The Wautoma/Wild Rose varsity wrestling program had three nonstop days of action to kick off the 2025-2026 season on Dec. 4th, 5th, and 6th. On 12/4, the boys’ team traveled to Amherst for their first team competition. They faced four teams – Amherst, Elcho, Tri County, and Pardeeville. The boys completed the night with a 3-1 record, with a tough loss to Amherst to finish it out. Individual highlights included junior and team co-captain Colton Buechner going 3-1 at 120 pounds with 1 tech fall and 2 pins. Josh Wakeley, senior, went 4-0 on the night, celebrating a big pin in only 46 seconds.
On 12/5, the girls’ team traveled to Antigo HS to complete in the annual Red Robin Invite. 30 teams were present and over 160 high school girl wrestlers competed, proving the statement that girls’ wrestling has become the fastest growing high school sport in the nation. The Hornets had 8 girls compete, over half of which are completely new to the sport. The team took third place overall, with seven girls finishing in the top 10 of their weight classes. Brynlee Vaughan, junior, had a big night, defeating last year’s 145-pound state champion in the finals to take the top spot on the podium for the 152 pound weight class. Laynie Vaughan also found herself sitting at 1st place at 165 pounds at the end of the night, leading the team with 5 pins in 5 matches, all completed in the first period.
Finally, on Saturday, 12/6, the boys’ team was back on the road, headed to the Sgt. Nick Mueller Memorial tournament in Little Chute. Even though the team didn’t end the day with any podium finishers, individual wrestlers faced tough competition which builds the foundation for development and stability headed into a long season. Colton Buechner, Mason Dobrecevich, and Ricardo Anaya, juniors and team co-captains, finished in the top 10. Colton and Ricardo finished at 4th place, while Mason finished at 8th place. Heavyweight wrestler and sophomore wrestler Aaden Wagner finished the day in 7th place.
Both teams would like to thank the community for their support thus far this season, specifically with their annual Takedownathon fundraiser. The team collected pledges from donors to raise money for annual costs such as overnight trip costs and warm-ups. For every $5 raised, the team had to perform one take down. On 12/8, the teams were tasked with completing over 1,700 takedowns!
Mark your calendars for the upcoming events the season held at Wautoma High School that you won’t want to miss!
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