Marathon vs Auburndale Preview:
Wrestling history in the Marawood Conference is so rich it makes the lifelong fans of this great sport get lost in nostalgia when looking at the record books. Of the 31 4-Time state champions, three of them, including the first two ever, come from the Marawood Conference. Matt Hanutke of Pittsville (Pittsville left the conference in 2017) broke the glass ceiling in 1990 as the first wrestler to stand on top of the podium four times in the Field House. Kraig Underwood of Athens (now the coach at Marathon) joined him five years later, followed by Jeremy Schoenherr of Stratord in 2018 (Schoenherr is now the head coach of his alma mater). The Marawood has also produced nine 3-time state champions and Eight Team State titles.
The Marawood has had its strings of dominance with Athens in the 80’s and 90’s and most recently Stratford in the mid 2000’s to last year. But there has been a storm brewing the last couple of years as to who is going to be the next king of the mountain. At the Wisconsin Wrestler Podcast, we’ve been talking about Auburndale and Marathon the last couple of years as both have had their sights set on who was going to dethrone Stratford. This push to beat the Tigers has put themselves into an intense rivalry not only for conference, but now as the #5 and #6 teams in D3.
When talking with coaches Karl and Underwood about who has the leg up on qualifying for team state, both of them wanted none of that. They both want the Marawood Conference title so bad that the talk for D3 Sectional C bragging rights is going to have to wait. For good reason as it has been awhile for both teams to add an outright conference championship number to the banner. Marathon did win the 2024 Marawood Conference tournament but lost to Stratford in the duals. The last outright conference championship for the Red Raiders was 1964. For Auburndale, none of the current wrestlers were alive last time they hoisted a trophy dating back to 2005.
With Phillips and Assumption/Pacelli joining the fray tomorrow, we’ll have the pleasure of seeing two rounds and four duals full of Marawood wrestling!
I highly recommend attending in person as this atmosphere will be an energetic crowd to say the least, but if you can’t make the action you can watch both mats here: Marawood – Auburndale Quad – Wisconsin Grappler
Schedule
6:00 Round 1
Mat 1-Auburndale vs. Phillips
Mat 2-Marathon vs. Assumption/Pacelli
7:00 Round 2
Mat 1-Auburndale vs. Marathon
Mat 2-Phillips vs. Assumption/Pacelli
Projected starting lineups:
Marathon
106: Alex Oelhafen-Freshman, 14-10, Freshman
113: #1 Taylor Underwood, 17-0, Sophomore
120: #1 Blake Underwood, 25-0, Senior
126: #11 Marshall Venske, 13-7, Freshman
132: Dylan Behnke, 16-10, Sophomore
138: Max Lawrence, 4-3, Freshman
144: #3 Cale Quaintance, 23-2, Senior
150: Will Tourtillott, 18-7, Senior
157: #3 Swayne Stencil, 24-1, Senior
165: #13 Tate Sonnentag, 20-6, Senior
175: #9 Grant Salber, 20-7, Senior
190: Mason Lawrence, 11-12, Junior
215: Brady Seefeldt, 5-9, Freshman
285: Alex Poppe, 11-6, Senior
Auburndale
106: Forfeit
113: #6 Sawyer Kundinger, 15-7, Sophomore
120: Beck Dammann, 17-6, Freshman
126: #4 Carson Weiler, 20-3, Sophomore
132: #3 Zade Grassel, 20-4, Senior
138: Brennen Welch, 10-6, Sophomore
144: Joe Maciosek, 6-4, Sophomore
150: Coleman Becker, 11-7, Senior
157: #9 Trevor Trowbridge, 12-5, Senior
165: #7 Conner Johnson, 19-3, Sophomore
175: #5 Carter Grassl, 19-3, Junior
190: Russell Teska, 7-4, Junior
215: Gavin Kayhart, 2-2, Sophomore
285: #12 Alex Becker, 17-5, Sophomore
Phillips will also be bringing two ranked wrestlers in JJ Adomaitis and Ayron Deleasky. Adomaitis is currently ranked second at 150 and was a State Placewinner last year, and Deleasky currently sits at #13 at 190 in the latest set of rankings. Gavin Tritz is currently ranked 5th at 157 and the Assumption/Pacelli junior could be in for a two match grind depending on how Marathon and Phillips send out their lineups.
Predictions for Marathon-Auburndale
Teague- Auburndale 30, Marathon 29
Steve- Auburndale 33, Marathon 30
As Taylor Underwood would say, maybe we are sleeping on Marathon. And right or wrong, I am more than excited and honored to be there in person to see who comes out of the Marawood dual season unscathed!
