Historically, the River Falls Wildcats have routinely been one of the top 3 teams in the Big Rivers Conference, but they've had a couple lower finishes in the last three years, split up by winning the conference in 2021.

River Falls native and former Wildcat wrestler Cameron Loomis is taking over as head coach this year after seven years as the assistant coach to Kevin Black, who stepped down after last season. With him are some new additions to the program.

“This year will be a good mix of some of the same faces and some new faces around the program on the coaching side. It will be a young staff with a lot of wrestling experience,” Loomis said. “Being a new head coach, I wanted to make sure to hire assistants that could help me in areas I knew weren't my strong suit, for lack of a better term. Kevin laid an amazing foundation over his tenure and is still going to be a huge part of River Falls wrestling. We are just looking to keep building on the foundation that is here and get River Falls back to the top of the BRC on a consistent basis.”

Loomis says the team is also in a bit of a changeover period as well this year.

“This year will be a young team for the most part. Our only senior that has post-season experience is Jacob Range, and he will be having season-ending surgery the first week of December. We will need to lean on some juniors to step up,” Loomis said. “As a team we have solid numbers, and we will lean on those numbers throughout the year to get a lot of wrestling experience. Returning state qualifier Lincoln McCarty, Jonas Longsdorf, Vinny Costabilo and some freshmen like Waylon Deaton, Oliver Larson and Jacob Hutchins will all have an opportunity to make an impact right away.” 

River Falls girls wrestling is also gaining traction, with one team member who made it to state last season.

“We do have two female wrestlers as well. One is senior Jenna Lawrence who is a returning state qualifier, and we are expecting big things from her this year. The women’s wrestling program is something we are continuing to try and find ways to grow,” Loomis said. “We have added a women's coach this year to the staff as well, River Falls alumni Josie Bartishofski. We are very excited about getting her on board and helping with the growth of the women's program.”

Expectations are high for the Wildcats who are still looking to add that crowning achievement of a state championship onto their tradition of success.

“As far as goals for this program going forward, the goal is going to be having sustained team success on all levels, conference, regionals, sectionals and the state level. River Falls has never won a team state title in wrestling, that is a goal and something I hope I can help this program achieve in the future,” Loomis said. “On the individual side, we have a handful of athletes with big goals of being on or on top of the podium at the state tournament come the last weekend in February. The future of the wrestling program is very bright with record numbers in both the youth and middle school age groups.” 

With practices well underway, Loomis is optimistic about the impending season.

“We have had a week of practice so far and I am pleasantly surprised by this group. We are off to a good start and will need to continue to improve each day to be where we want to be come February,” Loomis said. 

The Wildcats’ first competition will be a dual meet against the Menomonie Mustangs on Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. Loomis says they will know where they stand after that as Menomonie is expected to be one of the top teams in the state this year.