High school wrestling: Richmond-Burton's Jaden Glauser carries unbeaten record into state finals

Jaden Glauser’s keys to success at the IHSA individual wrestling state meet are pretty simple.

“Having fun, staying calm, having fun again and take it one match at a time,” the Richmond-Burton sophomore said.

Glauser looked like he was having fun on his way to three convincing wins at last weekend’s Class 2A Grayslake Central Sectional. The 182-pounder won his first match of the sectional by technical fall, then recorded first-period pins in the semifinal and championship matches.

At 33-0, Glauser is ranked No. 1 at 182 in Class 2A by the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association. He is ranked No. 2 by Illinois Matmen, behind only Morris’ Cody Baldridge (who also is unbeaten at 38-0).

He is one of 40 McHenry County wrestlers heading to the state meet, which begins Thursday and runs through Saturday at State Farm Center in Champaign.

While wrestling at McHenry last year, Glauser placed fourth in Class 3A at 170 as a freshman. For the second consecutive year, he went unbeaten in the regular season.

“It feels cool,” Glauser said. “It doesn’t really register to me. But I’m sure other people say, ‘Oh, wow.’ I don’t think about it, mostly just because I’m focused on the next kid, the next match. I’m not really thinking about if I have zero losses or not.”

Glauser went 44-3 as a freshman, losing only a sectional title match, a state quarterfinal match and the state third-place match.

He and his family moved to Spring Grove just after the beginning of the 2017-18 school year. Glauser said he started the school year at McHenry but transferred midway through the fall semester.

R-B coach Tony Nelson knew Glauser only a little bit before the transfer – Glauser’s dad wrestled at Grant, like Nelson.

“Anytime you have a kid with that much talent in the room, it’s a good thing,” Nelson said. “The kids are excited to have him. He meshed in well with all the guys. Lately, especially after Christmas break, he’s really coming into his own as far as being comfortable in the room and comfortable with all of us as coaches.”

Glauser went through a little bit of an transition period after the move, which was to be expected. Nelson said it didn’t take the outgoing Glauser long to grow accustomed to his new teammates and coaches.

“The adjustment at the beginning was a little tough, coming to a new school halfway through the semester,” Glauser said. “Other than that, it’s a good school.”

When Glauser first transferred, Nelson didn’t know who might be his wrestling partner in practice. They eventually settled on 220-pound junior Josh Dumont.

“We had a couple of kids really rise to the occasion,” Nelson said. “[Dumont] had a great year, and part of that’s from working out with Jaden, too.”

Dumont finished third in the Class 2A Harvard Regional before seeing his season end at sectionals.

Glauser is rolling at the right time. Nelson was happy to see him doing well against tough competition at sectionals. Nelson said Glauser is at his best when he “lets it flow,” lets the match come to him.

Glauser said he’s “hungry” heading into the state meet.

“I’m really excited to see this kid, a sophomore down there, wrestling at his level,” Nelson said. “I really think he can win it all this year.”