Boyceville wrestlers get key pins to win D-SC dual over Glenwood City
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BOYCEVILLE’S Ira Bialzik scored points as he had his Glenwood City opponent Thomas Moede on his back during the final match of the Glenwood City-Boyceville conference dual last Thursday evening. Bialzik put the finishing touches on a 46-31 Bulldogs’ victory with a 10-0 major decision over Moede.
—photo by Shawn DeWitt
GLENWOOD CITY — It was a classic wrestling clash between Highway 170 rivals when Glenwood City hosted Boyceville last Thursday evening in the conference and regular-season finale.
The Bulldogs, an honorable mention in the most recent WIWrestling.com Division 3 state poll, raced to an early 30-4 advantage, with three pins and a pair of forfeits, before the host Hilltoppers sliced the deficit to just five points, 30-25, thanks to four consecutive victories including three lower weight pins.
But Boyceville secured the dual meet win with junior Nate Stuart’s key pin fall over Glenwood City freshman Gabe Knops in the 132-pound match which along with three forfeits propelled the visitors to an eventual 46-31 victory in the February 6 showdown.
“Overall, I thought our kids wrestled pretty good,” stated Boyceville head coach Jamie Olson.
“It’s always a fun and very competitive match, big crowd, great history between the two programs,” added Olson.
Both squads had entered the much anticipated dual with identical 2-1 conference record after each had suffered its only Dunn-St. Croix loss to Spring Valley/Elmwood, who wrapped up this season’s conference title with a 75-0 whitewashing of Durand that same evening.
With the road triumph, Boyceville finished second in the final conference standings with a 3-1 mark after winning the conference championship the past two seasons. The Bulldogs are currently 14-7 overall.
Glenwood City, meanwhile, place third with a 2-2 mark and is 7-10 in all duals this season.
“Coming in we knew it would be tough to beat a good Boyceville team when we had three open weights,” Glenwood City head coach Shane Strong said. “But we were able to win 6 of the 11 (contested) matches.”
The tone of the dual was set in its very first match at 152 pounds where Boyceville sophomore Preston Coombs tangled with Glenwood City freshman Noah Brite.
Coombs took an early 2-0 advantage with a takedown just 37 seconds into the bout. Coombs made it 4-0 with a second-period takedown before Brite escaped. Coombs added a third taken down to end the second period in front 6-1.
The third period proved to be a decisive one for Coombs. After Brite took the down position and escaped, Coombs quickly scored another takedown and added a three-point near fall. Brite was able to score his third escape of the match only to be takedown down once more and pinned by Coombs with just five seconds left on the third-period clock.
The Bulldogs quickly added to that initial six team points as Bash Nielson and Tyler Dormanen received forfeits at 160 and 170 pounds respectively to elevate Boyceville’s lead to 18-0.
Glenwood City finally broke onto the scoreboard in the 182-pound match where Toppers’ senior Tucker Lagerstrom dominated Bulldogs’ sophomore Nick Hillman.
GLENWOOD CITY senior Tucker Lagerstrom looked to add some back points to his score during his 182-pound match against Boyceville sophomore Nick Hillman. Lagerstom went on to post a 14-3 major decision over Hillman but the Bulldogs prevailed 46-31 in the February 6 dual in Glenwood City.
—photo by Shawn DeWitt
Lagerstrom bounded to a 7-1 lead after the first two-minute period with a pair of takedowns and a 3-point near fall. He then added an escape and another takedown to lead Hillman 10-1 at the end of the second period.
Lagerstrom scored a 2-point near fall to open the final frame but Hillman was able to work a reversal for two which Lagerstrom countered with his own for a 14-3 lead which ended up being the final tally.
The major decision by Lagerstrom gave the Toppers’ four team points as they now trailed the visiting Bulldogs 18-4.
But Glenwood City’s deficit would quickly balloon to 26 points.
Boyceville junior Trett Joles, the D3, 182-pound defending state champion and its top ranked wrestler this season, bumped up to 195 pounds and pinned Toppers’ sophomore Marcis DeSmith in 1:04.
The Bulldogs’ lone senior, Josh Marzofka, did likewise to GC’s Trenton McNamara at 220 pounds, sticking the Topper freshman in 1:24.
With those two falls, Boyceville extended its advantage to 30-4.
But there was no surrender in Glenwood City’s attitude despite its relative youth and open weight classes.
Beginning at heavyweight, the Hilltoppers would string together four straight victories to challenge the rival Bulldogs.
Senior Andrew Berends took an early 2-0 lead in his 285-pound battle against his Boyceville opponent sophomore Keegan Plemon and slowly added to it. In the end, an escape and a pair of takedowns secured a 7-1 victory for Berends.
With a bit of momentum, Glenwood City hit the strength of its team in the lower weights where it registered three consecutive, first-period pins to get within five points of the Bulldogs at 30-25.
PINNED TO THE MAT — Glenwood City freshman Ian Radintz is shown pinning his Boyceville counterpart, junior Dante Butler, in the first period of the 106-pound match in last Thursday’s Dunn-St. Croix dual in Glenwood City. The Bulldogs won 46-31. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
Topper freshman Ian Radintz, ranked ninth, stuck Boyceville junior Dante Butler just 1:06 into the match at 106 pounds.
Andy Grant, who is also drawing state attention as an honorable mention, needed just 1:37 to pin Bulldog freshman Emma Gruenhagen in the 113-pound bout.
Then freshman James Knight made it three straight falls for Glenwood City when he took Boyceville sophomore Brice Evenson to the mat at the 1:37 of the duo’s battle at 120 pounds.
The Toppers chose to give third-ranked Bulldogs’ sophomore Josiah Berg a forfeit at 126 pounds and look for opportunities in the final three matches to upend the Bulldogs.
BATTLING in the 132-pound weight class in last Thursday’s dual in Glenwood City were Boyceville’s Nate Stuart (top) and Glenwood City’s Gabe Knops. Knops held a 1-0 advantage until Stuart took him to his back late in the second period and scored the pin fall to secure Boyceville’s victory over rival Glenwood City.
—photo by Shawn DeWitt
The Toppers’ strategy looked promising for a bit as freshman Gabe Knops used a second-period escape to take a 1-0 lead over Boyceville junior Nate Stuart, who is another state-ranked wrestler. But Stuart caught Knops and pinned him at the 3:44 mark of their 132-pound match to put the dual out of reach for the Toppers as Boyceville now led 42-25 with just two matches remaining.
Senior Jabin Hojem brought the home crowd to its feet with a pin of the Bulldogs Peyton Ponath at 138 pounds to make it 42-31.
But Ira Bialzik closed out the dual in Boyceville’s favor when he dominated his 145-pound match against the Toppers’ Thomas Moede en route to a 10-0 major decision which put the final score at 46-31.
“I thought Stuart, Coombs and Marzofka’s pins were key,” said Olson after the match. “I also give a lot of credit to Plemon for just giving up a decision against Berends (at heavyweight). Bialzik and Joles also dominated to secure the win.”
Glenwood City coach Shane Strong praised the progress his wrestlers have made some this season.
“We were proud of our kids on the improvement we have shown from a year ago as a team,” Strong commented. “With a few more guys in our line-up we could really start to contend in these big matches.”
Both teams will now turn their focus to the WIAA tournaments and regional competition which gets underway this Saturday, February 15.
Boyceville and Glenwood City will both be competing in the Division 3 regional at Durand High School. Other squads include Spring Valley/Elmwood, Mondovi, Chetek-Weyerhaeuser/Prairie Farm, and host Durand.
The top two place finishers in each of the 14 weight classes will advance to the individual sectional in Edgar on February 22 while the winning team will compete in the team sectional to be held next Tuesday, February 18 in Cumberland.
Boyceville
46,
Glenwood
City
31
152-Preston Coombs (BV) pinned Noah Brite (GC), 5:55; 160-Bash Nielson (BV) received a forfeit; 170-Tyler Dormanen (BV) received a forfeit; 182-Tucker Lagerstrom (GC) majored Nick Hillman (BV), 14-3; 195-Trett Joles (BV) pinned Marcis DeSmith (GC), 1:04; 220-Josh Marzofka (BV) pinned Trenton McNamara (GC), 1:24; 285-Andrew Berends (GC) dec. Keegan Plemon (BV), 7-1; 106-Ian Radintz (GC) pinned Dante Butler (BV), 1:08; 113-Andy Grant (GC) pinned Emma Gruenhagen (BV), 1:37; 120-James Knight (GC) pinned Brice Evenson (BV), 1:34; 126-Josiah Berg (BV) received a forfeit; 132-Nate Stuart (BV) pinned Gabe Knops (GC), 3:42; 138-Jabin Hojem (GC) pinned Peyton Ponath (BV), 1:47; 145-Ira Bialzik (BV) majored Thomas Moede (GC), 10-0.