Glenwood City’s Radintz cops bronze, Unser fifth at state wrestling tournament

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MADISON – It was not the medal color that Glenwood City’s Ian Radintz and Wyatt Unser had envisioned wearing around their necks at the conclusion of this year’s state wrestling tournament.

Both had entered the 2022 WIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships, which returned to the Kohl Center in Madison last Thursday through Saturday, February 24-26 after a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, with the common goal of winning a state title and wearing the gold medal that symbolizes it.

Unfortunately, those plans were derailed with losses in Friday evening’s semifinals following opening wins early that day in the quarterfinals.

To their credit, both regrouped for Saturday’s consolation and placement rounds.

Ian Radintz, who was the state runner-up a year ago at 106 pounds, won both of his Saturday matches in shutout fashion to claim third place at 113 pounds to finish his junior season at 40-2.

Meanwhile, freshman Wyatt Unser overcame a one-point loss in the consolation semifinals to win a convincing decision in the fifth-place match at 106 pounds. He ended his first varsity campaign at 34-6.

“They set their goals to win state championships, so it was heartbreaking to them when they didn’t achieve their goals,” said Glenwood City head coach Shane Strong of Radintz and Unser.

“I told them that one match does not define who they are, but how they respond does. They both came back to earn victories and a higher placement on the podium, which is a credit to them,” he added.

The third member of Glenwood City’s state contingent, junior Gabe Knops, made an early exit in his first state tournament, losing in Thursday’s preliminary round at 132 pounds.

“We are very proud of our boys for the level of commitment they have put into wrestling,” Strong went on to say of Glenwood City’s 2022 state trio.

The top seed in the 113-pound state field, Radintz opened his second straight state  meet with a second-period pin of familiar foe in Friday’s quarterfinals. Facing fifth-ranked sophomore Kellen Kelly (34-8) of St. Croix Falls for the second time in a week, Radintz took a 2-0 lead on a first-period takedown. Radintz, who had stuck Kelly in the first period of the sectional semifinal the previous Saturday, finished off the Saints wrestler with a pinning move at the 3:46 mark.

With that victory, Radintz moved into that evening’s semifinal session against unbeaten freshman Co’Ji Campbell (31-0) from Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic Academy. The Topper wrestler scored first on a takedown with 37 seconds left in the first period. But Campbell quickly worked free to make it a 2-1 score. After deferring his choice, Radintz got the top position after Campbell chose to go down to start the second period. Neither wrestlers scored any points as Radintz rode out his opponent in the second frame to maintain his 2-1 advantage. That lead grew to 3-1 when Campbell gave Radintz the escape point to start the third period. The pair danced around the circle for the first half of that final frame but, with less than a minute to go, Campbell was able to score a takedown and the eventual pin with just 43 seconds left in the match.

With a night to put just his second loss of the season behind him, Radintz returned with a vengeance for his Saturday matches.

In a 113-pound consolation semifinal between the Ians – sophomore Ian Crapp of Fennimore and Ian Radintz, the Glenwood City grappler took a 2-0 lead on a takedown at the end of the first period and never trailed. In the second period, Radintz racked up points on a reversal and a pair of near falls – one for two points and the other yielded three – to lead 9-0. That would prove to be the final score as neither Ian scored in the final period.

Wrestling for third place, Radintz would deliver another shutout to claim the bronze medal with a 5-0 over Auburndale freshman Colton Weiler (45-7). Like his match earlier in the day, Radintz scored all of his points in the first two periods – another late first period takedown which was followed by an escape and a second takedown in the second period – to defeat Weiler who was also beaten by Co’Ji Campbell in the quarterfinals.

The old adage that the late ESPN anchor Stuart Scott was famous for saying, “as cool as the other side of the pillow”, could have easily described Wyatt Unser in his first state match.

The Hilltopper freshman bolted to a 5-0 lead in the first period of his 106-pound quarterfinals’ match against Dylan Comins (50-10), a junior from Lena, thanks to a first-minute takedown that he followed with a three-point near fall.

Comins chose to start the second period in the neutral position and it led to his first points on a takedown of Unser midway through the period. Unser would execute and escape only to be taken down again by Comins who closed his deficit to 6-4.

Unser chose to go down to open the third period and Comins gave him the escape before the clock started. The Lena grappler then scored his third takedown of the match to trail just 7-6. Again, he gave Unser the escape to make it 8-6. But, this time it was Unser who came up with a takedown. Following a time out to stop Unser’s bloody nose, he turned Comins on his back for another three-point near fall and a 13-6 lead. Comins scored an escape with one second left on the clock but Unser prevailed 13-7 to earn a berth in that night’s semifinal.

In his semifinal, Unser had the tables turned on him when top-ranked Jake Fitzpatrick (44-1), a La Crosse Aquinas sophomore, darted to a 5-0 advantage on a quick takedown and near fall. Fitzpatrick added to his lead in the second period with an escape, a takedown and a two-point near fall to extend his lead to ten to nothing. That advantage would grow to 14-0 when the Aquinas wrestler added another takedown and two-point near fall.

Looking to end the match with a technical fall, Fitzpatrick gave Unser his first point on an escape. But, instead of the La Crosse wrestler getting the takedown to end the bout, Unser surprised him with his own takedown to make it 14-3 with 30 seconds left in the match. It stayed an 11-point margin until Fitzpatrick scored a reversal to make the final 16-3.

Unser opened Saturday’s consolation semifinal matches against Kenosha Christian Life’s Drew Dolphin. The first period went without a score. In the second frame, Dolphin (54-3) picked up the match’s first points on a reversal. Trailing 2-0 heading in to the third period, Unser chose to begin in the neutral position. That choice paid dividends as he scored a takedown with just 20 second remaining to knot the score at two all. But Dolphin escaped with seven ticks left and held on to take a 3-2 win.

His second straight loss sent Unser into the fifth-place match against where he met Lena’s Dylan Comins for the second time in two days. Like their previous meeting in the quarterfinals the day before, Unser jumped out to an early advantage taking a 7-0 lead through two periods on a pair of takedowns and a three-point near fall. An escape to start the third period had Unser up 8-0. An illegal move by Unser gave Comins his first point in the match but not his last. The Lena junior got a takedown with 17 seconds left to close the gap to 8-3. He let Unser loose to make it 9-3 but could not corral the Glenwood City freshman again. Unser’s 9-3 victory guaranteed him the fifth-place spot on Saturday night’s podium

In his first and only state-tournament match, Gabe Knops (rated ninth) faced fifth-ranked Shiocton freshman Blake Carton (45-7) in the prelims at 132 pounds Thursday night.

The first period passed without a point being scored.

After the Shiocton wrestler deferred his choice, Knops chose to go down to open the second period. It took the Hilltopper wrestler just five seconds to score the match’s first point on an escape. Unfortunately, it would be the only point that Knops would score.

Carton took a 2-1 lead on a takedown with 46 second left in the middle period. Beginning the final period on the mat, Carton escaped at the midway mark of the third for a 3-1 advantage and then added a takedown with just three seconds remaining in the match to secure a 5-1 victory.

“Gabe accomplished quite a few things this year,” Strong stated. “He started the year off injured from football so we really didn’t have him back until after Christmas break. He came on a little slow but got caught up with his conditioning level and made a run toward the end of the year.

“He has the skills to be a high-level wrestler,” said Strong of Knops. “He was confident, obviously you have nerves when you are down here, but I felt like he was prepared and ready to go.”

“He got in on a couple of good leg attacks but just couldn’t finish. The kid he wrestled was a very good wrestler. Hopefully he can used what he learned here and roll it into next year,” concluded Strong.

Knops finished this season with a 22-7 record.

“I know with great certainty that they will begin preparing themselves for next year right away,” concluded Strong. “Our boys are very committed to competing at the highest level possible, which makes coaching fun.”