Radintz, Unser and Millermon win sectional titles, will be joined by McGee at state wrestling

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EDGAR — Winning a sectional wrestling championship is not an easy task. Staking claim to multiple such crowns is an even rarer feat but one that a pair Glenwood City athletes can now say they have achieved.

Hilltopper senior Ian Radintz captured his third straight sectional gold medal while teammate and sophomore Wyatt Unser pocketed his second consecutive championship at the 2023 WIAA Division 3 Individual Wrestling Sectional held this past Saturday, February 18 at Edgar High School. They were joined atop the awards podium by junior Savanna Millermon who collected her first WIAA crown as the girls competed for the first time at the sectional level.

That trio will be joined by sophomore Mitchell McGee who qualified for his first excursion to the WIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships, that will be held this Thursday through Saturday, February 23-25 at the Kohl Center in Madison, by placing third in Edgar at 138 pounds.

“We have four kids state bound,” said veteran Glenwood City head coach Shane Strong following the completion of the sectional meet. “Our kids wrestled so hard in some highly competitive matches.”

While those aforementioned Topper wrestlers will be competing on Wisconsin’s biggest prep wrestling stage – the state tournament – later this week, four other Glenwood City sectional competitors were unable to secure a state berth or medal in the highly competitive Edgar tournament that featured several state-ranked wrestlers. 

Seniors Gabe Knops and Noah Brite saw their accomplished wrestling careers come to an end as did the seasons for sophomores Andrew Blaser and Jackson Logghe. Knops third straight sectional tournament did not prove be a charm as he just missed a return trip to state, placing fourth, while Brite was denied a coveted state berth for the second year in a row. Blaser and Logghe both lost in the quarterfinals and did not get another opportunity to wrestle.

Two other Glenwood City wrestlers that qualified to compete at sectionals were conspicuously absent from the mat last Saturday. Senior James Knight and junior Peyton Rassbach both had to withdraw from the tournament due to injuries. Knight suffered a broken hand during a recent practice and Rassbach sustained ed a head injury during Tuesday’s team sectional tournament in Cadott.

Radintz was all business on the wrestling mats in Edgar last Saturday parlaying a pair of victories over state-ranked opponents into his third straight sectional gold medal, this one at 126 pounds following championship wins at 113 and 106 pounds in his two previous sectional meets, and corresponding state berth where he looks to add a state medal of the same color by the end of this weekend’s state championships.

After a quarterfinal bye, Radintz, who has spent much of this season ranked second in the 126-pound state polls, drew Clear Lake’s Mitchell Anderson in the semifinal. The Warrior senior, who polled fifth in the latest state rankings, was no match for Radintz who earned a 5-0 shut out win to advance to his third straight sectional championship.

 In that 126-pound title match, Radintz faced a familiar foe, two-time defending state champion and top-ranked Dawson Johnson from Cumberland. The sectional championship match marked the fifth time the top two wrestlers have went head-to-head this season. Johnson won their first three meetings but Radintz pulled out a 5-4 decision in the match for his second straight win over the Cumberland junior to capture sectional title number three. Johnson has lost only three times in his high school career, all have  been to Radintz.

The championship win improved Radintz’ season mark to 39-3.

Wyatt Unser was absolutely dominating in his run to the 113-pound sectional championship. The Glenwood City sophomore registered a pair of pins and a technical fall en route to capturing his second sectional gold in as many attempts.

Unser, who will take a 38-2 record and a number three ranking into this week’s state tournament, opened his sectional competition by pinning Maverick Hoogland of Phillips just 1:10 into their quarterfinal’s match. He need just 4:32 to earn a 17-2 technical fall over his semifinal opponent, junior Ronan Garcia of Bruce, who was ranked fifth.

In the finals, Unser dispatched fourth-ranked Cooper Schramski of Cumberland for the second time in four days. After beating Schramski 9-3 in Tuesday’s team sectional match-up, Unser put the Cumberland sophomore to the mat in 3:49 to win the gold.

“Wyatt and Ian continue to wrestle at a high level,” said Strong the duo’s sectional winning performances. “They have a drive to be the best in their weight class every week. They understand there is still work to be done and tougher challenges ahead this coming week.”

Glenwood City junior Savanna Millermon didn’t break a sweat in winning her sectional championship in the girls’ 107-pound weight class. In fact, she didn’t even have to wrestle as she was the only girl her in weight bracket and one of just 13 girls that competed in the dozen weight classes in Edgar last Saturday. Millermon (11-3), who took third in the first-ever girls’ state wrestling championships a year ago, knows she has a challenge before her as she heads to Madison this week to compete in a 16-woman, one-division bracket for an opportunity at gold.

“Savanna will compete in the girls’ state tournament for the second year in a row. She placed third last year, but understands she has to bring it to up her placement. She is very dedicated in our room and looks forward to this opportunity since they are limited in this growing female sport,” said Strong.

Competing in his second consecutive sectional tournament, sophomore Mitchell McGee was able to earn his first trip to state with a third-place finish at 138 pounds. McGee earned a 9-7 quarterfinal’s win over Phillips Daniel Adomaitis. In his semifinal match, McGee came up against Colton Weiler (50-4) of Auburndale and lost 6-0 to the state’s second-ranked wrestler. McGee rebounded to win his consolation match against Nelson Vasquez of Cumberland and the third-place bout with Marathon’s Derek Vesley scoring two pins in identical times of 4:40 to secure the state berth. McGee had an opportunity to wrestle back for second place against Clear Lake’s Dominic Leintz, who is ranked 12th, but forfeited due to medical concerns.

“Mitchell McGee willed himself to state with the best tournament of the year,” said his coach. “We wanted him to open up his shots and he did just that. He scored multiple takedowns in Edgar fighting through a nagging injury. His drive in practice and willingness to learn gave him this opportunity!!”

McGee is currently 32-15.

Wrestling in his third straight sectional meet, senior Gabe Knops was looking to add back-to-back trips to the state tournament. But it was not to be. Knops split his four sectional matches at 145 pounds, finishing fourth, just missing the state cut.

Knops started the day strong with a 10-0 major decision shut out over Harrison Ruppel of Cumberland. In the semifinals, the Topper senior come up short in a close 4-1 loss to sixth-ranked Troy Duellman, a junior from Cornell/Gilman/Lake Holcombe. Knops bounced back beating Brandon Wright of Turtle Lake/Clayton with a 4:39 pin in the consolation semifinals to earn a shot at third place and a state berth. Unfortunately, Knops finished his senior season and career with a 2-0 loss to Stratford’s state-ranked Ryan Becker (39-13) in that bronze-medal match. 

Knops, who was ranked ninth in his weight class, finished 33-10 in his final wrestling campaign.

“Gabe Knops came up short competing in some high level matches, against some very good kids. He lost 2-0 in the match to make it to state, he should be proud of himself for a great season. He was a state qualifier last year and he certainly won us some big matches over the years,” stated Strong.

There would also be no medal or state berth for fellow senior Noah Brite in his second go round at the sectional tournament. Brite was pinned in his 170-pound quarterfinal match by seventh-ranked Matthew Roach (43-7) of Ladysmith and then lost via fall in 4:42 to Spring Valley/Elmwood’s Cole Steinmeyer in the consolation semifinals and was eliminated. Brite finished his final season with a 16-14 record.

“I can’t say enough good things about Noah Brite,” said his coach. “He has an amazing heart and work ethic. He has transformed his body through our sport and has always embraced hard work in our practice room. His career is over, but his example will carry on for a long time.”

The Hilltoppers final two sectional competitors, sophomores Andrew Blaser and Jackson Logghe, were both eliminated after quarterfinal losses at their respective weight classes.

Blaser (13-22) lost via a first-period pin at 152 pounds as did Logghe (17-19) at 182 pounds.

“Jackson Logghe and Andrew Blaser competed well this year. They are young and eager to take over as leaders next season. Both of these kids are driven and extremely coachable!” concluded Strong.