Topper wrestlers cap memorable season with second-place finish in team sectional
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PUMPED UP — Glenwood City head wrestling coach Shane Strong pointed to junior Steven Booth after he scored a huge pin at 182 pounds during the Hilltoppers’ semifinal dual against Cumberland at the team sectional tournament held February 18 at Cadott High School. Glenwood City won the dual. The Toppers lost to Stratford in the championship. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
CADOTT — Goals provide a target and road map to one’s ultimate destination.
While not all targets are hit, adjustments are made to keep moving forward in order to reach that main objective.
For this year’s Glenwood City wrestling squad, who has been ranked among Division 3’s top eight programs for much of the season, the goals were simple according to head coach Shane Strong.
“We set out to be top five in the Northern Badger and small school division champions, conference champions, Super Regional champs and sectional champions,” stated Strong.
Although the Hilltoppers finished seventh in this year’s Northern Badger Classic they did claim their second consecutive small school title there as well as a second straight conference crown. Despite finishing second in the super regional, the new format allowed Glenwood City to advance to its first team sectional competition in 23 years for an opportunity to grab its ultimate prize – a sectional title and berth in what would be the school’s first-ever state team wrestling championship.
“We have been fortunate enough to accomplish most of our team goals despite the adversity we have faced throughout the year with injuries and illness,” he added.
PIN TIME — Glenwood City freshman Landon Obermueller is shown scoring a pin against Cumberland’s Caleb Hile at 106 pounds during a semifinal dual at the team sectional tournament held in Cadott Tuesday evening, February 14. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
After defeating Cumberland 46-27 in one of the semifinal duals at the WIAA Division 3 Team Wrestling Sectional held at Cadott High School last Tuesday evening, February 14, the Hilltoppers stood at the doorstep of its highest goal and aspiration – a sectional championship and its accompanying state berth.
All that stood between Glenwood City and that ultimate destination was perennial power Stratford who had overwhelmed Clear Lake in the other semifinal, 53-18.
The Tigers had dashed the Hilltoppers hopes of a super regional championship three days earlier when they edged out Glenwood City for that title.
The Hilltoppers looked to return the favor in Cadott and sweep the night and the championship hardware with a victory.
The championship dual started well for Glenwood City who held a 16-9 advantage following six lower weight matches.
But holding on to that lead would be difficult considering that the Hilltoppers were without two of their varsity starters – senior James Knight and junior Peyton Rassbach – and the Tigers’ strength laid in the upper weights which had yet to be contested.
Knight was unable to compete at all in Tuesday’s sectional team meet due to a broken hand while Rassbach, who missed a portion of the regular season with a lingering concussion, suffered another head injury in the dual with Cumberland.
SIX TEAM POINTS — Topper senior Ian Radintz is getting ready to pin Stratford’s Mathias Kaiser during the 126-pound match in the team sectional championship dual February 14 in Cadott. Glenwood City lead early but Stratford won several upper weight matches by fall to win the sectional crown by a score of 42-28. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
“We lost James to a broken hand in practice. He showed a great deal of toughness in the super regional to achieve his goal to wrestle in the state tournament. He has worked really hard, you never want to see a kid lose his goal due to injury,” said Strong.
“Peyton suffered an injury in the Cumberland dual that held him out of the championship dual. We would not have been in that dual without those two guys helping us get there. It hurt that they couldn’t wrestle, but you cannot control when injuries occur. We are proud of them for their part on making our team successful this year,” added Strong.
Without that duo in the lineup against Stratford, the Hilltoppers chances for victory were reduced significantly.
The Tigers began to assert themselves at 152 pounds, winning the next six matches, five via pins, to take an insurmountable 42-16 lead. With the contest no longer in doubt, Stratford forfeited the final two matches at 285 and 106 pounds to the Toppers’ Blake Fayerweather and Landon Obermueller, respectively, to make the final score 42-28 in the Tigers’ favor.
“We felt we had a good enough team to beat Stratford. When you get to a dual at this level losing two of your top kids is hard to overcome. Both James and Peyton are capable of getting a fall in any match they wrestle. Our team still went out there to battle for the win. Stratford has a good team, but we just couldn’t overcome those losses,” Strong concluded.
Stratford will advance to the Division 3 team state championship which will be held Saturday, March 4 at the UW-Madison Fieldhouse. The Tigers will be joined by Fennimore, Cedar Grove-Belgium and Shiocton.
Cumberland
Without Knight in the lineup, Glenwood City had to reconfigure its roster a bit to optimize its match-ups – a strategy that paid dividends against the Beavers and eventually earned the Hilltopper a 46-27 victory.
The semifinal duals began at 106 pounds which worked out well for Glenwood City whose strength lies in the lower weights.
Freshman Landon Obermueller got the Toppers rolling in the first match building a 13-1 advantage before scoring the pin over the Beavers’ Caleb Hile at 4:40.
The 113-pound match featured a pair of state-ranked wrestlers, Glenwood City’s Wyatt Unser, ranked third, versus number four Cooper Schramski of Cumberland. Unser controlled the action throughout the three periods and took a 9-3 decision.
“It helped us big time to start the dual with two bonus-point wins by Landon and Wyatt,” said Strong. “They are both hammers in our lower weights.”
Without Knight in its lineup, Glenwood City sent sophomore Logan McVeigh to the mat to wrestle Cumberland’s Noah Hile at 120 pounds. McVeigh wrestled well and kept the match to 7-4 Hile decision.
Division 3’s top two wrestlers at 126 pounds – Cumberland junior Dawson Johnson and GC senior Ian Radintz – were set to battle for the fifth time this season.
Instead, that’s where Coach Strong decided to bump his line-up, giving Johnson, a two-time defending state champion, the forfeit which knotted the dual at nine points each.
Radintz moved up to 132 pounds and pinned Cumberland’s Logan Peterson in 3:15. The win put Glenwood City back in front to stay.
At 138, junior Peyton Rassbach trailed by a point early in the first period when he was taken to the mat and landed on his head rendering him unconscious for several seconds. Using a good portion of his injury time, Rassbach opted to continue to wrestle. He scored a reversal and pinned Cumberland’s Nelson Vasquez with just seven second left in the first period.
It was a huge momentum builder for the Hilltoppers.
“Peyton exploded out from the bottom to get a reversal, followed with a quick cradle to get us a big pin,” Strong stated. “I think that lifted us and created some momentum going into two pivotal matches at 145 and 152.”
Both of which Glenwood City won. Mitchell McGee defeated the Beavers’ Harrison Ruppel 14-9 at 145 pounds and senior Gabe Knops followed with a 50-second pin of Jack Owens at 152.
Just like that, Glenwood City led 30-9.
“Mitchell and Gabe both picked up those wins against good kids that sealed our original plan,” noted Strong.
Cumberland snapped Glenwood City’s four-match win streak when Mason Kogler pinned Topper sophomore Andrew Blaser at the 3:52 mark of the 160-pound bout.
Senior Noah Brite and junior Steven Booth scored bonus-point victories for the Hilltoppers at 170 and 182 pounds, respectively. Brite battered the Beavers’ Connor Burke 11-1 in their 170-pound fight while Booth, just in his first year of wrestling, pinned DauTre Allen late in the third period at 182 pounds.
Those back-to-back victories increased the Hilltoppers lead to 40-15.
“Steven Booth picked up a big pin up top for us,” noted Strong.
In the final three matches, Cumberland sandwiched pins at 195 and 285 pounds around a forfeit to the Toppers’ Connor Gross at 220 pounds which made the final score 46-27.
“We had to make a couple moves in the Cumberland dual to make up for the loss of James. Logan McVeigh wrestled great filling in for James. We bumped our line-up to get Gabe on Jake Owen and it paid off big time!” concluded Strong.
Glenwood City 46, Cumberland 27
106-Landon Obermueller (GC) pinned Caleb Hile (C), 4:40; 113-Wyatt Unser (GC) dec. Cooper Schramski (C), 9-3; 120-Noah Hile (C) dec. Logan McVeigh (GC), 7-4; 126-Dawson Johnson (C) received forfeit; 132-Ian Radintz (GC) pinned Logan Peterson (C), 3:15; 138-Peyton Rassbach (GC) pinned Nelson Vasquez (C), 1:53; 145-Mitchell McGee (GC) dec. Harrison Ruppel (C), 14-9; 152-Gabe Knops (GC) pinned Jack Owens (C), 0:50; 160-Mason Kogler (C) pinned Andrew Blaser (GC), 3:52; 170-Noah Brite (GC) majored Connor Burke (C), 11-1;) 182-Steve Booth (GC) pinned DauTre Allen (C), 5:23; 195-Gabe Erickson (C) pinned Jackson Logghe (GC), 2:40; 220-Connor Gross (GC) received forfeit; 285-Jack Chafer (C) pinned Blake Fayerweather (GC), 1:21.
Stratford
With both Knight and Rassbach sidelined by injuries, Glenwood City would need things to fall just right and pick up some unexpected wins along with bonus point if it was going to beat Stratford in the sectional championship.
The Hilltoppers were able to earn some extra points in their first two victories of the dual.
Wyatt Unser majored Lucas Forrest, 9-1, in the opening match at 113 pounds to give the Toppers a 4-0 lead.
After Logan McVeigh was pinned by the Tigers’ Trenton Cournoyer at 120 pounds, Ian Radintz returned the favor and lead to Glenwood City with a 2:36 fall over Mathias Kaiser at 126 pounds.
Filling in for the injured Peyton Rassbach at 132 pounds, Topper sophomore Zeb Holden wrestled well in a 5-1 loss to Cayden Leonhardt as Stratford drew within a point of Glenwood City at 10-9.
“Zeb really battled well in a close match filling in at 132,” noted Strong.
Mitchell McGee and Gabe Knops won decisions at 138 and 145 pounds, respectively, to push the Topper advantage to 16-9.
At that point, the dual went south for the Hilltoppers as the Tigers scored six straight wins, from 152 to 220 pounds, including five via pin falls for a 42-16 lead.
With just two matches remaining and Stratford assured of the championship, the dual ended with the Tigers giving forfeits to GC’s Blake Fayerweather (285) and Landon Obermueller (106) to account for the final score of 42-28.
“We are proud of our team and grateful for the fans that support us,” stated Strong.
“We feel bad for the kids that couldn’t compete, but we are proud of our entire team’s success this year. I believe the kids gave all they had and they should be proud of that. As coaches, we are proud of their efforts and commitment to being their best,” he concluded.
Stratford 42, Glenwood City 28
113-Wyatt Unser (GC) majored Lucas Forrest (S), 9-1; 120-Trenton Cournoyer (S) pinned Logan McVeigh (GC), 0:49; 126-Ian Radintz (GC) pinned Mathias Kaiser (S), 2:36; 132-Cayden Leonhardt (S) dec. Zeb Holden (GC), 5-1; 138-Mitchell McGee (GC) dec. Brandon Knetter (S), 7-1; 145-Gabe Knops (GC) dec. Sawyer Grabow (S), 5-0; 152-Ryan Becker (S) pinned Andrew Blaser (GC), 0:50; 160-Jack Tubbs (S) pinned Will Standaert (GC), 3:17; 170-Kaleb Krummel (S) dec. Noah Brite (GC), 6-4; 182-Carter Lueck (S) pinned Steve Booth (GC), 0:53; 195-Alex Mueller (S) pinned Jackson Logghe (GC), 0:30; 220-Jackson Ormond (S) pinned Connor Gross (GC), 1:22; 285-Blake Fayerweather (GC) received forfeit; 106-Landon Obermueller (GC) received forfeit.