Topper wrestlers win tiebreaker, conference title from Bulldogs
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PIN FALL — Boyceville junior Brayan Vasquez Martinez is shown pinning Glenwood City’s Andrew Blaser in a match at 152 pounds during last Thursday’s conference dual in Glenwood City. —photo by Jacob Maes Photography
GLENWOOD CITY — When all the wrestling had come to an end last Thursday, the scoreboard read Glenwood City 39 and Boyceville 39.
The January 27 tussle in Glenwood City for this season’s Dunn-St. Croix wrestling championship, between the rival Bulldogs and Hilltoppers, would be settled by a tie breaker in a rules book.
While referee Dave Brandvold meticulously went through the official score book applying one tie-breaking criteria after another, nervous competitors, coaches and fans on both sides waited in silence.
The first three tie-breaking criteria listed in the NFHS Wrestling Rules Book deal with wrestlers, coaches or team personnel being penalized for misconduct or unsportsmanlike conduct – neither Glenwood City nor Boyceville had been penalized.
BIG VICTORY – The Toppers’ Connor Gross held Boyceville’s Jack Gruenhagen tight to the mat to earn a pin at 170 pounds. Fross’s win helped Glenwood City defeat Boyceville for the Dunn-St. Croix Conference championship January 27 in Glenwood City. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
The fourth item stated that the team having won the greater number of matches including forfeits would be declared the winner – that too was a stalemate with each having captured seven matches.
The Hilltoppers and Bulldogs were again deadlocked after the fifth tie-breaking criteria which gives victory to the team with the greater number of falls, forfeits, defaults and disqualifications – each squad had six.
But on the sixth criteria, which declares the team with the least number of forfeits the winner, Brandvold was finally able to determine a final outcome. He walked back to the center of the wrestling mat, raised his right arm that held the green band and with his left arm and index finger pointing toward the Glenwood City bench awarded the Hilltoppers’ a point on criteria. The Glenwood City fans erupted, and its wrestlers jumped in exhilaration as they were declared the victors as the scoreboard changed to read, Glenwood City 40, Boyceville 39.
The Bulldogs’ forfeit at 138 pounds, the only one of the dual, ended up being the determining factor that allowed the Hilltoppers to unseat the defending champions and lay claim to their first Dunn-St. Croix wrestling championship since 2010.
Glenwood City finished the conference slate unbeaten at 4-0 while Boyceville, who still has to host Durand this Thursday, dropped to 2-1.
“This was a great dual between two good teams,” stated Glenwood City head coach Shane Strong. “Our kids have worked hard this year, but more importantly they care about one another. We have been up and down this year with illness or injury, but they have stuck together through all the adversity!”
Glenwood City faced a bit of adversity even before they took the mat last Thursday.
“We knew coming in how important the flip was going to be and we lost that,” Strong stated. “We had to make some adjustments to our plan with that and the addition of (Noah) Evenson to the Boyceville lineup.”
Boyceville veteran head coach Jamie Olson also knew the importance of the flip.
“The flip was important, and we won that, so going in I felt confident we would have a chance,” Olson said.
But in any competition, there are uncontrolled variables along with unexpected outcomes that occur. And this match had a few.
After Glenwood City had taken a 21-0 advantage, first-year Boyceville wrestler Brayan Vasquez Martinez stemmed the Toppers’ momentum with a pin at 152 pounds.
Glenwood City then got an unexpected pin and boost of adrenaline from sophomore Connor Gross at 170 pounds.
And Topper Savanna Millermon’s ability to stave off pinning moves in the 106-pound match against Wyatt Sell and hold the outcome to a decision allowed Glenwood City to rally in the final two matches to knot the dual at 39 all.
And of course, Glenwood City’s ability to fill out its lineup for the first time this season loomed large.
The contest began at 126 pounds which allowed Glenwood City to take advantage of its strength in the lower weights which resulted in a quick double-digits lead.
In that opening match at 126 pounds, it took Glenwood City’s James Knight, who is ranked 12th in latest state poll, just 25 seconds to pin Bulldog and fellow junior Emma Gruenhagen.
In one of the best battles of the evening, Glenwood City sophomore Jonas Draxler edged Boyceville freshman Jake Bialzik, 5-4, at 132 pounds. Bialzik held a 4-3 advantage after the first period but in the second, Draxler was awarded a penalty point for an illegal hold by Bialzik that tied the match and then worked an escape at the buzzer to take a 5-4 advantage. Draxler was able to ride out the third period on top to claim the one-point win.
That one and only forfeit to Toppers’ freshman Mitchell McGee at 138 pounds gave Glenwood City a 15-0 lead.
That advantage would increase to 21-0 after the 145-pound match. There, junior Gabe Knops, another ranked Hilltopper, methodically took control of the match and Bulldogs’ senior Kyle Lipke. Knops led 5-0 after the first period and then added an escape, a takedown and a three-point near fall for an 11-0 lead before finally pinning Lipke at the 3:44 mark.
Boyceville would finally break through with its first points at 152 pounds when first-year wrestler and junior Brayan Vazquez Martinez pinned Glenwood City freshman Andrew Blaser in 58 seconds. That cut the Bulldogs’ deficit to 15 points.
“Brayan’s match at 152 was really key in stopping their momentum,” said Olson. “Brayan is a guy that works hard, very quiet and shy but likes the battle. He’s never wrestled before this year, and to go out and upset an experienced wrestler was a cool thing to watch.”
That brought the dual into the Bulldogs’ wheelhouse – the upper weights.
Boyceville made it two straight wins on pins when senior Ira Bialzik, ranked sixth at 170, pinned Glenwood City senior Thomas Moede, who had moved up from 152 pounds, just 1:15 into their match at 160 pounds.
While Boyceville looked to keep their newfound momentum rolling at 170 pounds, Glenwood City and sophomore Connor Gross had other plans. Bulldog freshman Jack Gruenhagen took a 2-0 lead into the second period, where Gross scored a reversal to knot the score and then went on the attack scoring a takedown and the pin at 2:29 which brought the Toppers’ bench and fans to their collective feet in celebration.
“Connor Gross came up big for us,” said Coach Strong. “You need that in a dual like this!”
Olson also realized that Gross’s victory was a key component in the Toppers’ win.
“They took a match back from us at 170, I give Gross a lot of credit he came back from being down and got it done,” said Olson.
That pin put the Toppers in front 27-12, but things were about to change.
Boyceville would rattle off five straight victories to take a 39-27 lead.
Senior Tyler Dormanen, ranked fourth in the latest state poll, started the Bulldogs’ win streak with a 2:29 pin of Toppers’ junior Noah Brite at 182 pounds.
Junior Sebastian “Bash” Nielson followed suit at 195 pounds by putting GC senior Carter Clemens to the mat in 1:32.
The Bulldogs took their first lead of the dual at 220 pounds where senior and state honorable mention John Klefstad pinned Glenwood City freshman Blake Fayerweather in just 11 seconds to make the score 30-27.
Senior heavyweight and tenth ranked Keegan Plemon gave Boyceville its fourth straight pin when he took down Glenwood City senior Marcis DeSmith, who was wrestling in his first match of the year, at 5:16 of the third period.
Now leading 36-27, all Boyceville needed was a bonus win – a major decision, technical fall or pin – in the 106-pound bout to put the dual out of Glenwood City’s reach.
Sophomores Wyatt Sell of Boyceville and Savanna Millermon of Glenwood City faced off with the dual on the line.
Sell scored first on a takedown in the first period but Millermon countered with a reversal before Sell went ahead 4-2 on his own reversal. Sell looked to end the match in the second period as he put Millermon on her back but the savvy wrestler surrendered just two back points before rolling out of danger.
An illegal hold against Sell followed by a Millermon escape put the match at 6-4 but the Boyceville grappler extended his lead to 8-4 on a takedown near the end second period.
In the final two-minute frame, the pair exchanged reversals as Sell went on to win 10-6 to up the Bulldogs’ advantage to 39-27.
“I thought Savanna wrestled great at 106 keeping that match to a decision,” said Strong.
It as an assessment his coaching counterpart agreed with.
“I also give a lot of credit to Millermon,” said Olson. “She’s a fighter and I love that. Wyatt threw everything at her, and she kept her position and didn’t give up the major.”
Boyceville had left the door open for Glenwood City to tie it with a pair of pins in the final two matches of the evening.
And that is exacting what the Hilltoppers did.
GC freshman, Wyatt Unser, ranked fourth at 106 pounds moved up a weight class to tangle with Boyceville sophomore Noah Evenson, who was seeing his first mat action of the season, at 113 pounds. Unser slowly built his lead to 13-0 midway through the third period before pinning Evenson with just 46 second left in the match.
“We have great confidence in Wyatt,” stated Strong. “He was dialed in and knew what he had to do.”
It took defending state runner-up Ian Radintz just 33 seconds to pin Boyceville freshman Ryker Benitz in the dual’s final match at 120 pounds to pull the Toppers into a 39-39 tie and ultimately the victory.
“We wrestled tough, just came up a bit short,” concluded Coach Olson. “To lose on having a forfeit is frustrating, that was something we couldn’t control but congrats to them (Glenwood City) and Coach Strong on their conference championship.”
Glenwood City 40, Boyceville 39
126-James Knight (GC) pinned Emma Gruenhagen (B), 0:25; 132-Jonas Draxler (GC) dec. Jake Bialzik (B), 5-4; 138-Mitchell McGee (GC) received forfeit; 145-Gabe Knops (GC) pinned Kyle Lipke (B), 3:44; 152-Bryan Vazquez (B) pinned Andrew Blaser (GC), 0:58; 160-Ira Bialzik (B) pinned Thomas Moede (GC), 1:15; 170-Connor Gross (GC) pinned Jack Gruenhagen (B), 2:29; 182-Tyler Dormanen (B) pinned Noah Brite (GC), 2:29; 195-Sebastian Nielson (B) pinned Carter Clemens (GC), 1:32; 220-John Klefstad (B) pinned Blake Fayerweather (GC), 0:11; 285-Keegan Plemon (B) pinned Marcis DeSmith (GC), 4:23; 106-Wyatt Sell (B) dec.Savanna Millermon (GC), 10-6; 113-Wyatt Unser (GC) pinned Noah Evenson (B), 5:16; 120-Ian Radintz (GC) pinned Ryker Benitz (B), 0:33; Glenwood City won on tiebreaker criteria (least number of forfeits).