Boyceville places three on Northern Badger podium

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RIVER FALLS — Boyceville headed into last week’s Northern Badger Wrestling Classic with a tournament-leading 34 champions.

And the Bulldogs were hoping to add to that list!

Unfortunately, none of Boyceville’s 13 varsity wrestlers that competed in the 2022 edition of the Northern Badger Wrestling Classic, held Thursday and Friday, December 29 and 30 at River Falls High School, were able to garner gold. Instead, Boyceville had to once again settle for a trio place winners.

Freshman Zach Hellendrung was Boyceville’s “Top Dog” taking seventh at 220 pounds. Senior Sebastian “Bash” Nielson picked up his second straight Northern Badger medal placing ninth at 195 pounds  while another freshman, Zane Pierce, came in tenth in the 106-pound weight bracket.

Those three alone accounted for 60 of the 72 total points the Bulldogs tallied in this year’s tournament. That score put Boyceville in seventh place in the Division 3 (small school) final standings and 23rd overall out of the 45 schools that participated in this year’s Northern Badger Classic. Rival Glenwood City won its second straight small school team title with 204.5 points while Menomonie captured the Division one crown and overall championship with 322.5 points.

“Overall, we underachieved, but we had some bright spots,” said longtime Boyceville head coach Jamie Olson.

“But, this tournament was as tough as I can remember,” he added.

Hellendrung and Nielson are both currently ranked fifth in state in their respective Division 3 weight brackets and each showed why they are deserving of the honors during their two days of wrestling in River Falls.

In his first-ever Northern Badger competition, Zach Hellendrung finished 4-2 and in seventh place at 220 pounds which upped his early-season record to an impressive 16-4.

Hellendrung pulled off a pair of pins in his first two matches of opening day. He put Cole Abraham of Phillips on the mat in 1:42 and then did the same to Ladysmith’s Jack Lazar in the very next match, recording the fall in 4:30. Those two wins put Hellendrung in a quarterfinal’s match with Caden Weber of Regis/Altoona. Weber prevailed with a fall at 2:40.

Hellendrung began day two’s competition with a 4-0 shut out win over Bloomer/Colfax’s Samy Espinal in a consolation-round match. He then had to wrestle Ladysmith’s Lazar for the second time in a many days with the Lumberjack wrestler scoring yet another win with a 9-5 decision. That setback put Hellendrung in the seventh-place match which he won by medical forfeit over Jack Steinmeyer of Spring Valley/Elmwood.

Bash Nielson (15-4) also finished with a 4-2 record in his final Northern Badger tourney which got the senior a ninth-place finish at 195 pounds. Nielson took fourth in the same weight class last year.

Like Hellendrung, Nielson rang up a pair of pin fall victories in his first two Northern Badger contests, pinning Ian Hunter of Marathon just 39 seconds into their opening-round match before finishing off Cameron’s Julian Pence at the 1:24 mark in their round of 16 bout.   

In a quarterfinal match to end the first day of competition, Nielson was beaten by Brayden Albee of Regis/Altoona via a fall with less than 40 seconds left in the third and final period.

Unfortunately, Nielson began day two with another loss when he fell 5-3 in overtime to Cadott’s Levi Lindsay in a consolation match. But, to his credit, the Bulldog senior rallied to win the last two matches of the tournament. Nielson stuck Bryce Shepard of Menomonie in 4:01 and pinned Dan Polzin of Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal in three minutes flat to earn seventh place.

“Bash Nielson wrestled well,” stated Olson. “And he continues to make strides, but I think he will tell you he didn’t achieve his goal.”

The Bulldogs third and final place winner was Zane Pierce. The unranked freshman finished the two-day tournament with a 4-3 record and a tenth-place medal at 106 pounds.

After surrendering a 44-second pin to Cochrane-Fountain City’s Noah Henderson in the first match of the tournament, Pierce (15-6) reeled off three straight wins – two by falls and the other via a bye – to close out his first day of competition.

Pierce struggled in day two, winning just one of his three matches. He was majored 10-2 by Prescott’s Benny Olson in a consolation match, then won a 11-7 decision against Noah Walker of Ellsworth before being stuck by Christian Greener of Luck/Frederic/Grantsburg/Siren’s at the 2:45 mark of the ninth-place match.

“Zach Hellendrung and Zane Pierce both wrestled exceptionally well,” declared Olson. “Being just freshmen and making the podium is a great accomplishment in this tough tournament.  These two have shown some grit and toughness all season and I was happy for them in their performances.”

Juniors Noah Evenson (113) and Parker Coombs (285) each picked up a half dozen team points as they finished 2-2 in their respective weight classes.

The Bulldogs’ eight other competitors included freshmen Landyn Leslie (120) and Alex Obermueller (132) who both finished 1-2 along with freshman Victor Pattermann (126), sophomores Ryker Benitz (138), Jake Bialzik (145), Jack Gruenhagen (160), and Mark Knopps (182), and junior Zach Kersten (152) who all finished the tournament at 0-2.

“I let the kids know that nobody remembers the Northern Badger at the end of the year,” concluded Olson. “We have a young bunch and we need to learn from our mistakes and get better.”

Boyceville is set to host Mondovi this Thursday, January 5 for its conference and home opener and will then head to Merrill on Saturday for the annual Bluejay Invitational.