Incoming EHS freshman McNamara earns All-American honors

Michael McNamara is a true American in wrestling.

McNamara, a rising freshman at Edwardsville High School, finished in seventh place at the 2024 U.S. Marine Corps Junior and 16U Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota. McNamara wrestled in the 16U Men Freestyle Division at 88 pounds.

McNamara was one of seven wrestlers from the Edwardsville wrestling program who qualified for the prestigious tournament, which features the best competitors from across the country. The nine-day event, held July 12-20 at the FargoDome, was held.

After starting the tournament with a first-round bye, McNamara lost 3-2 to Michigan’s Dakota Harmer in the round of 16.

Although McNamara came close to elimination, he reeled off five straight wins, including 10-0 over Colton Larimer of Missouri, 11-0 over Preet Panchal of Pennsylvania, 12-2 over Cam Whitehead of Illinois, 11-0 over Damien Yeoman of Iowa and 4-2 over Cameron Schofield of Indiana.

In the bloody round victory over Schofield, McNamara trailed 1-0 after the first period and 2-0 just 43 seconds into the second. He closed the period with four points in the final 27 seconds to take a 4-2 lead before holding on until the third to earn All-American status.

After an 11-0 loss to Missouri’s Wyatt Dannegger in the fifth-place semifinals, McNamara closed out his run with a 4-3 victory over Colorado’s Onofre Gonzales in the seventh-place match. Similar to his match against Schofield, McNamara trailed 1-0 after the first period before scoring four points in the second period to take control.

Last season, McNamara finished fourth in the 90-pound class of the Boys Senior Division at the IKWF State Championships. He was the 74-pound state champion in 2022-23.

Also Ryan Richie, a rising junior at EHS, went 2-2 in the 16U Freestyle Division at 132 pounds.

Richie opened the tournament with a 10-0 win over Montana’s Jayce Kolendich and then won 4-0 over Arkansas’ Leyton Baldwin to advance to the round of 16.

In the round of 16, Richie lost 12-0 to Ashton Besmer of California and was then eliminated 9-8 by AJ De La Cruz of South Carolina.

Richie was a regional champion in the 120-pound class for the Tigers as a sophomore and qualified for state in the 113-pound class his freshman year.

The Edwardsville girls wrestling program was represented by Gigi Linhorst, Olive Linhorst, Holly Zugmaiser, Norah Swaim and Genevieve Dykstra. All but Swaim will wrestle for the Tigers in the 2024-25 season. Swaim will be a freshman at McKendree.

Gigi Linhorst (115 pounds), Swaim (115 pounds) and Zugmaier (135 pounds) all wrestled in the Junior Women Freestyle Division, while Olive Linhorst (130 pounds) and Dykstra (100 pounds) were in the 16U Women Freestyle Division.

Gigi Linhorst went 1-3, including a 12-2 victory over Iowa’s Sophia Millage in the consolation pool of the round of 64.

Swaim went 1-2, including a 12-0 victory over Minnesota’s Hanah Schuster in the round of 16 of the consolation finals.

Zugmaier went 1-2, including a 14-4 victory over Pennsylvania’s Kaleia Timko in the round of 16 of the consolation final.

Olive Linhorst and Dykstra both finished 0-2.

Of the four wrestlers returning to the Tigers next season, Zugmaier, Olive Linhorst and Dykstra were state qualifiers, and Gigi Linhorst was a sectional qualifier in 2023-24. Zugmaier finished sixth at the state tournament in the 125-pound division.