A class above the rest: Kasson-Mantorville's Cole Glazier the 2022-23 Post Bulletin Boys Wrestler of the Year

KASSON — Cole Glazier's prep wrestling path was already off to a great start when he was an underclassman.

He was on the Albert Lea varsity as a seventh-grader and a Section 1AAA champion as an eighth-grader. That year, he was a state quarterfinalist as he watched his older brother Zach — then a high school senior, now a wrestler at the University of Iowa — win his second consecutive state title.

That next year, Cole Glazier had high expectations for himself. Yet, he didn't return to state as a freshman, instead placing third in Section 1AAA at 145 pounds. He felt he didn't take that leap and for whatever reason, he began to feel Albert Lea wasn't the place to help him reach his full potential.

Over the previous years, Glazier had become good friends with Bennett Berge, Kail Wynia and Logan Vaughan of Kasson-Mantorville. They had often joked Glazier could come wrestle at K-M.

Little did they know, the opportunity was there.

Soon, Glazier found himself standing inside the K-M wrestling room as he entered his sophomore season. It took him only a few minutes to feel at home.

"You couldn't find a better room in the country with better training partners for me," Glazier said. "But one of the biggest things was just to be surrounded by other like-minded people. Other teammates, other coaches and people that just have a love for the sport, have a love for winning, and will do anything to make sure I'm successful and help me win. Those are the biggest reasons that I made the move and I'm very happy with the move."

As he should be.

Glazier went on to flourish as a KoMet, finishing third at state as a sophomore and then runner-up as a junior. That second-place finish put a chip on his shoulder few could match this year.

That combo of skill and determination put him on a different level this year — one that saw him win 48 of 49 matches and end with a dominating postseason, capped with a Class AA 170-pound state championship. On top of that, he helped lead a squad that graduated now-collegiate wrestlers in Berge, Wynia and Vaughan win another Section 1AA title, while placing fourth at the Class AA state tournament.

It's why he is the 2022-23 Post Bulletin Boys Wrestler of the Year.

"Yeah, this is cool to win this," Glazier said. "It means a lot because of the level of guys in this area. A lot of them could have gotten this award. So many tough guys in this area. So me getting put at the top, it's cool. It's a great award because a lot of the guys that have won this award are such great wrestlers. So every year, whoever wins this award is a pretty darn good wrestler."

Glazier wins the honor among finalists that include Dover-Eyota's Gavin Gust and Chatfield's Kail Schott. At the end of the day though, it came down to Glazier and the back-to-back Class A state-champion Gust. Those two had plenty of battles as training partners in the room at the Guerilla Wrestling Club, which only makes Glazier appreciate the recognition even more.

"He's a great partner," Glazier said. "Whenever we went after it, it was a lot of fun. It was definitely good for me.

"... That's why this award means so much to me, because you could have chosen anyone for this award, including Gust. You could have chosen any of them without argument."

From start to finish though, it was Glazier that proved to be a tier above the rest.

He entered the season as a top 10-ranked high school senior in the country according to FloWrestling and lived up to that billing every step of the way.

He first won the prestigious Donnybrook in Iowa and took home a Santa hat with a title at the very well-respected Minnesota Christmas Tournament. His only loss in 49 matches this year came to Tyler Eise out of Colorado — the then-No. 6 ranked 170-pounder in the country — in the Cheesehead Invitational finals. Glazier went 6-0 to the help the KoMets win the Osage Duals and was simply unbeatable across Hiawatha Valley League and Section 1AA competition, before running roughshod over the state tournament field.

But what really set him apart was the way he led a KoMets squad that had quite a few question marks this season. Yet, K-M simply got better as the year wore on, before eventually winning another Section 1AA title and placing fourth at the Class AA state tournament. K-M coaches Ryan Hill and Jamie Heidt credited the KoMets' growth to Glazier's leadership. Glazier, however, credits those special seniors from last year.

"That whole senior class, they taught me a lot of things wrestling-wise, but also they did a really good job of just being great role models," Glazier said. "They helped me mature a lot. My time in Kasson, I have really grown up as a wrestler and a person as well. And a lot of that is the example in the role models that senior class was and the coaches play a big role, too. But just seeing those guys grow and do what they do, they helped pass it down onto me."

Now he's ready for the next chapter of his career — one that will see him join his buddy Vaughan at perennial Division II power St. Cloud State. The preparation for the move began the day after winning a state title as Glazier was back in the weight room. He hopes to compete at 184 pounds next year, with the goal of getting to more than 200 pounds before getting to St. Cloud. He admits though, none of this would have been possible if not for K-M giving him the situation to possibly flourish.

"There were so many times in the room where I would just look around and just look at the guys in the room and just think about how thankful I am for this opportunity," Glazier said. "It was a big opportunity that I'm super thankful for and glad I made the most of it definitely."

2023 — Cole Glazier, Kasson-Mantorville

2022 — Maxwell Petersen, Byron; and Bennett Berge, K-M

2021 — Bennett Berge, K-M

2020 — Patrick Kennedy, K-M

2019 — Patrick Kennedy, K-M

2018 — Patrick Kennedy, K-M

2017 — Brady Berge, K-M