Lagerstrom’s state wrestling experience brief but memorable

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MADISON – Tucker Lagerstrom is no stranger to the state wrestling tournament. After all he has been around the Glenwood City program since elementary school and serving as a team manager, had accompanied previous Hilltopper wrestlers and coaches to the “Big Show”.

But the senior had never had the opportunity to actually participate in the annual pinnacle of Wisconsin High School wrestling, that was until this season.

So, when the affable Lagerstrom qualified for his first and only state meet, the only Glenwood City wrestler to do so this season, by finishing third at 182 pounds in the February 22 sectional tournament in Edgar, his head coach and mentor Shane Strong formulated and implemented a strategy.

Nothing unusual as most coaches have a plan of wrestling for their charges, especially at the state tournament, but for Lagerstrom it was even more important as, according to Strong, he has a tendency to stray into his own unique forms of wrestling from time to time.

“He is a great teammate first. He cares about our program, he cares about his teammates, loves wrestling and is disciplined. He always wants to learn how to get better,” stated Coach Strong. “But sometimes he can drive you nuts with some of the things he does on the mat and he will tell you that. We call it unorthodox, where I want it to be fundamentally sound.”

In his opening round match in last Thursday’s Division 3 preliminary at the 2020 WIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships held at the Kohl Center February 27-29, Lagerstrom stayed on course and followed the plan, well for two-thirds of the match.

“He actually came out and wrestled to the game plan really well from the start,” stated Strong. “We knew this kid was really strong and was going to be an issue for us with his weight and strength.”

In the opening seconds of his match against Rosholt senior Reese Anderson (41-8), ranked seventh in the polls leading into state tournament week, Lagerstrom struck first with a single-leg takedown for a 2-0 advantage. Anderson escaped to make it a one-point match after two minutes of wrestling.

Taking the down position to start the middle period, Lagerstrom executed a beautiful stand up to escape Anderson’s control in just two seconds and re-establish a two-point lead at 3-1.

But just 13 seconds later, the Rosholt wrestler got the equalizer with takedown on Lagerstrom. It would remain tied at three as the match headed in to the third and final period.

“He is a good kid and we knew that,” noted Strong of Anderson. “He had several pins in season and beat some quality opponents, so we knew it was going to be tough but we felt that Tucker could win, it was just a matter of pushing that match for six minutes and beating him with condition and his quickness.”

Unfortunately, Lagerstrom was not able to push the match to its full, six-minute conclusion.

With a little over a minute left to wrestle, Anderson, who had taken the down position in the third farm, worked a reversal to take his first lead over Lagerstrom at 3-5. Then with 54 seconds showing on the match clock, Anderson scored the pin fall to end Lagerstrom’s season and career.

“We wanted Tucker to take away his (Anderson’s) space shot, he is a blast double guy and he was on the left-collar tie,” Strong explained. “Tucker was successful stopping that shot the first two periods and he (Tucker) got in on that single right away to score early.”

“But (Tucker) kind of got away from what we wanted to do in that third period,” stated Strong. “If we could stay close, we could wear this kid down similar to the situation with the Stratford kid at sectionals but Anderson put in that bar arm and it was tight and it’s tough to get out of that.”

“His single leg was really good, we wanted him to get to it a little bit more but Tucker didn’t have that opportunity,” continued Strong. “We get in that position on the bottom, when he got out right away on the stand up that is what we needed, beat him at the whistle, we didn’t want to get caught underneath him.”

“But I am very proud of Tucker and how he wrestled down the stretch this year, he deserved to be down here just unfortunate he wasn’t able to get that win,” said Strong.

As Lagerstrom came off the mat in the final match of his high school career, he dropped his head on his coaches shoulder and Strong put his arms around his senior wrestler and gave him some comforting words.

“I told him that I was proud of him and there was nothing to be ashamed of, that he wrestled hard and he belonged here,” said Strong.

“I think he felt better after that,” added Strong who admitted, however that it never feels good when you lose.

“You have goals and want to go out and be successful but it just didn’t happen. You have to look back on the journey too, Tucker learned a lot from this sport and we are really proud of him.”

As Lagerstrom headed for the southeast tunnel of the Kohl Center, a large contingent of Glenwood City fans including nearly two dozen of his own family, let a loud cheer of appreciation for his efforts.

Tucker looked up, smiled, and waved as he and his prep career faded into the depths of the Kohl Center.

“Tucker has been around our fans and around our wrestling since the fourth grade at the high school level,” Strong stated

“Most of our youth, they’re not there until ninth grade but with Tucker, he was my manager and followed us around. I brought him down to the state tournament, I think three times, so he has been around a long time and everyone knows Tucker and we love him. We are going to miss him.”

Lagerstrom finished the 2019-20 with a 29-12 record and was 79-57 in his overall high school wrestling career.