LA CROSSE — The Paulson family had one chance at this, so there was some pressure involved.
But all three siblings had wrestled enough matches in their lives — and wrestled so well this season — to know it could be done.
Tyler, a freshman for the Aquinas High School wrestling team, was the first to jump into the sport as a second-grader, and Trevor and Sophia — twins who are three years older — soon followed.
They didn’t talk about wrestling together in a WIAA state tournament but knew that all three qualifying the same year would be special.
With Tyler being a freshman, this season was their only chance. And over the course of two days in Prairie du Chien and Westby, they made it happen.
Sophia kickstarted the process with a second-place finish in her 145-pound bracket last Friday. Tyler kept the hope alive by placing second at 126 pounds the next day, and Trevor made it reality when he finished second at 150 a little while later.
“We didn’t really talk about it,” Sophia said. “We knew it would be great if we did, but we just kind of let it happen.”
They did and will be part of the largest local contingent of competitors this weekend at the Kohl Center in Madison. The Blugolds have eight boys and one girl qualified for brackets in the three-day tournament that begins Thursday and concludes Saturday.
Aside from all being able to put together good days on the same day for sectionals, there was the question of whether Sophia would ever get the chance to qualify. As it turned out, her timing as a girls wrestling in Wisconsin couldn’t have been better.
The first girls state tournament was implemented when she was a freshman. That event, which took place at the La Crosse Center, wasn’t one that required qualification, so she entered. The girls tournament has since changed format with official regionals and sectionals and shifted location to the Kohl Center, where they compete in the same space as the boys.
“I definitely did not see it coming by the time I got here,” Sophia said. “I joined Aquinas wrestling the first year I could, and that was 2019. There were two other girls, but I don’t think it connected with them the same as it did for me.”
It connected, Sophia said, because of her aggressive side. She was playing basketball, but that didn’t feel like the right fit. Watching Tyler wrestle piqued her interest in the sport, and Trevor came to the fold after helping Tyler with some training moves.
“I talked to one of my dad’s friends, and he brought me to a wrestling practice (at La Crosse Area Wrestlers),” Tyler said. “My mom didn’t know, and she was a little mad about it, but I liked it a lot and stuck with it. So I started it with the kids.”
Their dad, Terry Paulson, wrestled while in high school at Holmen, so there was some expertise available in the house in addition to what they found through local coaching.
Sophia and Trevor have a very close bond when they began because of Sophia’s trouble with finding practice partners. Boys weren’t exactly volunteering to work with her, and she wasn’t completely comfortable approaching them, either. So the twins practiced together.
“I saw that as a role of mine,” Trevor said. “I knew a little more about wrestling than her, and I was her brother. I wanted to help her with that.”
The longer she did, Sophia quickly started learning about herself as a person. That was something else that drew her to wrestling.
“I had never really been in a sport I felt like required so much discipline outside of practice,” she said. “Other sports, you have to practice, but with wrestling there is more focus on what you eat, how you sleep and your mental health. That was harder for me but also big for me.”
That connection has resulted in four state tournament for Sophia, two for Trevor and one — so far — for Tyler.
“Being a dad now and having one (son) going, I can’t imagine how proud their mom and dad are of having three there,” Aquinas coach Deke Stanek said. “It’s a great moment, and they get to experience it together one time.
“This is something they’ll remember forever, and I know they will appreciate every bit of it.”
WIAA INDIVIDUAL STATE TOURNAMENT
Kohl Center, Madison
THURSDAY’S FIRST-ROUND PAIRINGS
106: (8) Lincoln Stanek, fr., Aquinas (36-9) vs. (9) Oliver Millard, fr., Clinton (44-11)
120: (6) Martez Sheard, fr., Aquinas (38-4) vs. (11) Javier Gomez Atilano, sr., Kenosha Christian Life (29-7)
126: (10) Tyler Paulson, fr., Aquinas (36-10) vs. (7) Jack Wendling, sr., Valders (48-9)
132: (1) Roger Flege, jr., Aquinas (44-3) receives first-round bye
145: (13) Sophia Paulson, sr., Aquinas (26-6) vs. (4) Chloe LaRue, sr., Cuba City (40-1)
150: (6) Trevor Paulson, sr., Aquinas (38-10) vs. (11) Logan Carley, jr., Omro (36-10)
157: (7) Waylon Hargrove, jr., Aquinas (34-7) vs. (10) Tristen Verbeten, jr., Reedsville (44-12)
215: (1) Tyson Martin, jr., Aquinas (41-2) receives first-round bye
285: (10) Will Flottmeyer, jr., Aquinas (18-5) vs. (7) Drew Gage, jr., Stratford (44-9)
