Raiders crush Hatchets, off to dominant start in GNC duals

MEDFORD WRESTLING

After a December filled with good competition, the Medford Raiders hit the start of Great Northern Conference competition Thursday at full speed and earned lopsided wins over Tomahawk and host Rhinelander.

The 63-18 win over Tomahawk was significant as the two programs have shared the last two GNC team titles with Medford taking close dual-meet wins both seasons.

This time, the matchup in round two of Thursday’s quad in the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium was not close.

“It’s about our tough schedule,” Medford head coach Brandon Marcis said after the meet. “We keep wrestling statelevel teams and when we come back to the conference, we’re battle-tested.”

Tomahawk actually won the first two matches of the dual with Medford, but the Raiders blew the Hatchets off the mat by winning 11 of the final 12 bouts. The Hatchets got a pin from Braden Ristau in 50 seconds over Broden Schilling at 106 pounds and a forfeit win from Presley Gutbrod at 113 pounds to go up 12-0.

On paper, the 120-pound match between Medford senior Thaddeus Sigmund and Tomahawk freshman Walter Horabik appeared to be a mismatch, and it was as Sigmund needed just 30 seconds to put Medford on the board with a pin. At 126 pounds, senior Matt Gebert capped a big night for himself with his second pin, this one coming in 1:15 over sophomore Jack Derleth, an honorable mentionee last winter in the conference at 113 pounds. Gebert had Derleth on his back for one technical fall before recording the pin.

“Matt stepped up,” Marcis said. “He made weight at 126 this week. He’s wrestling really good on his feet, wrestling hard. He’s got that senior pride. He’s definitely wrestled with it.”

Junior Jude Stark was withheld from the quad as he was ill during the week and tweaked a knee at the Bi-State Classic the previous week.

“Depth is good,” Marcis said. “It keeps us sharp, keeps us hungry. When you know there’s another guy behind you, ready to take your spot, I think guys practice a little harder, they hustle a little more. When somebody is sick, like we had here, we have somebody to cover.”

Sophomores Owen Higgins and Parker Lissner followed with key wins that really got the momentum rolling.

At 132 pounds, Higgins controlled his match with Addison Peissig, a secondteam All-GNC performer last year. A first-period takedown and second-period reversal put him up 4-0. He reversed Peissig again midway through the third and went on to win 8-1. Lissner followed at 138 pounds with a dominant effort over Ryan Larson, who was the runner-up at that weight in last year’s GNC tournament. Lissner got two near falls in the first period to go up 8-1 and was up 14-3 when he got the pin at 3:50 to give the Raiders a 21-12 lead.

“I would say with Parker, there was a switch that flipped at Shawano (Dec. 17) where he just turned into a different guy,” Marcis said. “Ever since that tournament he’s been wrestling like a man on fire. Parker has just been doing outstanding, wrestling physical, constant pressure on his feet, he’s listening, hitting good technique, fundamentals. Everything he’s doing right now I’m so proud of. But we have to keep it rolling.”

Gage Losiewicz stuck Mason Towle in 31 seconds at 145 pounds. Cory Lindahl got a takedown and two-point near fall in the first five seconds in the 152-pound match with senior Hudson Mattke and got the pin in just 16 seconds. Paxton Rothmeier was almost just as quick, pinning Kaiden Kapellusch in 18 seconds in the 160-pound match.

Tomahawk forfeited to Evan Wilkins at 170 pounds. The Raiders bumped Logan Kawa up to 182 pounds and he stuck Ethan Trayes in 1:00.

Medford’s run ended at 195 pounds when Tomahawk’s Blake Younker pinned Jonathan Bartnik in 1:09, but Braxton Weissmiller closed things out with a 53-second pin on Nathan Norman at 220 pounds. Max Dietzman took a forfeit in the heavyweight match.

Six forfeits basically assured Medford would beat Rhinelander in round one, but the Raiders who did get a match wrestled well in the team’s 70-12 win.

The Hodags did hold a brief 12-6 lead. Owen Kurtz started the dual with a pin of Dietzman in 1:45 at 285 pounds, though Dietzman did get the match’s first takedown. Schilling took a forfeit at 106, but Medford forfeited to Tony Boldt at 113.

From there, the Raiders took 11 straight wins.

Sigmund started the run with a pin in 1:13 over Aiden Ostermann at 120, Gebert got the first takedown, gave up a takedown, but then got a reversal and pinned Kyle Wiese at 1:48 in the 126-pound match. Higgins again had to go the full six minutes at 132 pounds, but his match with Dresden Klaver was never in doubt as Higgins got a reversal, a takedown and back points in the third period for a 10-2 major decision.

Lissner, Losiewicz, Lindahl and Rothmeier took consecutive forfeits. Kawa had no trouble with Logan Schwinger, pinning him in 1:33 at 170 pounds. Wilkins bumped up to 182 and pinned Joe Evenson in 1:54. Bartnik pinned Abby Swanson in 40 seconds at 195 pounds and Weissmiller finished the dual by earning a forfeit at 220.

Tomahawk went 1-1 for the night, beating Mosinee 53-30 in round out. Mosinee also went 1-1 by taking a 36-30 win over Rhinelander in round two. The league’s other two teams met in Antigo with Lakeland taking an impressive 58-15 win over the Red Robins.

Medford hosts Mosinee tonight, Thursday, at 7 p.m. and will face Lakeland and Antigo at Mosinee on Jan. 19.