Glenwood City wrestlers repeat as Division 3 Nothern Badger champs, Radintz and Unser finish second
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RIVER FALLS — Glenwood City successfully defended its Northern Badger crown this past week.
For a second straight year, the Hilltoppers captured the Division 3 (small school) championship at the 2022 Northern Badger Wrestling Classic which was held Thursday and Friday, December 29 and 30 at River Falls High School.
Highlighted by a pair of second-place finishes by senior Ian Radintz and sophomore Wyatt Unser along with fourth-place showings by senior Gabe Knops and sophomore Mitchell McGee and a fifth from another Topper senior James Knight, Glenwood City scored 204.5 points to finish seven and a half point ahead of runner-up Regis/Altoona. Overall, the Hilltoppers placed seventh in the 45-school Northern Badger field. Despite having empty weight brackets at 170, 195 and 220 pounds, both were an improvements from last year when Glenwood City tallied 157 points and finished ninth out of 41 schools. Menomonie won the overall chamopionship with a score of 322.5
“I was proud of our kids for the way they wrestled in the Badger,” said Shane Strong, Glenwood City head coach.
GLENWOOD CITY senior Noah Brite tried to earn some back points during a Thursday, December 29 Northern Badger match at 160 pounds. —photo by Jacob Maes Photogrophy
“We have lost some mat time due to weather, but I felt the kids still wrestled well in a very good tournament,” added Strong about his Toppers’ effort and success at the area’s premier holiday tournament that featured some of Wisconsin’s top prep wrestlers from all three divisions.
After becoming the first Glenwood City wrestler to win an individual Northern Badger championship in eight seasons, Wyatt Unser was looking to add to the 106-pound championship he copped a year ago. But Unser fell short in his bid to claim a second consecutive championship as he finished second with a 4-1 mark in a very strong 113-pound bracket.
Following an open round bye to begin his 2022 Northern Badger competition, Unser, currently 12-1 and ranked second in the D3 state poll at 120 pounds, was paired with Edgar’s Cade Koch in the round of 16 and won via fall in 1:32. That victory sent Unser into a quarterfinal’s match against Cooper Schramski of Cumberland. Although Schramski lead earlier, Unser slowly began to dominate the match eventually winning a convincing 10-3 decision to earn a spot in the following day’s semifinal round.
Unser would open day two of the competition against Tommy Brown of Northwestern. The Hilltopper sophomore earned his second pin of he tournament when he stuck Brown midway through the second period to earn a second straight berth to the championship where he faced Menomonie junior Brayten Casey, the reigning Division 1 state champion at 106 pounds. Casey prevailed 3-0 in a close match as Unser settled for the silver medal at 113 pounds following his first setback of the season.
“Wyatt had a very good match with the defending Division 1 state champion,” Strong said. “He (Casey) is very difficult to score on and Wyatt just couldn’t finish a couple of scrambles to score.”
No stranger to battling some of the toughest competition, senior Ian Radintz, who has state silver (106) and bronze (113) medals among his long list of accomplishments, worked his way through a talent-rich bracket at 126 pounds that featured familiar foe Dawson Johnson of Cumberland, a two-time state champion.
Radintz’s first-day of action in the 126-pound weight class at River Falls featured three straight pins. He needed just 49 seconds to stick Avery Huebel of Spring Valley/Elmwood in the pair’s opening round match. Radintz, who is currently ranked third at 132 pounds, put Arcadia’s Matthew Badillo to the mat in 3:21 before finishing his day pinning J.D. Minder-Broeckaert of Ellsworth in a time of 2:25.
TOPPERS’ senior Gabe Knops looked to put Arcadia’s Hunter Fitzpatrick on his back during an 138-pound match last Thursday, December 29 at the 2022 Northern Badger. Knops won the match 12-4 and went on to place fourth. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
Radintz (11-2) would begin day two with a semifinal bout against Clear Lake’s Mitchell Anderson. In a tight match, Radintz prevailed 3-1 to qualify for the finals and an opportunity to win a Northern Badger title that has eluded him in previous tournaments. Waiting there for him was Cumberland junior Dawson Johnson, who had beaten Radintz 2-0 the previous week in a dual meet and bested him for the 106-pound state championship in 2021. The Glenwood City senior worked hard in his final Northern Badger match but lost a 7-3 decision to Johnson to finish second.
“Ian wrestled a solid tournament as he always does. He was ready to compete at a high level, Dawson is just so fundamentally sound and strong,” stated Coach Strong.
Four other Hilltopper wrestlers stood on the medals podium following the conclusion of this year’s Northern Badger tournament. Senior Gabe Knops along with sophomore Mitchell McGee both finished 4th at their respective weight classes; another senior, James Knight, finished fifth; and freshman Landon Obermueller copped an 11th-place finish. McGee and Knight both finished sixth in last year’s Northern Badger.
IN CONTROL — Topper sophomore Wyatt Unser was in control of his 113-pound quarterfinal match against Cumberland’s Cooper Schramski Thursday, December 29 at the Northern Badger Wrestling tournament. Unser won the match 10-3 and went on to finish in second place. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
Gabe Knops (10-4) went unbeaten in his first day of work at 138 pounds in this year’s Northern Badger, scoring a first-period, sub one-minute pin against Rogan Ashbeck of Neillsville/Greenwood/ Loyal, a 12-4 major decision over Arcadia’s Hunter Fitzpatrick and a tight 5-3 victory against Kaden Clark of St. Croix Falls. In his day two semifinal match with River Fall’s Moelter, Knops lost by fall in the second period. He rebounded with a 4-0 shut out win over Maverick Kostrzak of St. Croix Central. But in the battle for the bronze, Clark of SCF avenged his earlier loss to Knops by winning the third-place bout 5-1.
Mitchell McGee posted a 6-2 mark in this year’s tournament en route to a fourth-place showing at 145 pounds. Five of those victories came via pins with the other a technical fall.
McGee scored the first of those five falls in his opening bout when he pinned Pierce Schroeder of Spooner/Webster in 1:21. In the next match, McGee lost a 5-0 decision to Ellsworth’s Levi Nelson. But the Glenwood City sophomore responded with five straight wins including three pin falls and 9-4 victory over Jackson Wesner of Regis/Altoona in the consolation semifinals to earn a shot at third place. McGee’s win streak was snapped by Hudzon Sebesta-Opelt who earned a 7-0 win to take the bronze. Coincidently, it was Sebesta-Opelt who shut out McGee in last year’s fifth-place match at 132 pounds.
“Gabe and Mitch both had very good tournaments, beating some high level kids. They both won some close matches that required them to be in good shape late in matches,” noted Strong.
After finishing sixth at 126 pounds in last year’s tourney, James Knight, in his final Northern Badger competition, went 5-2 at 120 pounds to finish fifth. Knight, who is receiving some recognition in the recent state poll, opened with a bye and then pinned Regis/Altoona’s Brayden Kunze before dropping a 6-4 decision to Marathon’s Levi Krautkramer in the quarterfinals. On the consolation side of the bracket, Knight won his next two matches via pins before losing to Kayne Johnson of Cameron by a count of 6 to 1. That loss put Knight in the fifth-place match where he would wrestle Marathon’s Levi Krautkramer for the second time in as many days. This time around, Knight would get the better of Krautkramer by scoring the pin at 2:56 to secure fifth.
In his first Northern Badger experience, freshman Landon Obermueller (11-3) finished the two-day tournment with a 3-3 mark and an 11th-place medal. Obermueller opened with a pair of wins – a pin in the first round and a decision in the second – before dropping his next three matches. But, Obermueller finished his tournament with an 8-7 win over Ellsworth’s Noah Walker in the showdown for 11th place.
For the first time, the Northern Badger featured weight brackets for the ladies which a pair of Glenwood City girls took advantage of to earn medals.
Wrestling in the 107-pound weight class, Savanna Millermoen placed second and Elsja Meijer took third. Millermoen had an opening round bye, received a forfeit from Meijer in the semifinals and lost by fall to Iszy Sonnentag of Cadott in the championship. Meijer, who received a pair of byes, beat Shelby Garcia of Bruce, 8-4, in the third-place match.
Five other Glenwood City wrestlers competed in River Falls last week but did not place.
Sophomore Jackson Logghe went 3-2 at 182 pounds, fellow sophomore Andrew Blaser finished 2-2 at 152 pounds and senior Noah Brite, junior Peyton Rassbach, and sophomore Blake Fayerweather all finished 1-2 at 160, 132, and 285 pounds, respectively.
“Overall, I was pleased with our team, you always want to go back and get a match you feel you should have won. I believe our team has improved each week and we look forward to our tough January schedule,” concluded Strong.
The Hilltoppers will open Dunn-St. Croix mat action in Durand this Thursday, January 5 before competing in the Cadott Invitational on Saturday, January 7.