Hilltopper wrestlers earn Northern Badger three-peat, Wyatt Unser claims second title
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CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS — Glenwood City junior Wyatt Unser is shown scoring back points in his 126-pound championship match against Will Schmitt of St. Croix Central at the 2023 Northern Badger Wrestling Classic in River Falls December 29. Unser won the gold-medal match 6-2 to claim his second Northern Badger championship in three years. —photo by Jacob Maes Photogrpahy
RIVER FALLS — It’s a three-peat for Glenwood City.
For a third consecutive year, the Hilltopper boys captured the Division 3 (small school) championship at the 2023 Northern Badger Wrestling Classic which was held Thursday and Friday, December 28 and 29 at River Falls High School.
Headlined by junior Wyatt Unser’s second individual Northern Badger wrestling championship in three years coupled with sixth-place showings by junior Mitchell McGee and freshman Brock Wood and a tenth from sophomore Landon Obermueller, Glenwood City scored 148.5 points to finish 29 points ahead of runner-up Clear Lake. Overall, the Hilltoppers placed 13th in the 46-school Northern Badger field. A year ago, Glenwood City tallied 204.5 points and finished seventh. Once again, Menomonie won the overall championship with a score of 315.5.
With just a pair of wrestlers, the Glenwood City girls also claimed the Division 3 (small) school title with 20 points as senior Savanna Millermon placed third and sophomore Greta Draxler finished sixth.
Wyatt Unser won his second individual Northern Badger championship in three years. He claimed the 126-pound gold last week in River Falls to go along with the 106-pound championship he copped in 2021. Unser finished second at 113 pounds in last year’s NB Wrestling Classic.
As his weight brackets top seed, Unser received an opening-round bye to begin his 2023 Northern Badger competition. Unser was then paired with Shell Lake’s Liam Hammond in the round of 16 and won via a technical fall, 17-2, in 2:21. That victory sent Unser into a quarterfinal’s match against Grayson Ratajczak of Freedom. Unser again emerged the victor with another technical fall, a 16-1 triumph in 4:24, to earn a spot in the following day’s semifinal round.
GLENWOOD CITY senior Savanna Millermon, shown above pinning an opponent in a 100-pound girls’ match, finished third in her weight class at the Northern Badger Wrestling Classic held December 28 and 29 at River Falls High School. Millermon is a two-time Northern Badger medalist. —photo by Jacob Maes Photography
Unser opened day two of the competition against Cole Steffen of St. Croix Falls. The Hilltopper junior earned a 12-2 major decision to qualify for his third straight gold-medal match in as many Northern Badger tournaments. In the final, Unser faced Will Schmitt of St. Croix Central and prevailed 6-2 to win his second NB title and finish his first month of wrestling with an unblemished 20-0 record.
Three other Hilltopper wrestlers also stood on the medals podium following the conclusion of this year’s Northern Badger tournament. Junior Mitchell McGee and freshman Brock Wood both finished sixth at their respective weight classes and sophomore Landon Obermueller copped a tenth-place finish. McGee placed fourth in last year’s Northern Badger while Obermueller took 11th.
Mitchell McGee posted a 4-3 mark in this year’s tournament en route to a sixth-place showing at 157 pounds after taking fourth at 145 pounds a year ago. All four of McGee’s wins came on the first day of competition as he claimed three straight, sub-one-minute pins to open the competition.
The first of McGee’s pin-fall victories came against Barron’s Carter Roth in a preliminary-round match-up. It took McGee just 52 seconds to stick Roth. The Topper junior needed just 43 ticks to finish off Hunter Halverson of Ellsworth in the next round. In the round of 16, McGee put Shell Lake’s Carter Allen to his back in 51 seconds to earn a spot in the quarterfinal where he defeated Menomonie’s Waler Ferguson via a 7-1 decision.
Unfortunately, McGee was unable to carry that momentum into the second and final day of competition as he lost all three of his duals. Taden Holldorf of Baldwin-Woodville defeated McGee via a 10-2 major decision in the semifinals. McGee then fell to another Middle Border wrestler in the consolation semifinals when he was shutout 9-0 by St. Croix Central’s Brock Swenson. In the fifth-place bout, Vincent Cook from Freedom edged McGee 5-3. Those were McGee’s first setbacks of the season. He will head into the new year sporting a very good 19-3 record.
In his first varsity season, Brock Wood was able to accomplished the difficult task of earning a spot on the Northern Badger medals podium. Like McGee, Wood finished the two-day tournament with a 4-3 mark to improve to 17-6 on the season.
HILLTOPPER Landon Obermuller worked hard to score some points during a 120-pound match at the Northern Badger Wrestling Classic on Friday, December 29. Obermueller placed tenth in the 2023 tournament. —photo by Jacob Maes Photography
In his first-ever Northern Badger match, Wood scored an 18-3 technical fall over Middleton’s Pavil Jones in the opening round of competition in the 138-pound weight bracket. The Topper freshman followed it with a 6-4 overtime win against Logan Jones of Northwestern. Wood finished off the opening day of wrestling with a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Somerset’s Blake Fox in the quarterfinals.
Day two brought immediate success for Wood as he scored a pair of consolation-round victories. First he defeated Clear Lake’s Trevor Gilbertson 5-3 and followed it with a 7-1 win over Logan Jones of Northwestern. Those two wins earned Wood a rematch against Somerset’s Blake Fox in the fifth-place bout. Unfortunately, Wood had to give Fox the win via a medical forfeit and settled for sixth.
After placing 11th at 106 pounds in last year’s Northern Badger, sophomore Landon Obermueller (16-6) finished this year’s two-day tournament with a 4-3 mark and a tenth-place medal at 120 pounds. Obermueller split a pair of major decision to open the tournament. In the opening round, he defeated Ellsworth’s Gavin Ricke 11-1 but was beaten 11-2 in his next match by Kaleb Lodahl of Cadott. He then earned a pair of pins in his next two consolation bouts including a 21-second fall over Carter Benson of Baldwin-Woodville. That was followed by a one-point loss (4-3) to Tristen Smazal of Abottsford/Colby. But, Obermueller scored a 16-3 major decision win over Clear Lake’s Deaven McClanahan to qualify for the ninth-place match. Unfortunately, Bruce’s Ronan Garcia prevailed in 8-6 overtime.
A pair of Glenwood City girls also earned medals at this year’s Northern Badger.
Wrestling in the 100-pound weight class, senior Savanna Millermon placed third while sophomore Greta Draxler finished sixth at 138 pounds.
Millermon, who placed second at 107 pounds a year ago, pinned Izzy Davenport of River Falls just 33 seconds into the pair’s 100-pound quarterfinal. Millermon lost 6 to 3 in the semifinals to Freedom’s Katherine Cook but rebounded to win her consolation semifinal by pinning Amelia Meier of Abbotsford/Colby in 18 seconds and took the bronze-medal match via a 11-2 major decision over Shelby Gracia of Bruce. Millermon improved to 9-1 on the season.
Greta Draxler went 1-3 at 138 pounds to finish in sixth place.
Ten other Glenwood City wrestlers competed in River Falls last week but did not place.
Finishing 2-2 in the tournament were Will Obermueller (106), Preston Arvey (113), Zeb Holden (144), Andrew Blaser (150), Jackson Logghe (215) and Blake Fayerweather (285). Logan Hillman (132), Will Standaert (165), Steven Booth (175) and Conner Gross (190) went 1-2 in this year’s Northern Badger Classic.
The Hilltoppers will compete in the Cadott Invitational this Saturday, January 6. Glenwood City will open Dunn-St. Croix mat action against Spring Valley/Elmwood next Thursday, January 11 at Spring Valley High School.