Unser becomes Hilltoppers’ first-ever undefeated state wrestling champ

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MADISON — In its storied history the Glenwood City wrestling program has never had an undefeated state wrestling champion.

Now it does!

Junior Wyatt Unser capped a perfect 52-0 season by winning the Division 3, 126-pound state championship Saturday evening at the 2024 WIAA Individual State Wrestling Tournament held Thursday through Saturday, February 22-24, at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Unser, who was the top-seeded competitor in his weight class and carried the number one ranking throughout this entire season, dominated all three of his state matches which culminated with a 6-0 victory over Riverdale sophomore Brody Miess (37-8) in the 126-pound final at the 81st annual gathering of Wisconsin’s very best high school grapplers.

Mere moments after the final whistle blew, ending the championship match, Unser did a couple of cart wheels that ended in a exclamation back flip.

“I’ve been practicing every day after practice,” said Unser during a post championship-match interview about acrobatic move. “I have just been waiting for that back flip to happen!”

“This is an amazing feeling knowing that there are better people out there than me, but I still did it and I haven’t lost this year and I am proud of that,” said Unser, adding, “Hopefully, I can do the same thing next year.”

There is no doubt, Unser will give it his all to stand atop the state podium come this time next year.

“We’re super proud,” said Unser’s head coach Shane Strong.

“A year ago he beat a defending state champion in the semis and got to the finals and had a heartbreaking loss to a really good kid from Fennimore. Some kids that would have set them back, for him it was a motivator. And he has been training ever since that day for this opportunity. He took advantage of it,” continued Strong.

“He is the first undefeated wrestler in school history. Just and awesome win, and great feeling,” added the coach.

“He was very loose throughout this entire tournament and very focused. More talkative than he has ever been, so that was a sign to us that he felt good and felt healthy and his weight was under control,” explained Strong.

That wasn’t, however, the scenario earlier in the week.

Strong noted Unser had had a pair of lackluster practices on Monday and Tuesday.

“I knew something wasn’t right,” said Strong. “I took him into my office following Tuesday’s practice.”

Unser admitted to his coach that he was feeling the pressure of possibly becoming Glenwood City’s first-ever unbeaten state champion.

Strong simply told Unser to focus on his wrestling and the rest would take care of itself.

Simple, but profound advice that yielded immediate results the following day as Unser had, according to his coach, one of his best practice sessions of the season.

That translated into a dominating state performance that lead to Unser’s first state gold medal after a runner-up finish at 113 pounds a year ago and a fifth-place showing in 2022 at 103 pounds.

Unser’s quest for the state title began in Friday’s quarterfinal round where he squared off against ninth-seed Alexander Radavich (25-12), a senior from New Lisbon who had pinned Valders junior Jack Wendling (44-14) in the previous evening’s preliminary round.

Only 13 seconds had expired off the clock when Unser went ahead 2-0 on a takedown. Later in that opening period, Unser was able to pick up a couple of back points for a 4-0 advantage heading into the second frame.

When Radavich deferred the choice, Unser took the down position to start the middle period. A reversal within the first 30 second upped Unser’s lead to 6-0. But, 15 ticks later Radavich had his first points as he scored a reversal to close the gap to 6-2.

That seemed to send a charge into Unser who not only responded with a reversal of his own but a two-point near fall to push his lead to 10-2 after four minutes of wrestling. Radavich decided to take the down position to start the third and final period of the match. It proved a costly miscalculation on the New Lisbon wrestler’s part as Unser once again put Radavich on his back, this time picking up three near-fall points for a 13-2 lead.

In the closing seconds of the match, Unser was warned twice  for stalling, giving a point to his opponent. He finally gave Radavich the escape which made the final score 13-4.

That opening-tournament win vaulted Unser into the Friday night semifinals where he met with a familiar foe – Auburndale sophomore Zade Grassel (45-10), who was seeded fifth in the state 126-pound bracket.

The pair had tangled the previous two weeks in the regional and sectional championships with Unser prevailing in both instances – by fall in the regional title match and a technical fall in the sectional final.

This one would be a bit closer although Unser still dominated.

Unser scored a takedown on Grassel just 30 seconds into the first period. But, Grassel escaped a short time later and then evened the match at 2-2 with another escape midway through the second period. With under 20 seconds remaining in that middle period, Unser had just enough time to work his second takedown of the match which also yielded a pair of back points and a 6-2 lead.

Unser opted to take the down position to begin the third stanza. Grassel was dinged with three stall calls that gave Unser two more points and an 8-2 advantage. Before the match ended, Unser scored a reversal to make the final score 10-2.

“Felt like he wrestled smart,” said Strong of Unser’s first two state matches. “He didn’t take unnecessary risks.”

With those two Friday victories, Unser advanced to his second consecutive state championship match to face the bracket’s second-seed, Brody Miess of Riverdale.

As he had in his previous two state matches, Unser took the early advantage with a takedown just 20 second into Saturday night’s 120-pound title bout. The Glenwood City junior would keep Miess under control for the remainder of the period and take his two-point lead in to the second period.

Miess won the flip and chose to wrestle in the neutral position. Midway through the second period, Unser scored another takedown and rode out the remaining time with a 4-0 lead.

Unser also decided to start the final stanza in the neutral position and eventually found an opening and secured his third takedown of the championship match for a six to zip lead. The Topper wrestler would not and did not give up control as he rode out the final 60 seconds of the season on top and claimed the gold.

“He wrestled a smart match,” said Strong of Unser’s championship victory. “Miess is a scrambler and we knew that. He is long and has leverage.”

“Wyatt got into that underhook, I was a little surprised by how much he (Unser) stayed in that seatbelt, but he felt comfortable there and didn’t feel like he was threatened. It led to three scores.”

Strong explained that Unser used an ankle pick to score his first takedown against Miess and the final one came on an inside knee pull.

“Two different scores off the same tie, that was huge,” stated Strong.

“He was tight earlier in the week and we talked about it and I would be too. I can’t imagine what he was feeling because he wants it so bad and he has worked so hard for it,” continued Strong

“But, since we got down here (Kohl Center) he has been lights out. Focused but supporting his teammates too!

Unser acknowledged that the pressure was a bit daunting at first to handle.

“Just knowing that there was a lot on the line, it kind of wore on me a little bit and then I figured out its just another  match,” Unser said.

His goals were simple!

“I was thinking I wanted to score points and be the first undefeated wrestler from Glenwood to win a state title,” concluded Unser.

Mission accomplished.