Golden Eagles stun Tigers
Stratford’s big lead dissipates in state match
Early on it appeared Stratford’s wrestling team was destined to beat Fennimore in a WIAA Division 3 state semifinal match on Saturday morning, but the Golden Eagles had another idea in rallying for a 37-31 comeback win.
Stratford senior wrestler Max Schwabe put the state semifinal match defeat in perspective after it concluded at the UW Fieldhouse in Madison. He and his fellow seniors were part of historic Tiger teams that won state championships against Fennimore during the freshman and sophomore seasons, and a state runners-up finish to the Golden Eagles last year.
“It’s been a crazy ride and I wouldn’t want to wrestle in any other singlet,” Max Schwabe said. “I’m going to miss my younger teammates and I wish them all the best of luck next year.”
Fennimore wrestling head coach Chad Steldt was engaged in a chess match with Stratford head coach Joe Schwabe throughout the state semifinal match at the UW Fieldhouse in Madison. Steldt’s moves didn’t pan out at the beginning of the match but they did toward the end.
Stratford senior wrestler Max Schwabe was hoping to be given an opportunity to avenge an 8-6 decision loss to Fennimore senior Alex Birchman in the 132-pound individual state championship bout the previous Saturday, but he was never given an opportunity. Steldt matched up his second best 132-pound wrestler, freshman Maximos Miles, at 132 pounds against Max Schwabe to begin the state semifinal match. Max Schwabe pinned Maximos Miles in one minute, 51 seconds. WIAA DIVISION 3 TEAM WRESTLING STATE TOURNAMENT
Steldt moved Alex Birchman up one weight class to wrestle Stratford sophomore Elijah Lucio at 138 pounds. Steldt’s strategy didn’t pan out, however, because Lucio held his ground against Alex Birchman by not surrendering any bonus points in a 6-3 decision loss.
The Tigers built a commanding 25-3 lead from freshman Konnor Stuttgen dominating Golden Eagles senior Aidan Nutter in a 10-5 decision win at 145 pounds, junior Jacob Heiden pulling out a 6-2 decision win against senior Mason Lull at 152, senior Devin Dennee easily winning a 15-1 major decision against senior Nick Blaschke at 160 and senior Trevor Dennee receiving a forfeit win at 182.
Fennimore was in dire straights against Stratford, so Steldt decided to make more changes in his starting lineup. His strategy worked to perfection when the Golden Eagles won six consecutive bouts, including the last five by pins, to come back and win the match.
Steldtdecidedtogiveupsixteampoints to two-time individual state wrestling champion Trevor Dennee at 182 pounds and instead move senior Will Ahnen up to wrestle Stratford sophomore Raife Smart at 195 pounds. Ahnen easily won a 10-1 major decision against Smart.
Fennimore’s coach then matched up his second best 220-pound wrestler, senior Logan Klaas, against Tigers junior Beau Gross. Klass pinned Gross in 2:56. He moved senior Aaron Ragels up to 285 pounds to wrestle against Stratford sophomore Cole Marten. Ragels wore a brace on his knee, in his recovery from surgery on his torn ACL, while pinning Marten in 3:56.
Fennimore freshman Brett Birchman quickly pinned Stratford junior Camryn Fisher in 15 seconds at 106 pounds to tie the match at 25 team points apiece. Golden Eagles freshman Jayden Glasbrenner pinned Tigers junior Karter Stuttgen in 5:12 at 113 pounds, senior Luke Blair pinned sophomore Logan Gaulke in 1:45 at 120 to secure the state semifinal match victory. With the match win already in hand, Fennimore forfeited 126 pounds to Stratford sophomore Gavin Drexler.
Stratford coach Joe Schwabe said there’s no reason for his wrestlers to hang their head after the state semifinal match loss to Fennimore. The Tigers conclude their season with a 27-1 record in dual meets.
“We wrestled hard against one of the best teams in the state, no matter what division,” he said. “We wrestled our best and had a couple things not go our way in the end and we came up short today. I’m proud of these guys, we had a great year.”
His son, Max Schwabe, will wrestle in college next year for the Division II Minnesota State University Mavericks. He’s ready to start the next chapter in his wrestling career.
“I am extremely motivated now to go wrestle in college and do the best I can do at the next level,” Max Schwabe said.
Coleman downed Random Lake, 40-36, in the other WIAA Division 3 state wrestling semifinal match on Saturday morning. Coleman then beat Fennimore, 27-26, on tiebreaker criteria in the state team championship match on Saturday afternoon.
