A national champion wrestler and a much-lauded women’s hockey player have been named the Blugolds’ male and female athletes of the year.
Both Jared Stricker and Sophie Rausch were announced as winners of the annual awards late last week. The honors were just the latest of many accolades both have received for their efforts for their teams in the 2023-24 wrestling and hockey campaigns, respectively.
Stricker, a junior out of Ashland, Wisconsin, of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire wrestling team was announced as the Blugold Athletics’ Male Athlete of the Year for 2023-24 on Friday. Meanwhile, Rausch, a member of the women’s hockey player and a graduating senior from Fergus Falls, Minnesota, was named Blugold Athletics’ Female Athlete of the Year for 2023-24 on Thursday.
Stricker became the second national champion in the history of Blugold wrestling last season. He finished the campaign with a 42-2 record and didn’t lose to a Division III opponent all year. He set new school records for single-season pins with 21 and career victories with 126. He finished the season as a national champion, NCAA Upper Midwest Regional champion and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) champion.
Stricker also helped the Blugolds earn a share of their first team WIAC championship ever and place fifth in the team standings at the NCAA Championships — their highest finish ever.
In reacting to the announcement, UWEC head wrestling coach Tim Fader praised Stricker on not only the award, but also the mindset the junior brings to the mat, both at practice and during each competition.
“Another fantastic award for Jared and his national championship season. UW Eau Claire has a very strong athletics program and to be awarded the best male athlete is amazing considering the competition,” Fader told the Leader-Telegram in an exclusive interview Friday morning.
Fader explained how he and his coaching staff approach the schedule each season in order to ensure their wrestlers are up against the best.
”Our staff purposely puts together the most challenging schedule that we can, and Jared defeated every single D3 opponent all year. He brings a lot of points to our team as he set our season record for pins with 21 and got us bonus points in 90 percent of his matches,” Fader said.
”Jared has a great mindset and attacking style when he’s out on the mat. Those are two things he brings to our program. If you haven’t seen a wrestling match before you should get out to see him next year. He’s fun to watch and many wrestlers on our team want to emulate him,” the Blugolds head coach said.
In a text response to the Leader-Telegram late Friday afternoon, Stricker said he was excited to receive the honor and also commented on the hard work and tenacity he puts into the sport that has led to his success.
”Yeah, it means a lot just shows how much time and effort I put into this sport working all year to be the best in the country so yeah, it means a lot,” Stricker stated.
In an interview with the Leader-Telegram following his national championship win last March, Stricker again emphasized how much work and dedication had gone into the effort to achieve his dream.
“It means everything it feels amazing and just shows how much hard work and dedication I’ve put into this sport,” Stricker noted.
Rausch ends UWEC career on high note
As for Rausch, she capped a standout career with the Blugolds last winter, setting a new school record for single-season points for the second consecutive year. She tallied 50 points by scoring 29 goals and assisting 21 others. Rausch helped lead UW-Eau Claire to the finals of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament and earned first team All-America status for the third consecutive season. She was also named the winner of the WIAC’s Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete award and was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District At-Large Team. She graduates as UW-Eau Claire’s all-time leader in points, goals and assists.
“My career as a whole has been more than I could have ever expected,” Rausch told the Leader-Telegram in an interview last winter. “I was hoping to be successful, but that’s hard to know.”
“I was lucky enough to be in a town where they had leagues for 10 and under and 12 and under girls,” she said in that interview, noting that “there are so many opportunities now” for women to play hockey both in college and at other levels of the sport than there were when even she was a child taking her first, uncertain steps on the ice in her hometown.
In discussing Rausch’s latest accolade, UWEC women’s head hockey coach Erik Strand told the Leader-Telegram Friday that just to be considered for the award was quite the accomplishment, but for Rausch to, indeed, win the honor showed what a special athlete she has been and how much she has meant to Blugold women’s hockey.
{span}”Every Blugold that was nominated for consideration for the award had tremendous seasons and impacts for their program and UW-Eau Claire both on the surface they competed on, the classroom and our community,” Strand said, adding that “To have Sophie be recognized among her peers, speaks volumes about her impact for our program.”{/span}
{span}Strand went on to say that Rausch’s accomplishments will definitely be difficult to duplicate.{/span}
{span}”She set the bar for so many different measures for us and it could take several years before we see another Blugold threaten to break any of the records she set as a Blugold,” Strand said. {/span}
{span}Blugolds.com contributed to a portion of this story.{/span}
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