Seniors Chris Sogge and Chris Welle earned the Schwartz Scholarship. Senior Josh Bork won the Dahl/Schwartz Award, which goes for the top contribution to football and wrestling. And senior Shaun Fleischhacker earned the David Bast Award, which is meant for an unsung hero on the team.
For the team awards, Welle was named Most Outstanding. He finished the season with a 40-2 record and a fourth place finish in state. In team matches, though, Welle was undefeated, delivering 167 points for Paynesville while not yielding any. He had 30 pins.
Welle finished his career with a record of 140-34, the fourth most wins in school history. He has the most career dual points with 549, the most career match points with 1446, and the most career takedowns with 446.
Most Aggressive was Chris Sogge, who recorded 27 pins this season, which ranks fifth all-time for Paynesville. He finished his career with a record of 74-13 after going 35-6 this year.
The Hardest Worker was David Kerzman, who became Paynesville's sixth individual champion this year. Kerzman, a junior, ranks right behind Welle in a number of statistical categories, and with a year of eligibility left could move up the career lists. He has a career record of 138-20 and needs just 19 next year to match Greg Schwartz's school record of 157.
Most Positive Attitude was sophomore Josh Schreifels. He had 47 escapes this year, which is sixth best season total in school history.
The varsity team broke a number of school records on its way to winning the school's fourth state title, all in wrestling. This year's team earned the most bonus points in school history, with 747.5 for the season. They were second in pins with 228 and in total dual points in their team matches with 1495.
The wrestlers also set a team record for most takedowns in a season, with 950. Welle set a new single-season record with 192, and Kerzman also broke the old record, finishing just behind Welle with 190 takedowns.
Earning letters for wrestling this year were: seniors Josh Bork, Matt Brauchler, Scott Braun, Shaun Fleischhacker, Brad Schultz, Chris Sogge, and Chris Welle; juniors Joe Hiltner and David Kerzman; sophomores Jeremy Fuchs, Nate Glenz, Bryan Kotten, Max Meagher, Josh Schreifels, and Jeremy Sogge; and freshman Adam Christian.
The junior varsity finished the season with a record of 19-3. Earning numerals on the junior varsity were sophomores Nick Fuchs, Erick Larson, Jason Leyendecker, Pat Rohe, and Jamie Wendlandt; and freshmen Ryan Glenz, Josh Kerzman, Pat Noonan, Brad Person, Justin Reeck, and Justin Spanier.
Junior varsity award winners were: Most Outstanding, Bryan Kotten; Most Aggressive, Ryan Glenz; Hardest Worker, Josh Kerzman; and Most Positive Attitude, Nick Fuchs.