ONALASKA — Onalaska High School freshman Tavin Ehrenberger worked at the throw for 20 seconds before turning his opponent and flipping him to his back.
A 51-second pin in the favor of the Hilltoppers may not have been the anticipated outcome of that 285-pound wrestling match, but it provided an exclamation point to a big performance for Ehrenberger’s team in a 54-30 victory Tomah on Thursday.
Both the crowd reaction and that of the wrestlers and coaches told the story the second the dual victory became official. It had been 15 years since Onalaska won an MVC wrestling dual, and the streak was finally over.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Onalaska/Luther coach Thomas Fortier said. “It hasn’t happened since before the Logan and Central co-op, and it really helps build our program.
“It might get kids to think, ‘Hey, I might go out for wrestling.’ We’d won nonconference duals and been competitive against smaller schools, but for us to win in the conference means a lot to us.”
The Hilltoppers last tasted MVC victory against Central during the 2011-2012 season. As the losses piled up, it became harder and harder to fill the wrestling room, especially at a school that offers just about every sport and activity that exists.
But there were seniors Carter Beeler and Maximus Todd picking up pins at 175 and 190 to go with Ehrenberger’s to give Onalaska/Holmen wins in the final five matches after a Tomah pin at 157 produced a 30-24 lead.
Todd, who began wrestling in eighth grade, said competing now is much different than when he was a freshman, but he has also had a front-row seat to the progress that’s been made.
“The success we were having my freshman year to the success we’re having now is quite a big jump,” Todd said. “We’ve been taking steps, and this is a big one for us.”
Todd said he remembered holding practices with “seven or eight guys” competing. Fortier said the team had a roster of 21 last year, and that dropped to 16 by the end of the season due to injuries. The Hilltoppers have 27 healthy wrestlers right now.
“We’d been in the mid-teens for a couple of years, but a lot of those kids weren’t ready for varsity competition because they were pretty new to the sport,” Fortier said. “You don’t want to scare a new kid off by throwing them out there against a Holmen or Aquinas just because he’s the right weight.
“You want to build confidence to get where we are now and feeling comfortable about putting guys in varsity duals and trying to win like we did tonight.”
The understanding of how far the program still has to go was almost immediately reinforced with a 66-10 loss to Holmen, which is ranked second among Division 1 schools by Wisconsin Grappler. But the Vikings to that to most of their opponents, and the most important thing that happened for Onalaska/Luther on Thursday was the win over the Timberwolves.
Todd (34-3 at 190 pounds), Grady Dunnum (24-5 at 215) and Carter Beeler (25-8 at 175) have been the senior leaders for this team in competition as it built toward this dual victory.
It is a position that some may not have envisioned for Todd, who gave the sport a try after hearing his father and older brother speak passionately about it. He was 0-15 as an eighth-grader but chose to stick with it because of what it offered.
“I wanted to commit to something, and I loved the practices, and I loved the hard work,” Todd said. “It’s a great sport that offers a lot and opens up a lot of opportunities for people.
“It makes you stronger mentally and physically. I think it helps not only in athletics but also helps in jobs or anything you do in the future.”
That group, along with senior Chaz Burrows, had a large hand in helping build the roster while interacting with peers.
Recruiting was as much of their job and practicing, and the numbers started to build.
Selling the sport to potential competitors isn’t easy, and finding interested people in high school with no background — like Todd in eighth grade — takes work.
But every step forward is a good one for programs like Onalaska/Luther, and Thursday represented a big one for the Hilltoppers. The team won invitationals hosted by Kickapoo/La Farge and Hillsboro this month, too.
“This group of seniors has really helped push this program,” Fortier said. “Even in practice, when they match up with a younger wrestler, they know the goal isn’t to just go out and hammer them, it’s to teach them because that makes the team better.”
