Stratford's Jeremy Schoenherr captures fourth title, A.J. Schoenfuss falls in heartbreaker

MADISON - Jeremy Schoenherr's final WIAA state wrestling tournament appearance ended just as sweet as the previous three.

The Tigers senior won the Division 3 championship at 138 pounds Saturday night and earned the fourth title of his high school career. 

"It' s hard to put into words. We've never had anybody do this before," Stratford coach Joe Schwabe said. "But I know of nobody who works harder than (Schoenherr) — nobody," Stratford coach Joe Schwabe said. "I'm not exaggerating or kidding either. He goes and he works and he trains and he is dedicated."

Schoenherr's teammate did not fare as well.

A.J. Schoenfuss fell just short of duplicating the feat with a 4-3 loss to Bonduel's Jordan Boldt which was decided by an ultimate tiebreaker. 

Schoenherr, who defeated Coleman's Jake Baldwin 13-5, became the 15th individual to win four state titles in the 75-year history of the state wrestling tournament about 8 seconds before Ellsworth's Sam Stuhl recorded a pin to win the title in the weight class in Division 2 for the fourth championship of his career. 

"We have wrestled during the summer with the (Wisconsin) state team in Greco and freestyle ... and he is someone who has put the work in to get there," Schoenherr said. "To see him win it right beside me was awesome." 

Former Pittsville standout Matt Hanutke (1987-90) was the first local and statewide wrestler to accomplish the feat. Athens' Kraig Underwood (1992-95) and Tomahawk's Nick Hagar (2006-09) also won four titles during their careers. The three were among the 11 former four-time champions on hand at the Kohl Center to be recognized by the WIAA during the championship round. 

Schoenherr, who signed a letter of intent with Wisconsin in November, won the 138-pound weight class for a second straight year and improved to 37-0. He won titles at 126 pounds as a sophomore and 113 in his freshman year. He holds a career mark of 139-6. 

"It is surreal to think back to when I was a freshman that I would be standing here one day talking to (the media) as a four-time champion. It feels awesome to notch my name up there with (the past winners)." Schoenherr said. 

Schoenfuss moved up to 126 pounds this year after winning the title at 120 the previous two seasons. He also won the championship at 106 pounds as a freshman and has a career record of 176-14.

Schoenfuss scored an escape late in the third period to tie his matchup with Boldt 1-1. Both wrestlers remained tied through the two overtime periods and Boldt won in the utlimate tiebreaker as he did not allow Schoenfuss to escape in the 30-second period. 

"I thought I was close, but it just wasn't enough," said Schoenfuss. "It was my goal to be a four-time champion and it just sucks that it ended like that and that I came up just a little short of my lifelong goal."

It was the second straight weekend the two had met. Boldt beat Schoenfuss in the finals of the Division 3 sectional meet in Shawano. 

"We know each other well, our styles are very similar and it just didn't go right for me tonight," Schoenfuss said. 

Schoenherr and Schoenfuss were among four Stratford wresters competing in a Divsion 3 state championship match Saturday. Tigers junior Manny Drexler was pinned at the 1 minute, 19 mark of his matchup with Clear Lake's Ryan Anderson at 106 pounds. Dodgeland's Ryan Neu downed the Tigers' Trevor Dennee 8-2 at 170 pounds to complete an undefeated season.