GC finishes second, three wrestlers win regional crowns, five advance
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GLENWOOD CITY freshman Mitchell McGee used an arm bar to get control of his opponent Landen Hoel of Stanley-Boyd during the pair’s regional semifinal match at 138 pound last Saturday, February 12 in Cadott. McGee went on to shutout Hoel 12-0 to advance to the finals where he finished second. He will be one of five Hilltoppers wrestlers that will be competing in the February 19 sectional meet in St. Croix Falls. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
CADOTT — After winning their first Dunn-St. Croix conference championship in a dozen years, Glenwood City’s wrestlers set their collective sights on adding a regional championship to this season’s list of accomplishments.
The Hilltoppers knew going into last Saturday’s WIAA Division 3 Regional at Cadott High School that their lofty goal would be a difficult one to fulfill considering the host Hornets have a roster full of state-ranked talent that has placed them among the top five teams in the small-school division all year.
But, still Glenwood City dared to dream and prepared every day for just this opportunity!
“Our goal was to win the regional. We knew Cadott had a great team returning this year, but we set our goals to win conference and the regional,” stated veteran Glenwood City head coach Shane Strong.
In the end, the Hilltoppers fell short of that goal finishing second to the vaunted Cadott Hornets in the seven-school regional tournament held February 12. Glenwood City tallied 217 points while Cadott claimed the regional plaque and automatic berth in last evening’s (Feb. 15) team sectional, which the Hornets also hosted, after scoring 271 points. Three-time defending regional titlist Boyceville came in third with 192.5 points, Stanley-Boyd tallied 91 points for fourth, Spring Valley/Elmwood was fifth with 76 points, Thorp/Owen-Withee came in sixth with a score of 72 and Cornell/Gilman/Lake Holcombe scored 42 points to take seventh.
“I thought the kids prepared hard all season for this opportunity, we just didn’t earn it on Saturday,” said Strong whose teams had finished third in the two previous regional meets. “I’m super proud of them, they gave everything they had to achieve this goal. We need to use these lessons to fuel us for next year’s regional tournament.”
FINISHING MOVE — Glenwood City junior Gabe Knops (top) worked to turn Boyceville freshman Jake Bialzik to his back during a semifinal’s match at 132 pounds last Saturday in Cadott. Knops registered the pin at 2:42 and went on to win the regional championship in the weight class and earned a sectional berth. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
For the second consecutive year, five Hilltopper wrestlers, three as regional champions, will advance to this Saturday’s WIAA Division 3 Individual Sectional tournament at St. Croix Falls High School. State-ranked juniors Ian Radintz (113) and Gabe Knops (132) repeated as regional champions last Saturday and earned their third straight trips to the sectional meet. Meanwhile, freshman phenom Wyatt Unser (106) easily copped his first regional crown. Joining Glenwood City’s trio of regional gold medalists will be first-time sectional participants freshman Mitchell McGee (138) and junior Noah Brite (182) who finished second in their respective regional weight classes. Only the top two place winners in each of the 14 weight classes will advance to the sectional tournament.
Five other Hilltoppers just missed the cut including a pair of sectional-qualifiers from a year ago. Senior Thomas Moede (152) and junior James Knight, whom both qualified for sectional competition in 2021, finished third in Cadott last Saturday along with sophomores Jonas Draxler (145) and Connor Gross (170) and senior Carter Clemens (195). Also closing out their seasons for the Hilltoppers were freshmen Logan McVeigh (126) and Jackson Logghe (160) and senior Marcis DeSmith (285), all of whom placed fourth, and freshman Blake Fayerweather (220) copped fifth.
“I’m really happy for the kids that advanced to the sectional tournament,” said Strong.
But he also recognized the heartbreak that comes when a wrestler’s season and/or career comes to a sudden end.
“As a coach you always feel the pain for those kids that don’t achieve what they set out to do,” admitted Strong. “It hurts when you see a kid like James Knight come up short when he worked so hard to be the best wrestler he can be.”
“Sports have a way of teaching you lessons in ways academic lessons cannot. Failing is learning and ultimately how you respond defines who you are,” he continued. “Thomas Moede is a prime example of a true teammate who is unselfish and committed to his team. He didn’t advance as a senior, you feel for him.”
Leading Glenwood City’s regional performances in Cadott last Saturday were its three champions.
Heading into the tournament series as the number four ranked wrestler in Division 3’s 106-pound field, freshman Wyatt Unser had to wrestle but one match to earn the gold medal. As the number one seed in a three-man bracket, Unser received a pair of byes into the championship bout where he faced Boyceville sophomore Noah Evenson. And for the second time in just over two weeks, Unser scored the pin fall, putting Evenson to his back just a minute and 13 seconds into their title.
With the win (and two byes), Unser pushed his season record to 29-4.
Also seeded first in his weight class, 2021 state runner-up Ian Radintz put in less than a minute and a half of wrestling to claim this year’s 113-pound regional championship in Cadott.
After a quarterfinal bye, the junior stuck Boyceville sophomore Wyatt Sell just 24 seconds into their semifinal match. Radintz drew Cera Philson in the gold-medal match and took the Thorp/Owen-Withee junior to the mat in 1:02 to claim his second consecutive regional crown as he improved to 34-1.
Fellow junior Gabe Knops, drew a quarterfinal’s bye as the top-seeded wrestler at 132 pounds. Knops, who holds the number 10 state-ranking in his weight class, then proceeded to win his next two matches on second-period falls to claim the top prize. In the semifinals, he pinned Boyceville freshman Jake Bialzik in 2:42 and then stuck sophomore Troy Trevin of Stanley-Boyd at the 3:27 mark of the championship match to improve to 16-4 this season.
Freshman Mitchell McGee improved to 22-15 as he extended his season with a 2-1 performance in regionals that netted him a silver medal at 138 pounds.
After a first-round bye in his three-man bracket, McGee came up against sophomore Landen Hoel of Stanley-Boyd in the only 138-pound semifinal match. The Glenwood City wrestler dominated the affair with a 12-0 major decision that earned him a spot in the championship against top seed and fifth-ranked Kaleb Sonnentag, a senior from Cadott. Sonnentag built an early lead before pinning McGee at 2:44 to take the gold.
The Toppers’ final sectional qualifier was Noah Brite (16-14) who finished second at 182 pounds. After an opening-round bye, the Glenwood City junior, who was seeded second, took on Boyceville freshman Jack Gruenhagen in the semifinals. Brite came through with the pin in 3:13. That put Brite in the finals against Cadott junior Dawson Webster. The Hornet wrestler pinned Brite in 1:26.
Five Glenwood City wrestlers returned home with bronze medals.
Topping that list was last year’s sectional qualifier James Knight, who entered last Saturday’s regional meet as the second seed in a four-man bracket at 120 pounds.
After a bye in the quarterfinals, Knight faced Stanley-Boyd senior Alexander Nitz in the semifinals. The Topper junior was leading the match when the unexpected happened. Trying to score back points, Knight suffered the loss when he unknowingly ended up with his back on the mat which resulted in the referee calling a rare defensive pin at 3:41. Although Knight came back to beat Tylor LaCroix of Spring Valley/Elmwood 7-3 in the third-place match he was never afforded a wrestleback for second after Nitz lost to Cadott’s Logan Harel, 5-3, in the championship thus ending Knight’s season with a 27-8 record.
Three of Glenwood City’s five third-place finishers – Jonas Draxler, Thomas Moede and Carter Clemens – finished 2-2 on the day as each came up short in their wrestleback opportunities for second place and a sectional berth while Connor Gross went 2-1.
Sophomore Jonas Draxler (9-10) opened with a 3:18 pin of Boyceville senior Kyle Lipke in the 145-pound quarterfinal. He then lost 11-0 in the semifinals to eventual champion Troy Duellman of Cornell/Gilman/Lake Holcombe but bounced back to stick Connor Simington of Thorp/Owen-Withee in the third-place match only to lose the second-place wrestle back to Cadott’s Ethan Duck on a 5-0 decision.
Senior Thomas Moede was denied a second straight trip to the sectional tournament when he too finished third. Wrestling at 152 pounds, Moede began his day by pinning Boyceville junior Brayan Vasquez just 1:44 into their quarterfinal match.
Like Draxler, Moede lost his semifinal match to the weight’s eventual champion – Cadott’s Tristan Drier, ranked fourth in the state. Drier scored the pin at 2:58. Moede came back to earn his second fall of the day in the third-place match, a 1:30 pin of Braeden Person of Cornell/Gilman/Lake Holcombe. But, in his wrestleback, Moede lost to Max Schmitt of Spring Valley/Elmwood who retained second place with a 13-2 major decision. Moede finished his senior season with a 21-16 record.
Sophomore Connor Gross received an opening round bye at 170 pounds and was then pinned by Caden Kingston of Cadott just a 1:08 into their semifinal match. It took Gross just 54 second to stick Spring Valley/Elmwood’s Brody Bleskacek in the third-place match. Gross, however, did not get wrestleback when Kingston finished second. Gross ended his season with a 6-15 record.
In his only year on the mat, senior Carter Clemens finished 7-13 after a 2-1 performance at 195 pounds last Saturday. Following a first-round bye, Clemens was pinned by the Bulldogs’ Bash Nielson who went on to win the weight class. Clemens came back to pin Stanley-Boyd’s Caden Kopel in the first period of the third-place match but lost a wrestleback for second place when he was pinned by Cadott’s Levi Lindsay in 1:14.
The final four Glenwood City wrestlers also placed. Freshmen Logan McVeigh and Jackson Logghe along with senior Marcis DeSmith were 1-2 and finished in fourth place at 126, 160 and 285 pounds, respectively. Blake Fayerweather lost his only match of the tournament in the quarterfinals to finish in fifth at 220 pounds.
“Our focus right now is advancing five young men to the state tournament. This will be a great challenge, but I believe our kids are up to the task. You never settle for second place when first place is available. Focus on one match at a time, trust your training and impose your will,” concluded Strong.
The Toppers remaining wrestlers will be vying for medals and state berths in this coming Saturday’s WIAA Division 3 Individual Sectional at St. Croix Falls. The top three place winners at each weight class will advance to the state championship which will return to the Kohl Center in Madison on February 24-26.