How does the race shape up this year?
My humble thoughts on this Super Moon Monday:
Marshfield
Stevens Point
Wisconsin Rapids
D.C Everest
Wausau West
Merrill
Wausau East
.....Hawkfan
Interesting picks but I think with Groshek in as a solid 106 freshman, Brady and Dylan Koontz, Bailey and Roth in the line-up SPASH will own the Valley Conference this year. I will follow up with Rapids, Marshfield, West, Merrill, Everest and East...
Just my 2 cents
Bulldog - agreed Point has several solid weights. Marshfield will have the same, but mostly at different weights. Will be a great dual!
I haven't really looked at West, East, Everest or Merrill, but as a Rapids fan, I don't see enough on Rapids for them to finish third in most years. If this is the case, then the conference race is only Point and Marshfield.
SPASH vs Marshfield this Thursday night. Should be a great meet!
http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/story/sports/high-school/wrestling/2016/12/15/marshfield-wrestling-problem-taking-spash/95506400/
Marshfield wrestling easily takes down SPASH
Scott A. Williams | USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
10:54 p.m. CT Dec. 15, 2016
STEVENS POINT - Payton Young was making his debut this season at 152 pounds Thursday night for the Marshfield wrestling team.
Young was forced to work overtime, but the junior found a way to have his arm lifted at the end of the match with a 6-4 decision.
That proved to be an omen for the Tigers the rest of the night.
Marshfield picked up victories in the first seven matches, including a quartet of falls, and cruised to a 52-22 win over SPASH in a Wisconsin Valley Conference dual meet.
Young seemed to set the tone for the Tigers.
"That (win at 152) was huge," Marshfield coach Jackson Hein said. "It probably should never have gone to overtime. But I was proud of Payton for finding a way (to win) and having pride in what he's doing.
"I thought we came out and were ready to win the battles. We know that Point is a bunch of scrappers. They love to fight and I love that. That's what wrestling is all about."
Bentley Ostermann (160), Sam Mitchell (170), Conner Peterson (195) and heavyweight Sam Baumann all recorded pins.
SPASH coach Rob King had a hard time recognizing the collection of wrestlers who took the mat against the Tigers.
Just days earlier, the Panthers knocked off fifth-ranked Kenosha Tremper at the Hartford Duals. So it would seem to follow they carried some momentum into the WVC matchup.
Instead, SPASH's lineup fell flat in more ways than one against Marshfield. More often than not, that meant concluding a respective match on their back.
"That wasn't SPASH wrestling (tonight). The focus wasn't there. The discipline wasn't there," King said. "There is no way Marshfield is a 30-point better team than us.
"We're up and down right now."
The lone bright spots for the Panthers came at 106 and 113 where Justin Groshek and top-ranked Brady Koontz needed just over a minute to end their matches via falls.
Chance Bailey also turned in a dominating performance at 132. The only thing he lost was a tooth in a 12-3 major decision over Caden Pearce.
Otherwise, the Tigers made it look easy, including Anthony Kanable who recorded a fall in just 1:12 at 138.
"(Our guys) like the cradle and it's tough to stop. You can cradle someone from any position, so that's why we're working it," Hein said. "Every time we compete, I see improvement, so I'm happy about that."
152: Payton Young (M) def. Dylan Trigg, 6-4 (OT); 160: Bentley Ostermann (M) pinned Garrett Kvatek, 2:51; 170: Sam Mitchell (M) pinned Sam Molski, 5:00; 182: Alex Brost (M) major dec. Logan Reed, 13-2; 195: Conner Peterson (M) pinned David Lummis, 5:02; 220: Sam Haessly (M) won by forfeit; 285: Sam Bauman (M) pinned Ashton Voss, 3:11; 106: Justin Groshek (SPASH) pinned Shane Westernhausen, 1:23; 113: Brady Koontz (SPASH) pinned Caden Dennee, 1:24; 120: Dylan Koontz (SPASH) won by forfeit; 126: Tanner Kanable (M) def. Max Schierl, 5-0; 132: Chance Bailey (SPASH) def. Caden Pearce, 12-3; 138: Anthony Kanable (M) pinned Trevor Seavers, 1:12; 145: Nolan Hertel (M) won by forfeit.
Was the 52-22 score wrong? If not, Marshfield was a 30 point better team last night.
Quote from: El Conquistador on December 16, 2016, 11:34:13 PM
Was the 52-22 score wrong? If not, Marshfield was a 30 point better team last night.
I don't think SPASH is anything teamwise like they had hoped. Some pretty good guys didn't go out which makes their upper end of the lineup pretty weak. They will still score well at large tournaments with some studs but dual wise they are not very good. They got beat by West the week before and I don't think anyone would consider this an up year for West.
Quote from: padre on December 18, 2016, 12:20:29 AM
Quote from: El Conquistador on December 16, 2016, 11:34:13 PM
Was the 52-22 score wrong? If not, Marshfield was a 30 point better team last night.
I don't think SPASH is anything teamwise like they had hoped. Some pretty good guys didn't go out which makes their lower end of the lineup pretty weak. They will still score well at large tournaments with some studs but dual wise they are not very good. They got beat by West the week before and I don't think anyone would consider this an up year for West.
Groshek , schierl, koontz, koontz, Bailey, just looking at the names I'm not sure there's a better lower end in the state.
Quote from: Stripes on December 18, 2016, 07:10:41 AM
Quote from: padre on December 18, 2016, 12:20:29 AM
Quote from: El Conquistador on December 16, 2016, 11:34:13 PM
Was the 52-22 score wrong? If not, Marshfield was a 30 point better team last night.
I don't think SPASH is anything teamwise like they had hoped. Some pretty good guys didn't go out which makes their lower end of the lineup pretty weak. They will still score well at large tournaments with some studs but dual wise they are not very good. They got beat by West the week before and I don't think anyone would consider this an up year for West.
Groshek , schierl, koontz, koontz, Bailey, just looking at the names I'm not sure there's a better lower end in the state.
oops....meant upper :o
Congratulations to the Marshfield Tigers for winning the regular season conference championship and the conference tournament today in Stevens Point.
Quote from: El Conquistador on February 04, 2017, 09:36:43 PM
Congratulations to the Marshfield Tigers for winning the regular season conference championship and the conference tournament today in Stevens Point.
hawkfan called it at the start of the season...congrats Marshfield