File photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Area’s Elijah Rieser gets a near fall on Pierz’s Carter Young during the Class AA State Wrestling Tournament semifinals on Feb. 25 at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Rieser was named the All-Journal Co-Wrestler of the Year on Thursday.

NEW ULM — On paper, New Ulm Area senior Elijah Rieser’s wins and loss record this season was similar to his junior campaign.

Regardless of the multiple wins he had for the second year in a row, however, Rieser worked hard during the offseason to not only put himself in a better spot but his teammates, too.

Mission accomplished.

After last season saw Rieser a win short of making the state individual wrestling tournament and the Eagles a win short of making the state tournament as a team, this year it all came together. Rieser helped the Eagles make the state tournament for the first time since 1999 and he also made the individual portion of the state tournament.

By the time Rieser retired his headgear and NUA singlet, he had a second-place state team medal and a fourth-place individual medal to take home from Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.

Rieser’s hard work also awarded him the 2025-2026 All-Journal Co-Wrestler of the Year.

As a senior and team captain, the New Ulm Cathedral 139-pounder was expected to lead more this season in more ways than one. Sportsmanship was natural for Rieser and leading by example was perhaps the biggest way he showed that leadership.

“It was just something that I needed to step up and do,” Rieser said. “Somebody’s got to do it. In the position I was in, that was me.”

Rieser’s passion for wrestling may be guarded due to his often-humble approach, but the success that has followed him throughout his career has left no doubt that wrestling and doing it well was important to him.

Rieser’s dad, John, coached the NUA team from 2011 until 2020, and Rieser said his dad has still been very helpful in his wrestling career even after stepping down as head coach.

“He’s the reason I wrestle,” Rieser said of his dad. “He’d still coach me even though he wasn’t the high school coach. He coached me preseason and postseason and he would run practices with me. He’s always been my biggest mentor and he’s always pushed me to the be the best I can be. So even though he’s not in the room, he’s still been a big influence.”

Rieser was 44-9 and finished third at the Section 3AA Individual Wrestling Tournament last season, but he was determined to make his senior year count.

This season, Rieser went 43-11 and finished fourth in the state individual tournament. He also won all three matches in the state team tournament. He defeated Totino-Grace’s Jack Garrett by pin in 1:37 at 145 pounds to open the state tournament and then went on to beat Pierz’s Carter Young by an 18-7 major decision in the semifinals at 145.

He earned a 21-4 tech fall over Simley’s Drezden Short in 5:44 in the state finals, one of NUA’s four wins during the finals.

In the individual portion of the state tournament, Rieser finished 3-2 and took home a fourth-place medal.

For his career, Rieser has 179 wins, third in program history.

As confident as Rieser looked this season, that comfortability started a couple years ago when he put more focus into the sport.

“My sophomore year, I started doing a lot more offseason training in the fall,” Rieser said. “I quit football and started doing a lot of preseason tournaments that would have been the fall of my sophomore year, so I think I got a lot more comfortable on the mat. Then my junior year I definitely stepped it up and got really comfortable out there.”

Under head coach Kevin Briggs throughout his entire varsity career, Rieser said Briggs and his dad have different coaching styles, but it’s something he’s liked and benefited from.

“I’ve always known Kevin, we’re family friends, so it was nice that I already knew him from baseball and stuff,” Rieser said. “I wouldn’t say they coach the same, they definitely have some differences, but they’re both good coaches and they’ve both got their own thing, which I like.”

Rieser’s older brother, Isaiah, also wrestled for NUA and is four years older. Rieser said while he’s a bigger wrestling fan than his older brother, there was still a little brotherly competition in the wrestling room when possible.

“My eighth-grade year I remember because it was his senior year, we practiced together a lot,” Rieser said. “There was some rivalry there and competition there and we pushed each other.”

Rieser said in addition to his family assistance, he’s had a lot of help from coaches and teammates throughout his wrestling career with NUA. One teammate in particular that Rieser said he bonded with the most, however, was Kane Johnson.

“There are definitely a couple, but probably the biggest one is Kane Johnson,” Rieser said. “He’s been my practice partner for a couple years and we were always just pushing each other, even bickering at each other and making jokes and stuff, but definitely pushed each other to be better.”

With a couple of state medals to his name, Rieser said helping NUA return to state meant a lot to him because of what went into it.

“I think it’s great to be able to show the work we’ve put in,” Rieser said. “We’ve been, I would say over the last how many years, we’ve been getting a step closer every year and now we finally made it. It just shows the work.”

Rieser said he’s undecided about his future after high school now, but he’s interested in helping coach NUA if his schedule allows, much like Sleepy Eye’s Winsten Nienhaus has done after graduating in 2024.