Pair of Tigers earn gold

Drexler and Smart are state champs

By Casey Krautkramer

Stratford senior Gavin Drexler easily won his third straight WIAA Division 3 individual state tournament wrestling championship on Saturday night at the Kohl Center in Madison. Later in the night, Drexler’s senior teammate, Raife Smart, won his first state championship.

Drexler cruised past his competition with a 16-0 technical fall against Kaleb Sonnentag in the state quarterfinals on Friday morning, followed up with a 16-2 major decision against Dominic Leintz of Clear Lake in the semifinals on Friday night. Drexler won a 11-1 major decision against Tarin Riley of Mineral Point in the state finals under the bright lights on Saturday night.

Drexler finishes his senior season with a 38-1 record; his lone defeat was a medical forfeit in the Bi-State Classic in La Crosse. He describes how he felt after capturing his third straight state championship on Saturday night. Drexler also won state titles at 138 pounds last season and at 126 as a sophomore.

“I was very happy and thankful for all the success I’ve had over the years,” Drexler said. “I didn’t just get lucky to achieve my amount of success; it came from a lot of hard work over the years.”

Drexler has a 110-1 match record during the past three seasons. He lost twice in sectionals that cost him a trip to individual state during his freshman season, which motivated him to “work harder and smarter” during the remainder of his Stratford High School wrestling career.

He concludes his high school career with a 152-3 match record. He’ll now take some time off to rest his body before he begins training for his college wrestling career at Division 1 North Dakota State.

Smart of Stratford won the 195-pound state championship this season, after finishing as runners-up last year. He won a 9-4 decision against Grant Rydlund of Ladysmith in the 195-pound state finals on Saturday night and on concludes this season with a 33-3 match record.

“It feels great to win the state championship,” Smart said. “Honestly, losing in the state finals last year changed my perspective about wrestling. The state finals loss made me push myself to wrestle and practice so much harder this season. I think that was the real reason I won the state championship this season.”

Smart recently committed to wrestle in college at Divison 2 Upper Iowa University next year. He is scheduled to sign his official college wrestling letter of intent at 9:40 a.m. on Tuesday, March 15, in the Stratford High School commons.

Stratford seniors Elijah Lucio, 37-3, took third place at state at 152 pounds and Cole Marten, 33-8, was fourth at 220. Tigers junior Jackson Ormond, 41-10, placed fifth at state. Stratford freshman Trenton Cournoyer, 34-9, failed to place at state in the 106-pound weight class and senior Dillon Kirsch, 32-13, also didn’t place at 152 pounds.

‘Jays, Raiders represented

Athens senior Brooks Kraus, 36-9, didn’t place at 132 pounds in his first trip to the state tournament this season. Nonetheless, he enjoyed the state tournament atmosphere.

“Competing at state was a great experience,” Kraus said. “There is nothing like running out on the mat in front of thousands of fans; the Kohl Center is an amazing venue. While my result at the state tournament was less than ideal, I’m proud of my senior season.”

Kraus gave a motivational speech to Athens youth wrestlers at their practice last week.

“I pride myself on my work ethic and if I can inspire the next group of Athens wrestlers and help them achieve their own goals, then I’ll do my best to do that,” he said.

Marathon sophomore Dylan Dodson, 38-10, also failed to place at 113 pounds in his first state tournament appearance. Like Kraus, he was happy to experience wrestling on the state tournament mat in the Kohl Center at the end of this season.

“It was an exciting feeling to just be down in Madison wrestling at the state tournament,” Dodson said. “Even though I lost my first match, it was still really cool to wrestle at state and this loss will push me harder to place at the state tournament next year.”