State wrestling qualifiers
Continued from page 10-11
Marathon senior Levi Krautkramer, 207, placed second at 138 pounds at sectionals to earn his first trip to state. He is seeded No. 10 at state. Red Raiders junior Swayne Stencil, 46-8, placed third at 144 pounds at sectionals to qualify for state for the second straight season. Stencil obtained his 100th career win when he pinned Owen Anderson of Turtle Lake/ Clayton in the sectional quarterfinal. He placed sixth at state last year to make the podium and he is seeded No. 5 at state this year.
Red Raiders junior Grant Salber, 36-19, didn’t place at 165 pounds in the sectional and neither did sophomore Jace Ostrowski, 23-21, at 190 pounds.
Stratford junior Matthias Kaiser, 41-9, placed second at 150 pounds at sectionals to qualify for state for the second straight season. He didn’t place in the 132-pound state weight class last year and he is seeded No. 7 at 150 pounds at state this year. Tigers senior Brandon Knetter, 18--15, placed third at 157 pounds at sectionals to qualify for state for the first time. He is seeded No. 12 in his state weight class. Stratford junior Drew Gage, 44-9, placed third at 285 pounds at sectionals to qualify for state for the first time. He is seeded No. 7 in his state weight class.
Tigers senior Jack Tubbs, 37-10, didn’t place at 175 pounds in the sectional and neither did junior Lucas Forrest, 37-16, at 138 pounds.
The Ladysmith sectional team scores were similar to those at the Edgar regional with Stratford easily taking first place followed by Glenwood City in second and Auburndale in third. Saturday’s individual sectional team scores didn’t matter because Stratford had already won the team sectional championship on Feb. 11 to advance to state on Saturday, March 8. The WIAA will seed Division 3 state teams Stratford, Mineral Point, Oostburg and Weyauwega-Fremont after this weekend’s individual state tournament.
BARELY MISSING A STATE BERTH - Edgar sophomore Isaiah Kraft is shown winning a 15-0 technical fall against Ethan Humphrey of Chequamegon in the 120-pound sectional consolation semifinals match on Saturday in Ladysmith. Kraft ended up placing fourth in his sectional weight class to just miss qualifying for the state individual wrestling tournament.
PHOTO BY ELLE GAUERKE
HEAD-TO-HEAD MATCHUP - Marathon junior Grant Salber ended up losing a close 7-6 decision to Aaron Sturm in the 165-pound sectional consolation semifinals match. Salber didn’t place at sectionals but he’ll come back next season hungrier than ever to attempt to earn a trip to state in his final high school season.
PHOTO BY ELLE GAUERKE
YOUNG RED RAIDERS WRESTLER - Marathon sophomore Jace Ostrowski eventually got pinned by DauTre Allen of Cumberland in the 175-pound sectionals consolation semifinals match. Ostrowski made a valiant effort just to reach sectionals this season so he has plenty of room for growth in his next two high school seasons. Red Raiders head varsity wrestling coach Kraig Underwood is shown behind him to the left next to varsity assistant coach Hector Pintor.
PHOTO BY ELLE GAUERKE
TOUGH LOSS - Stratford senior Jack Tubbs lost a close overtime match to DauTre Allen of Cumberland in the 175-pound sectional quarterfinals match to end his day. Tubbs will still wrestle in Stratford’s WIAA Division 3 state team semifinals match on Saturday, March 8, at the UW Fieldhouse.
PHOTO BY ELLE GAUERKE
JUST MISSING STATE - Stratford junior Lucas Forrest is pictured winning a sudden death victory against Kyle Whitcome of Bruce in the 138-pound sectionals consolation semifinals match. Forrest ended up placing fourth in his weight class to barely miss advancing to the state individual wrestling tournament.
PHOTO BY ELLE GAUERKE
