Tigers win conference tourney

Drexler wins fourth title in his career

By Casey Krautkramer

Stratford wrestlers won half of the 14 weight classes on Saturday in Edgar to help the Tigers easily capture their eighth straight Marawood Conference tournament championship. The Tigers also won their ninth consecutive Marawood Conference dual meet championship this season.

The Stratford Tigers tallied 242 points at the conference tournament, followed by Auburndale in second place with 137. Phillips placed third with 136 points, Edgar was fourth with 104, Chequamegon fifth with 99, Marathon sixth with 84 and Athens seventh with 45. There was no conference tournament last season due to COVID-19.

Stratford wrestlers who won individual conference titles on Saturday are freshman Trenton Cournoyer in the 106-pound weight class, senior Gavin Drexler at 138 pounds, senior Dillon Kirsch at 145, senior Elijah Lucio at 152, freshman Carter Lueck at 170, senior Raife Smart at 195 and senior Cole Marten at 220.

Four-time champions

Gavin Drexler became the seventh Tiger in school history on Saturday to win four individual Marawood Con- ference championships, and also the 22nd wrestler to accomplish the feat in conference history.

Auburndale senior Noah Altmann, 32-5, became the 21st wrestler to win four individual conference titles on Saturday after a 9-6 decision win against Athens senior Brooks Kraus, 30-7. Altmann is the first Auburndale grappler in school history to win four individual conference championships.

Gavin Drexler, 27-3, pinned Marathon sophomore Derek Vesely, 23-13, in 56 seconds in the 138-pound conference tournament championship on Saturday. He joins his older brother, Manny Drexler, and first cousin, Kamren Bornbach, as four-time individual Marawood Conference wrestling champions in Stratford school wrestling history.

Other Tigers who are four time conference champions are Max Schwabe, Jeremy Schoenherr, AJ Schoenfuss and Shawn Kitchner.

Gavin Drexler is not conducting interviews with the media until the conclusion of the WIAA Division 3 individual wrestling championships on Feb. 24-26 at the Kohl Center in Madison, so he can focus on winning his third straight individual state title.

Stratford head wrestling coach Adam Davison, however, is happy to talk about Gavin Drexler’s great accomplishment of becoming a fourtime individual Marawood Conference wrestling champion.

“So much goes into being a conference champion four times,” Davison said. “Being a varsity starter early in a career is hard enough for some wrestlers, but then to potentially beat upperclassmen to earn a conference title is an impressive feat. Health plays a huge role and that is one area that I think Gavin is pretty exceptional. This year’s ankle injury notwithstanding, Gavin does a great job at warming up and stretching every time he wrestles; he puts in a lot of work to stay on the mat every match.

“If nothing else, I really hope our two freshmen who won conference titles, Trenton Cournoyer at 106 pounds and Carter Lueck at 170, look at kids like Gavin and see the right way to do things and use that as an example to follow. Gavin certainly had great examples to follow in his early years between kids like his older brothers and teammate Max Schwabe.”

Gavin and Manny Drexler’s oldest brother, Jake Drexler, won three individual Marawood Conference championships and he’s a senior wrestler at UW-Eau Claire this season. They are the sons of Dan and Cara Drexler of Stratford.

Elite class of wrestlers

Gavin Drexler is the latest Stratford wrestler added to the list of competitors who’ve won four individual Marawood Conference titles since the first conference tournament championship was held in 1964.

The following wrestlers, not including those from Stratford and Altmann of Auburndale, who are four-time Marawood Conference champions are: Brad Ellenbecker, Cliff Angie, Mike Zinkowich, Kraig Underwood, Shawn Ange and Mark Natzke of Athens; Andrew Lukasko, Brandon Manecke, Matt Nowak, Luke Nowak, Connor Handrick and Devin Lemanski of Edgar and Matt Hanutke and Brad Marten of Pittsville.

Lucio wins third title

Trenton Cournoyer, 25-8, won a 12-0 major decision against Auburndale freshman Derek Godard, 27-7, in the 106-pound first place Marawood Conference championship bout. Dillon Kirsch, 24-10, pinned Phillips junior Jesse Bruhn, 19-10, in one minute, 31 seconds in the 145-pound first place bout.

Elijah Lucio of Stratford, 24-1, won a 14-3 major decision against Phillips junior James Bruhn, 19-9, in the 152-pound first place bout to capture his third individual Marawood Conference championship.

Carter Lueck, 12-5, pinned Phillips sophomore Ethan Upson, 12-9, in 3:36 in the 170-pound first place bout.

Raife Smart, 23-2, won a 9-5 decision against Auburndale senior Brice Thiel, 21-10, in the 195-pound first place bout. Cole Marten, 23-5, pinned Auburndale junior Adam Dorshorst, 10-13, fun 3:31 in the 220-pound first place bout. Smart and Cole Marten are now two-time individual Marawood Conference champions.

Athens wrestler takes first

Athens sophomore Connor Lewandowski, 19-16, won by a 15-0 technical fall against Edgar freshman Austin Schreiber, 12-13, in the 126-pound Marawood Conference tournament championship on Saturday in Edgar. Bluejays senior Brooks Kraus, 30-7, took second place at 132 pounds.

Wirkus is two-time champ

Edgar senior Waylon Wirkus, 24-4, pinned Brandon Sommers of Phillips, 19-10, in 1:56 in the 285-pound first place Marawood Conference championship match on Saturday in Edgar. Wirkus is now a two-time individual conference champion.

Freshman Austin Schreiber took second place at 126 pounds. Four Wildcats placed third in their respective weight classes including senior Collin Gajewski at 170 pounds, junior Chris Kohl at 152 and freshmen Chris Koeppl at 182 and Dakota Ellenbecker at 195.

Edgar senior Jesse Jisko took fourth place at 145 pounds, freshman Jase Apfelbeck was fourth at 160 and senior Stetson Lemmer fifth at 138.

Dodson a two-time champ

Marathon sophomore Dylan Dodson, 31-7, won two straight individual Marawood Conference championships, which gives him a shot to possibly become the school’s first four-time conference champion down the road.

Junior Hector Pintor of Marathon, 32-9, pinned senior Gavin Kirsch of Stratford, 25-7, in 39 seconds in the 160-pound first place bout to win his first individual Marawood Confer- ence championship. Sophomore Derek Vesely, 23-13, took second place at 128 pounds and sophomore Jacob Smith, won an 11-8 decision against Edgar senior Jesse Jisko, 13-8, in the 145-pound third place bout.

Most titles in history

Stratford leads all Marawood Conference schools with 174 individual conference champions since the first conference tournament in 1964, followed by Athens with 159. Edgar is third with 116 individual conference champions, while Pittsviile has 93 and Marathon 37. Pittsville left the Marawood Conference a few years ago.

HAIL THE MARAWOOD CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS- Wrestlers who won individual Marawood Conference touranment championships on Saturday at Edgar High School pose with their weight class charts. Conference champions pictured, from left to right, front row: Stratford freshman Trenton Cournoyer at 106 pounds, Auburndale freshman Colton Weiler at 113, sophomore Dylan Dodson of Marathon at 120, junior Connor Lewandowski of Athens at 126, senior Noah Altmann of Auburndale at 132 and senior Gavin Drexler of Stratford at 138; back row: Stratford senior Dillon Kirsch at 145 pounds, Stratford senior Elijah Lucio at 152, Marathon junior Hector Pintor at 160, Stratford freshman Carter Lueck at 170, Auburndale junior Sloan Welch at 182, Stratford senior Raife Smart at 195, Stratford senior Cole Marten at 220 and Edgar senior Waylon Wirkus at 285.

MARATHON GRAPPLERS AT THE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT- Red Raider wrestlers who placed at the Marawood Conference tournament on Saturday pose for a picture in the Edgar High School gym. Pictured, from left to right, are sophomore Dylan Dodson, who won the 120-pound title on Saturday to become a two-time individual Marawood Conference champion; junior Hector Pintor, who won the 160-pound title to capture his first individual conference championship; sophomore Derek Vesely who was runners-up at 138 pounds and sophomore Jacob Smith who placed third at 145 pounds.PHOTO COURTESY OF KRAIG UNDERWOOD