Northern Badger: Big fun and big business

By Greg Peters
Posted 12/24/24

The Northern Badger Wrestling Classic, held this week at the River Falls High School gym on Dec. 27 and 28, is one of the premier high school holiday wrestling tournaments in the upper Midwest.

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Northern Badger: Big fun and big business

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The Northern Badger Wrestling Classic, held this week at the River Falls High School gym on Dec. 27 and 28, is one of the premier high school holiday wrestling tournaments in the upper Midwest.

Madison started the "Badger State" high school holiday wrestling tournament in 1981, with mostly eastern and southern Wisconsin schools participating. The La Crosse-area wrestling community started the "Bi-State" tournament for the southwest part of the state and eastern Minnesota the next year.  

The first Northern Badger was started and held at UW-Stout in 1985 with 32 teams. When UW-Stout dropped wrestling in the 1990's and, with the Menomonie high school program struggling, River Falls' wrestling godfather Dave Black pleaded with the River Falls' School Board to bring the tournament to River Falls.

Dave's son and former NCAA All-American wrestler Kevin Black said his dad told the school board, "We can't let this tournament go; this thing is awesome."

In 1996, according to Kevin Black, the school board told his dad to "pound sand and get out of here."

"They (school board) told my dad they would have to pay for an ambulance and it would cost the district too much money," said Black.

Many believe it was the added work and headaches of running a large tournament that may have been a major contributing factor for the pushback.

"The timing of it (Christmas break) I don't think helped," said Black.

Like Andy Dufresne in the movie "Shawshank Redemption," Dave Black was persistent and finally received a "yes" from the school board in 1996. The school board agreed to sponsor the event but they wouldn't have anything to do with it.

The first Northern Badger Classic in River Falls was held at UW-River Falls in 1997.

The first tournament program featured three local hotel sponsors offering rooms at a special rate of $25 per night. In the early 2000's, after the completion of the current high school, the Northern Badger has found its home for over 20 years.

"You never know what can happen when there are that many people in town for two days, especially with the weather this time of year," said Black.

In the early 2000's, the Cadott wrestling team was planning on driving home and returning in the morning, but a snowstorm locked everybody down. The Cadott wrestling team resembled Joseph & Mary; there was no room at the inn.

"My dad (Dave Black) called Steve Ross who owned the old River Falls Fitness Center," said Black. "Cadott slept on the floor at the old fitness center and the town found them all sleeping bags."

Ironically, the old River Falls Fitness Center building now houses the Victory School of Wrestling.  

This year marks the 40th year since the tournament’s inception; however, it is tournament number 39, as there was no tournament in 2020 due to Covid.

This year, second-year Wildcat Wrestling Head Coach Cam Loomis says he's anticipating the 48-team event will be the biggest ever.

"Even the small schools have full rosters," said Loomis. "Girls’ wrestling is saving boys wrestling."

According to numerous reports and the U.S. Wrestling Foundation, girls’ wrestling is the fastest growing girls' sport in the country.

The River Falls wrestling program's practice room is currently housed in the bowels of Meyer Middle School. To get there, one has to walk down four flights of stairs. That will all change next season, as the new multi-purpose building will be added to the high school and the wrestling team will be back for the first time in over a decade.

The Northern Badger has graduated from "go pound sand" in 1996 to generating over $60,000 of revenue for the two-day event. Revenue from the Northern Badger benefits all River Falls Wildcat athletic programs.

With an expected 4,000 to 5,000 people in River Falls for two days watching and participating, according to Chamber of Commerce impact calculators, the Northern Badger has an economic impact of close to $600,000 for the local area.

"This thing is a major deal for us," said Chartwells Director of Dining Services Pat Knox.

Chartwells is a contracted food service company for River Falls High School. They employ 30 food service employees for the event, serving full meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for both days to the public. They are prepping food from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Wednesday Dec. 26 and are on site from 5 a.m. until 8 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.

"If you're a food service lunch lady looking for a holiday break, it doesn't work that way at River Falls," said Knox. "Because that is what we do!"

Knox and River Falls School District Director of Communications Jenny Ames were participating in the interview at the same time. Ames was trying to give some pats on the back to Pat.

"Look, this is our job and we're paid for it," said Knox. "But there are 100 volunteers that help run the Northern Badger."

"Stop throwing sauce," said Ames, trying to give Knox and his crew accolades. "Pat and his crew are always smiling and thinking about the kids and making food and nutrition fun."

Revenue from Chartwells' Northern Badger concession proceeds supplement Fund 50, which is the account helping fund free and reduced breakfast and lunch for underprivileged district children, as well as keeping lunch prices low for everyday food services.

If the food is next level, so is the wrestling. Last year, the Northern Badger featured 38 WIAA state qualifiers, including 14 state finalists and eight state champions.

"It's high-level high school wrestling, there's no doubt about that," said Loomis.

Two local wrestlers expected to do well this weekend include Ellsworth senior (106 pounds) Austin Peterson. Peterson is currently ranked third in the state, according to Wisconsin Grappler. River Falls' senior Jonas Longsdorf (138 pounds) is also expected to do well, according to Loomis.

One aspect of wrestling that may be specific to the sport is former wrestling-greats officiating. The Northern Badger will have the longtime officiating father-son duo of Tony and Thane Antczak blowing the whistle. Thane Antczak was a 2007 graduate of Prairie Farm, was a two-time WIAA State Champion, and a three-time Northern Badger Champion. Antczak collegiately wrestled for the Minnesota Gophers and currently lives in River Falls. He teaches full-time for the Stillwater school district.

The Northern Badger will begin on Thursday morning Dec. 27 and conclude Friday evening about 8:30 p.m. Dec. 28 with an awards ceremony.        

Northern Badger Wrestling Classic, River Falls High School, holiday wrestling tournament, River Falls, Wisconsin