Teams’state bids fall short

By Casey Krautkramer

Both the Marathon and Stratford varsity wrestling teams lost to Cumberland at Tuesday’s WIAA Division 3 team sectional in Cadott. Marathon was making its first known trip in school history to team sectionals after finishing as regional runners-up to Stratford, while the Tigers were attempting to earn back-to-back trips to the state team tournament.

It turns out that this year Cumberland finally made it through the team sectional to earn only its second state team tournament berth in school history. Cumberland’s only other state team tournament appearance was in 1999 when it finished as Division 3 state runners-up to champion Wrightstown.

Cumberland also competed in last year’s Division 3 team sectional with Stratford in Cadott. Cumberland lost its team sectional semifinal match to Glenwood City, 46-27, while Stratford beat Clear Lake, 53-18, in its team sectional semifinal match last year. Stratford then defeated Glenwood City, 42-28, to advance to team state last season.

Stratford won its 10th WIAA Division 3 regional championship in the last 11 years on Saturday in Auburndale. Stratford won seven consecutive regional titles before finishing as runners-up to Cadott in 2021. Stratford has since won three straight regional titles.

The Tigers beat the Ladysmith regional runners-up Shell Lake Lakers, 53-27, in Tuesday’s WIAA Division 3 team sectional semifinals match in Cadott. Marathon lost to Ladysmith regional champion Cumberland, 61-12, in the other Division 3 team sectional semifinals match.

Marathon sophomores Swayne Stencil and Reed McCain were the only Red Raiders who beat their Cumberland Beavers opponents in the team sectional semifinals match. Stencil pinned Boaz West in three minutes, 35 seconds in the 132-pound weight class and McCain pinned Jack Owens in 1:59 at 165 pounds.

Stratford meanwhile, took care of business against Shell Lake in the other team sectional semifinals match. The draw weight was 126 pounds where freshman Aaron Knetter pinned Phoenix Heise in 1:27. Remaining Stratford wrestlers who won their matches against Shell Lake were junior Jesse Bauer with an 18-2 technical fall against Liam Hammond at 138 pounds, junior Jack Tubbs pinning Connor Vanderhoof in 1:51 at 165 pounds, junior Carter Lueck pinning Brock Naessen in 3:41 at 175 pounds, senior Noah Lucio pinning Steven Van Hoy in 2:50 at 215 pounds and sophomore Drew Gage pinning Elijah Petersen in 55 seconds at 285 pounds.

Team sectional final

The draw weight was 132 pounds in the team sectional championship match between Stratford and Cumberland on Tuesday in Cadott. Stratford sophomore Matthias Kaiser started the match with a pin against Boaz West in 2:42 to give the Tigers an early 6-0 lead.

Cumberland senior Dustin Johnson was a tough match for Stratford’s Jesse Bauer. Johnson won the WIAA Division 3 individual 126-pound state championship last year with a 54-2 match record. He is undefeated this year. Johnson pinned Bauer in 2:48 at 138 pounds to achieve his 100th career pin and 175th career match win.

Stratford sophomore Lucas Forrest lost a close 13-11 decision to Nelson Vasquez at 144 pounds which gave Cumberland a 9-6 advantage on the scoreboard. Tigers senior Kaleb Krummel lost a 9-4 decision to Logan Peterson at 150 pounds which gave the Beavers a 12-point lead. Stratford junior Brandon Knetter was pinned by Harrison Ruppel in 3:18 at 157 pounds as Cumberland took an 18-6 advantage in team points.

Tigers junior Jack Tubbs lost a close 7-5 decision to Jack Owens at 165 pounds to give the Beavers a commanding 21-6 lead. Stratford gained some momentum in the match against Cumberland by scoring two straight pins from junior Carter Lueck against DuTre Allen in 3:33 at 175 pounds and senior Noah Lucio against Brody Gilbertson in 3:18 at 190 pounds. Cumberland now held onto a slim 21-18 lead against Stratford.

Cumberland fans began chanting “Let’s go Beavers” and Stratford’s fans responded by chanting “Let’s go Walker” in reference to junior Walker Weiss who was up next to wrestle against Gabe Erickson in the 215-pound weight class. Weis lost a close 9-6 decision to Erickson. The Beavers extended their lead to 24-18 against the Tigers.

Stratford sophomore Drew Gage had a tall task against Jack Chafer at 285 pounds because Chafer was an individual WIAA Division 3 state competitor last year. Gage was pinned by Chafer in 1:28 to give Cumberland a 30-18 advantage.

Tigers freshman Kolton Haupt was pinned by Braden Johnson in 56 seconds at 106 pound to give the Beavers a 36-18 lead in the match.

Stratford now needed three straight pins by its remaining wrestlers to tie its match against Cumberland. Tigers sophomore Collin Cournoyer did his job by pinning Caleb Hile in 3:22 at 113 pounds. His older brother, junior Trenton Cournoyer, battled the best he could against Noah Hill at 120 pounds but he just couldn’t get the pin. Trenton Cournoyer settled for an 8-2 decision win but it wasn’t enough to help Stratford tie its match against Cumberland. Now that Cumberland had already won the sectional finals match, Stratford forfeited 126 pounds.

Cumberland will join Tuesday’s other WIAA Division 3 team sectional champions Coleman, Fennimore and Weyauwega- Fremont at the state team tournament on Saturday, March 2, at the UW Fieldhouse in Madison. Fennimore is the twotime defending Division 3 state champion.

INDIVIDUAL REGIONAL CHAMPION- Stratford junior Carter Lueck was in control from the start of Saturday’s WIAA Division 3 regional competition in Auburndale. He is shown going into the process of eventually pinning Sam Steinmeyer of Spring Valley/Elmwood in the 175-pound regional quarterfinals match, on his way to winning a regional title. Lueck also pinned both of his Shell Lake and Cumberland opponents at Tuesday’s WIAA Division 3 team sectional in Cadott.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER

GOING TO BATTLE IN AUBURNDALE- Marathon sophomore Grant Salber has Dylan Laberee of Clear Lake in a head lock during the WIAA Division 3 regional on Saturday in Auburndale. Salber ended up losing a close 4-2 decision to Laberee in the 175-pound weight class. Salber placed fifth at regionals to barely miss advancing to this Saturday’s individual sectional in Edgar.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER