GC wrestlers drub Durand; Radintz wins SCF Classic title as Toppers place eighth
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READY TO ROLL — Glenwood City’s Gabe Knops prepared to roll Durand’s Ethan Lindstrom to his back during a match at 132 pounds. Knops registered the pin fall in just 48 seconds to help the Hilltoppers win the Dunn-St. Croix dual 77 to 6 over the Panthers. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
Glenwood City continued to build momentum on the wrestling mat last week in preparation for next month’s WIAA tournament series.
With that goal in mind and a Dunn-St. Croix conference championship within reach, the Hilltoppers were all business when they hosted Durand last Thursday evening, January 20 and pummeled the Panthers 77-6 to move to 3-0 in conference action.
Glenwood City then followed that up by placing eighth out of 22 teams, which was highlighted by junior Ian Radintz’s first-place showing at 120 pounds, in the always tough St. Croix Falls Classic held Saturday, January 22.
It will be a busy and important week of wrestling for the Hilltoppers. Last evening, Glenwood City traveled to Menomonie for a dual with the Mustangs. The Toppers then return home Thursday, January 27 to face rival Boyceville, who is also 3-0 in the D-SC, with this season’s conference championship on the line. The next day they return to Menomonie for a multi-school tournament to wrap up the month of January and the regular season.
Durand
It was a Parents’ Night pin fest when Glenwood City welcomed Durand for a D-SC dual last Thursday evening.
Glenwood City racked up six straight pins to open the dual and had eight in nine matches to take a whopping 60-0 lead before Durand won its only match, a forfeit at 220 pounds. The Hilltoppers then finished off the Panthers with another pin, a forfeit and a technical fall for the 77-6 thumping.
In all, Glenwood City won 13 of the dual’s 14 matches and finished with nine pins, three forfeits and the tech fall.
GLENWOOD CITY senior Thomas Moede put Durand’s Dawson Hartung in a cradle and pinned him in 1:24 into their match at 152 pounds last Thursday. Glenwood City moved to 3-0 in conference duals with a 77-6 win over Durand. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
State-ranked wrestlers Ian Radintz and Wyatt Unser bookended the evening’s competition with Radintz opening the dual with a pin at 120 pounds and Unser closing it out on a 19-2 technical fall at 113 pounds.
In between, James Knight (126) and Gabe Knops (132), the Toppers’ other two state-ranked varsity members, earned pins along with Mitchell McGee (138), Jonas Draxler (145), Thomas Moede (152), Noah Brite (170), Connor Gross (182), and Blake Fayerweather (285).
Will Standaert (160), Carter Clemens (195), and Savanna Millermon were all awarded forfeits.
Glenwood City 77, Durand 6
120-Ian Radintz (GC) pinned Joey Baker (D), 1:21; 126-James Knight (GC) pinned Lance Lange (D), 2:32; 132-Gabe Knops (GC) pinned Ethan Lindstrom (D), 0:48; 138-Mitchell McGee (GC) pinned Roy Cooper (D), 0:39; 145-Jonas Draxler (GC) pinned Lucas Traun (D), 4:50; 152-Thomas Moede (GC) pinned Dawson Hartung (D), 1:24; 160-Will Standaert (GC) received forfeit; 170-Noah Brite (GC) pinned Ethan J Weiss (D), 3:02; 182-Connor Gross (GC) pinned Magnus Lukic (D), 3:21; 195-Carter Clemens (GC) received forfeit; 220-Ethan Brunner (D) received forfeit; 285-Blake Fayerweather (GC) pinned Ubaldo Martinez (D), 3:46; 106-Savanna Millermon (GC) received forfeit; 113-Wyatt Unser (GC) Tech Falled Michael Strasser (D), 19-2.
St. Croix Falls Classic
It was a good day for the Topper competitors in the St. Croix Falls Classic held Saturday, January 22.
Half a dozen wrestlers placed to help the Hilltoppers score 96 points and finish eighth in the 22-team invitational.
While Radintz was the only Glenwood City grappler to stand atop the awards podium at day’s end, Wyatt Unser finished in second place, James Knight was 5th, Mitchell McGee 6th, and Gabe Knops and Thomas Moede both placed seventh. 11 junior varsity competitors also placed.
Glenwood City was the top small-school finisher besting Boyceville by 16 points. Defending Division 2 state champion Amery won the meet with 209.5 points followed by Stillwater, MN with 185, Princeton, MN had 165.5, West Salem/Bangor finished with 151, River Falls tallied 123.5 and the host Saints scored 111.
Junior Ian Radintz ran his season mark to 25-1 with a 4-0 finish at 120 pounds in St. Croix Falls. Radintz, ranked second in the D3 state polls at that weight class, registered two pins to reach the championship match where he beat previously unbeaten and top-ranked D2 wrestler Treyton Ackman of Spencer/Columbus Catholic on a 7-3 decision.
Fourth-ranked Wyatt Unser came up short in his bid for gold at 106 pounds, losing the title match 14-5 to second-ranked Drew Dolphin of Kenosha Christian Life. After an opening-round bye, Unser scored a pin in the quarterfinals and won a 4-2 decision over Austin Herbst of Totino Grace, MN in the semifinals.
James Knight (22-7) finished fifth at 126 pounds, Mitchell McGee (16-12) took sixth at 138, and Gabe Knops (12-4), and Thomas Moede (17-10) finished seventh at 132 and 152, respectively. Blake Fayerweather lost both of his varsity matches at 220 pounds.
In the Junior Varsity tournament, Andrew Blaser and Jonas Draxler both garnered firsts at 138 pounds, Savanna Millermon and Elsja Meijer finished second and third, respectively at 106 pounds, seconds also went to Jake Wood (113) and Connor Gross (170), Xavier Gill came in third at 145, Logan McVeigh (120) and Will Standaert (160) both copped fourths, and Jackson Logghe (170) and Carter Clemens (182) finished fifth.