Tigers off to a quick start

Varsity goes 5-0 at annual home duals

By Casey Krautkramer

Stratford’s varsity wrestling team began its 2021-22 season with five straight pins in its home dual match against Glenwood City on Thursday.

The Tigers dispatched the Hilltoppers, 60-16, before enjoying a 5-0 match record in its home Schoenherr Duals on Saturday. Stratford won matches against Barron, Crandon, Phillips, Southern Door and Wausau East.

Stratford grapplers won 10 of the 14 weight classes at the Schoenherr Duals. Tigers who achieved 5-0 records in their weight classes are freshman Trenton Cournoyer at 113 pounds, senior Logan Gliniecki at 138, senior Gavin Drexler at 145, senior Elijah Lucio at 160, senior Gavin Kirsch at 170, junior Jackson Ormond at 182, senior Raife Smart at 195, senior Cole Marten at 220 and junior Alex Mueller at 285. Senior Dillon Kirsch placed second at 152 pounds with a 4-1 record.

Tigers second-year head coach Adam Davison is proud of his wrestlers starting off this season strong.

“Winning the Schoenherr Duals is always a goal of ours and with our senior- heavy roster, we knew we would be pretty heavy favorites against our opponents. It’s still always a great day to go 5-0 and to have Logan Gliniecki take home the Most Valuable Wrestler award for pinning four kids in under four minutes total on the mat.”

Stratford’s varsity reserve wrestling squad placed seventh among 17 varsity teams competing in the Black River Falls tournament on Saturday.

“Having multiple kids place at the Black River Falls tournament speaks volumes to the depth of our team,” Davison said. “A huge shoutout to junior 152-pounder Ryan Becker and freshmen 170-pounder Carter Lueck for taking home individual titles at that tournament. Both would be varsity wrestlers on a lot of teams.”

There are 37 wrestlers in Stratford High School’s wrestling program this season.

“Success breeds success,” Davison said. “When you have a good program and people see that success it becomes easier to want to be involved. It’s a culture and a mindset that predates me as a coach here and something we are proud to continue.”

Wrestlers who were in Stratford’s starting lineup last season might not necessarily be in the starting lineup at various times this season, because of so many grapplers competing for starting spots.

“This is 100 percent a good thing for us,” Davison said. “Last year, we lacked experience in some weight classes and there wasn’t a ton of competition for those classes. This year, many of our weight classes include multiple kids who are all gunning for the same spots. Take a kid like Roman Schmidt who was a varsity wrestler last year. He lost a wrestle-off this season but he has taken huge strides forward as a wrestler between last season and this season; he took fifth place in Black River Falls last weekend. “Having depth can be a big deal when it comes to duals; having multiple kids who you can trust to score points is valuable for the team. It becomes about being a team player and handling things the right way. Losing a wrestle-off doesn’t mean your season is over; we have plenty of reserve matches and tournaments and those kids still have a job to do for the team. With that being said, don’t be surprised if certain positions change hands throughout the year as some of the kids move to different weight classes. There will be quite a bit of fluidity to our roster throughout the season.”

Stratford’s state medalists back from last season are senior Gavin Drexler, who was state champion at 145 pounds last year. He will attempt to win his third straight individual state title this season before he graduates and wrestles for Division 1 North Dakota State next year. Senior Raife Smart was an individual state championship runner-up at 195 pounds last season and senior Elijah Lucio placed fifth at state at 160 pounds.

The Tigers also return sectional qualifiers from last season in Logan Gaulke (132/138), Ryan Becker (145/152), Jackson Ormond (182), Cole Marten (220) and Patrick Greenberg (195/220).

“Add to that Logan Gliniecki (a senior at 132/138) who had a strong season for us last year before losing his starting spot as other wrestlers shuffled weights and Ashtyn Kuehn (senior at 126) and we have a ton of experienced wrestlers in our lineup.”

Davison said the newcomers are going to play a huge role on the team this season.

“We have a great freshmen class (whether the kids are on varsity or not) and we had some kids return to the program after not wrestling last year. Dillon (senior at 152) and Gavin (senior at 170) are currently slotted into spots vacated by graduated state medalists from last year. If they are able to have similar success (both of which have a ton of experience and ability) it will very nicely fill some gaps between our returning state medalists.

“Alex Weis (a senior at 126) has also decided to come out for wrestling, and despite being new to the sport, he’s passionate about the sport and he works hard and is willing to learn. Jesse Bauer (freshman at 106), Trenton Cournoyer (freshman at 113) and Cayden Leonhardt (freshman at 120) have all currently established themselves as varsity starters in the bottom of our lineup.”

Davison’s assistant coaches this season include Kane Krummel, Greg Heiden and former Stratford head coach Joe Schwabe.

THIS SEASON’S STRATFORD WRESTLERS- Stratford High School 2021-22 grapplers are pictured in the Fanetti Wrestling Center on Thursday before the varsity squad’s home-opening match win against Glenwood City.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER