‘Cats can win without a full team
Andrew Lukasko is already in his sixth season as Edgar’s varsity wrestling head coach. He’s seen enough over the years as a successful Wildcats grappler during his high school career, combined with his extensive coaching experience at the school, to know not having a full team doesn’t necessarily mean a team can’t win dual matches.
“Filling all 14 weight classes is obviously a significant step in the right direction to overall team success,” coach Lukasko said. “Unfortunately, we have a few holes in our lineup and will often times be fighting from behind before the dual even begins. That being said, I’ve seen and been part of teams without full lineups that can still go out and compete because of the quality of the wrestlers that the team has.” “Pins certainly become a much larger objective when you are giving up forfeits at open weight classes, so we are working hard at developing that confidence on the mat to be continually seeking pinning opportunities and taking advantage of them when they come.”
Last season, senior heavyweight wrestler Waylon Wirkus won individual Marawood Conference tournament and Division 3 regional championships, but he couldn’t quite advance to the state tournament. Thus, Edgar didn’t have any state tournament grapplers last season.
“For starters, we have the honor of wrestling in a highly competitive conference where earning conference and regional championships is a prestigious achievement,” coach Lukasko said. “With that understanding, we begin the process of setting goals as individuals and as a team to reach those milestones. From there, we try to establish a level of work intensity that is necessary to achieve those goals.”
“We stress the importance of being able to wrestle with confidence on the mat and that confidence is developed through repetition in the practice room. Ultimately, what we need to do to have more individual and regional champions is keep working hard and keep learning from any mistakes that are made along the way. We have a young team that we believe is on the rise and we look forward to continuing to work on improving each day.”
Edgar’s top returning varsity wrestlers are senior Keghan Hartway, juniors Corey Schilling and Harrison Graveen and sophomores Austin Schreiber, Jase Apfelbeck, Dakota Ellenbecker and Corey Koeppl.
Top newcomers to this year’s varsity squad are junior Ethan Telschow, sophomore Fletcher Weiland and freshmen Cade Koch, Kayden Meloy, Preston Erickson and Lucas Stahnke.
Edgar’s assistant coaching staff this season includes Connor Handrick, Aaron Niemann and Tyson Zettler.
