Unser, McGee and Millermon win sectional titles and berths to state wrestling tourney

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EDGAR — A Glenwood City trio will be returning to the state wrestling championships later this week in Madison thanks to top finishes in the sectional tournament.

Hilltopper junior Wyatt Unser captured his third straight sectional gold medal, senior teammate Savanna Millermon won her second consecutive sectional crown and junior Mitchell McGee claimed his first sectional title at the 2024 WIAA Division 3 Individual Wrestling Sectional held this past Saturday, February 17 at Edgar High School.

All three will be vying for state titles at the WIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships that will be held this Thursday trough Saturday, February 22-24 at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Millermon, Unser and McGee were among 13 Glenwood City wrestlers that competed in this year’s highly competitive sectional tournament for an opportunity to garner a state berth and/or medal.

“We had 13 kids total compete in a super tough sectional,” wrote Glenwood City head wrestling coach Shane Strong on the program’s Facebook page. “We finished our season with 12 wrestlers on the roster with over 20 wins on the season.”

“As coaches, our greatest level of excitement was seeing nearly our entire roster in the practice room last week,” continued Strong.

“We are very proud of them for their accomplishments. They came in focused and ready to compete in a tough sectional,” hed added.

Sophomore Landon Obermueller was the only one among the Toppers other nine male sectional competitors to place in Edgar last Saturday. In his first sectional met, Obermueller finished fourth at 113 pounds just missing a state berth which is awarded to the top three place winners in each weight class.

Senior Conner  Gross, at 190 pounds, and junior heavyweight Blake Fayerweather both won their respective quarterfinal matches but lost their next two bouts including semifinal losses to their weight’s eventual champions and were eliminated from the competition.

Senior Will Standaert (165) and juniors Zeb Holden (138) and Andrew Blaser (144) each lost their quarterfinal matches but remained in the competition when the wrestlers that defeated them won. All three, however, lost in the consolation round. Fellow first-time sectional participants junior Logan McVeigh (120) and  freshman Brock Wood (132) also lost in the quarterfinal but did not get another opportunity to wrestle. And finally, freshman Preston Arvey found out Thursday evening that he had been added to the 106-pound field following an injury to another qualifier. Despite a valiant effort to make weight, Arvey ended up just a half pound over and had to forfeit his sectional matches.

“We have some disappointed kids who did not make it to state, but they had a very good season,” noted Strong. “This sport is not easy, sometimes things do not go your way.”

It did, however for the Toppers’ three sectional champs and state qualifiers.   

Top-ranked and state runner-up Wyatt Unser started his quest for a third sectional championship with a dominating 19-3 technical fall over Lucas Simenson of Cameron in the quarterfinals.

Unser then grappled a pair of familiar state-ranked foes in this next two matches at 126 pounds. Waiting for Unser in the semifinal was sixth-ranked Aaron Knetter of Stratford. Unser had defeated Knetter 5-1 in the pair’s regional semifinal a week earlier and would do so again as he shut out Knetter 6-0 to earn a shot at a third sectional gold medal. In that 126-pound championship, Unser faced off against Auburndale’s Zade Grassel. He had beaten Grassel, ranked fourth, in the regional title match with a second-period pin. This time, Unser scored a 22-7 technical fall over Grassel to earn his a third sectional title.

Unser enters this year’s state tournament with a perfect 49-0 record. He will take on the winner of the preliminary match between Jack Wendling (44-13),  a Valders’ junior, and Alexander Radovich (24-10), a junior from New Lisbon, in Friday’s quarterfinal round.

Teammate and fellow junior Mitchell McGee’s sectional performance at 150 pounds was even more impressive. Ranked seventh coming into last Saturday’s tournament, McGee registered three pins en route to winning his first sectional crown.

Carter Allen was McGee’s first victim of the day. McGee put the Shell Lake wrestler’s shoulders to the foam mat just 1:17 into their quarterfinal match. In the semifinal bout, McGee stuck Turtle Lake/Clayton’s Brandon Wright in 1:49. His championship match versus Logan Peterson of Cumberland went into the third period before McGee registered the fall at 4:51.

Like Unser, McGee, who improved to 43-7 with his three sectional wins, will not wrestle until Friday’s state quarterfinal round. Seeded fourth in the Division 3, 150-pound state tournament bracket, McGee will await the victor of Thursday evening’s preliminary match between 12th-seeded junior Trevor Paulson (26-13) of Aquinas and junior Stone Pomeroy (44-3) of Random Lake, the fifth seed.

Glenwood City senior Savanna Millermon barely broke a sweat as she won her second straight sectional championship in the girls’ 107-pound weight class. As the top seed, in a three-woman bracket, Millermon received a pair of byes to the championship match where she faced Cameron’s Taya Jossart (8-4) for the gold. Millermon pinned Jossart in 1:05 and will be headed to the state tournament for a third straight season.

Millermon, who is now 17-3 for the season, will compete in a 16-woman, one division bracket or an opportunity at gold. Millermon, a two-time state medalist, is ranked third heading into the 2024 state tournament at the Kohl Center where she will face junior Emily Ibarra (6-9) of Milwaukee King in a Thursday afternoon round of 16 matchup. A victory would send Millermon to the quarterfinal round later that evening.

Glenwood City’s other female sectional wrestler, Greta Draxler, finished third at 138 pounds after losing to Brynn Ellison of Clear Lake on a first-period fall in the semifinals. Only the winner in each of the girls’ sectional brackets advanced to state, so Draxler ended her freshman season with a 3-7 record.

“Overall, we felt our team performed with great effort and a winning mentality. Our younger kids can build on the experience to fuel them for the future,” concluded Strong.

As a team, Glenwood City finished sixth out of 22 teams in the final team standings with 58 points, just two ahead of Clear Lake. Straford had the top score with a 155.5 while Cumberland, this year’s team sectional champion, came in second with a 139.5.