Cadott crowns two champs at annual Northern Badger

By Ginna Young

If you’re a high school wrestling fan, every year, at the end of December, a two-day wrestling tournament is held in River Falls, known as the Northern Badger. There, hundreds of students – including those from Cadott – compete to see who will be crowned champion of the invitational.

“This was the toughest Northern Badger in recent history,” said coach Josh Spaeth.

Despite that, Cadott took fourth place out of 45 teams and were the champions of Division 2 over the two days, Dec. 29 and Dec. 30. They also saw two of their wrestlers bring home championships, with senior Brayden Sonnentag (132 pounds) winning his third Northern Badger, while freshman Iszy Sonnentag (107) became Cadott’s first female Northern Badger champion.

B. Sonnentag’s win came in a 6-0 decision over Tyler Fink, of Baldwin-Woodville.

“Our team wrestled very well, with nearly every wrestler scoring team points,” said Spaeth.

Coming up with second place, senior Tristan Drier (152) battled Freedom’s Nathan VandeHey, with the match going to VandeHey in a 14-4 major decision. Senior Cole Pfeiffer (160) also brought in second place, with his match going to Owen Wasley, of St. Croix Central, in a 6-4 decision.

Placing fourth for the Hornets, was senior Dawson Webster (182), followed by sophomore Kaleb Lodahl (106) and senior Levi Lindsay (195), who reeled in sixth place finishes. Senior Nick Fasbender (138) followed that up with eighth place, while junior Axel Tegels (220) came home with ninth and senior Kane Mengel (285) ended with 12th place.

“We are moving in the right direction as a team,” said Spaeth.