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River Falls Wrestling

Since 1962 · 20 WIAA State Titles

Once a Wildcat Always a Wildcat

Wildcat wrestling in River Falls, Wisconsin ... Pre‑K through Grade 12.

  • 1962 Wrestling at RFHS since
  • 20 WIAA state champions
  • 144 State qualifiers
  • 5,000 Fans each December

Updates

  • A young River Falls wrestler in a Wildcats singlet, arms folded, in the high school wrestling room Season starts

    Youth Wrestling

    4K through 5th grade. One evening a week in the high school room.

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  • A frost-covered whitetail antler held up in a weathered hand at first light, over a cut cornfield New this season

    The Buck Board

    Biggest rack, smallest buck, biggest doe. Ten dollars, one photo, all season.

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  • Stay in the Loop

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    Schedules, results, and program news in your inbox.

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  • Get involved

    Join the Booster Club

    Members run the fundraisers, the tournaments and the concession stand.

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Building Wildcats Together Since 1962

Six decades of Wildcats, built by River Falls families ... and by wrestlers who came back to coach the program they grew up in. Today the program runs Pre-K through Grade 12.

  • 1962

    Bill Wright puts a wrestling team on the mat at River Falls High School.

  • 1997

    Four Wildcats win state in one season ... Kevin Black, Brady Cudd, Joe Cudd and Phil Meier ... and the team finishes runner-up at team state for the second year running. Nothing before or since has matched it.

  • Today

    Cam Loomis coaches the program he wrestled for, class of 2010. Before him, four-time state champion Kevin Black. Before them, Brady and Joe Cudd. Wildcats coaching Wildcats, three times over ... and the next name on this list is already in the room.

Sixty years of Wildcats →

River Falls Wildcat wrestler on the mat

20 WIAA Individual State Titles

145 qualifiers and 78 placement medals

These individual champions have powered five WIAA Team State appearances and fueled fifteen conference team championships across the Middle Border and Big Rivers Conferences.

The full honor roll →

All-Americans & National Champions

  • 11 Wildcats
  • 18 All-American honors
  • 3 national champions

The first NCAA and NCWWC titles by Wildcat graduates came a week apart in March 2025: Macey Kilty, then Mitchell Williamson.

  • Bill James, Army

    Bill James

    NCAA Division I All-American

    Army 134 lbs

    Wildcat class of ’68

    • 1971 · 6th

    River Falls High School class of 1968 and the 1966 conference champion, then a cadet at West Point, class of 1972, where he captained the Army team. The program's first NCAA Division I All-American, thirty-one years before Kevin Black. Son of UW-River Falls coach Byron James.

  • Gee Pope, UW-River Falls

    Gee Pope

    2x NAIA All-American

    UW-River Falls 134 lbs

    Wildcat class of ’71

    • 1974 · 4th
    • 1975 · 2nd

    River Falls High School class of 1971 and a state qualifier for the Wildcats that year, then a two-time NAIA All-American at UW-River Falls. The college and the high school are separate institutions that share a name.

    Student Voice, UW-River Falls, 1975

  • Dave Brandvold, UW-River Falls

    Dave Brandvold

    National Champion

    NCAA Division III

    UW-River Falls 177 lbs

    Head coach · 1990-2008

    • 1984 · 6th
    • 1985 · champion

    Won the 1985 final 7-3 at Augustana, coached by Byron James. Our coach, not our alum: He grew up in Spring Valley and won this title for UW-River Falls, the university across town, then led the Wildcats as head coach from 1990 to 2008 ... 205 dual wins. Counted here because the title is River Falls wrestling history; not counted as a Wildcat graduate.

    Student Voice, UW-River Falls, 1985

  • Brady Cudd

    2x NCAA Division III All-American

    UW-La Crosse 141 lbs

    Wildcat class of ’97

    • 2001 · 5th
    • 2002 · 2nd

    Academic All-American ... not an athletic honor

    • NCAA Division I · Academic All-American, 2000 (Wisconsin).
    • NCAA Division III · Academic All-American, 2001 and 2002 (UW-La Crosse).

    No photo on file. Got one? Send it to the boosters

  • Kevin Black, Wisconsin

    Kevin Black

    NCAA Division I All-American

    Wisconsin 133 lbs

    Wildcat class of ’98

    • 2002 · 4th

    UW Athletics

  • Tony Black, Wisconsin

    Tony Black

    NCAA Division I All-American

    Wisconsin 125 lbs

    Wildcat class of ’99

    • 2003 · 5th

    Academic All-American ... not an athletic honor

    • Wrestling USA · first-team Academic All-American, 1999.
    • Verizon / CoSIDA · second-team Academic All-American, 2003.

    UW Athletics

  • Trevor Brandvold, Wisconsin

    Trevor Brandvold

    2x NCAA Division I All-American

    Wisconsin 197 lbs

    Wildcat class of ’06

    • 2010 · 6th
    • 2011 · 4th

    2011 · 2nd · Olympic Trials Qualifier · 96 kg

    UW Athletics

  • Sam Johnson, Dubuque

    Sam Johnson

    NCAA Division III All-American

    Dubuque 197 lbs

    Wildcat class of ’09

    • 2011 · 6th

    Other national honors

    • 2014 · 6th · NAIA · Cumberlands

    Courtesy Cam Loomis

  • Mitchell Williamson, Wartburg

    Mitchell Williamson

    National Champion

    NCAA Division III

    Wartburg 285 lbs

    Wildcat class of ’18

    • 2025 · champion
    • 2026 · 2nd

    Other national honors

    • 2021 · champion · NJCAA · Iowa Lakes

    Beat Carl DiGiorgio of Coast Guard 4-1 in the 2025 final; lost the 2026 final 4-1 to Josh Harkless of RIT. The NJCAA title is a separate governing body's championship, so it is listed under its own label and not counted in the NCAA lines above.

  • Nathan Fuller, Wartburg

    Nathan Fuller

    NCAA Division III All-American

    Wartburg 165 lbs

    Wildcat class of ’19

    • 2023 · 7th
  • Macey Kilty, Iowa

    Macey Kilty

    National Champion

    NCWWC

    Iowa 145 lbs

    Wildcat class of ’19

    • 2025 · champion

    2023 · World silver · 65 kg

    NCWWC is women's collegiate wrestling ... a national championship in its own right, and not one of the NCAA divisions counted above. River Falls High School class of 2019: raised in Stratford, she transferred here for her junior year to train under Kevin Black and graduated a Wildcat.

The full record Wildcats in college now High school national honors In the halls of fame

Two Landmark Tournaments Each Season

The Badger Classic here at RFHS and the WWF Kids series born in River Falls

Northern Badger Wrestling Classic

Founded at UW-Stout in 1985 and later moved to River Falls, where it was held at UW-River Falls before coming to the high school. Each December, over 48 teams and up to 5,000 fans converge for two days of top-level competition ... staffed by booster club volunteers on the mats, at the door and in the concession stand.

Northern Badger Wrestling Classic logo

Birthplace of the WWF Kids Series

In 1988, River Falls gave rise to the WWF Kids Folkstyle State Tournament series. While the tournament now travels statewide, its roots here continue to shape young wrestlers across Wisconsin.

WWF Kids Folkstyle State Championships logo

Be part of the next 60 years

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