and seniors are our only wrestlers who know a full season because last year was very hard just with how the schedule was,” he said. “Even our sophomores are kinda like freshmen because nobody knows what a tournament is. Nobody really knows how to train for that. That’s going to be a learning curve for them in that respect. But I also think we’re talented and have a ton of potential. As far as our goals go, we want to win everything that we can. I think that we’re capable of winning lots of things.”

Gilman’s Madisyn James flips a shot over Flambeau’s Kirsten Lawton that finds its mark and gives the Pirates an early 2-0 lead in Monday’s eventual 41-35 loss.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS