Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Association

2019 Wisconsin Academic All-State Honors nominations being accepted.

Find nomination process HERE

State Coach of the Year: Justin Lancaster, Freedom

District 1 Coach of the Year: Dan Clark/Joe Raygor - St Croix Falls
District 2 Coach of the Year: Joe Schwabe - Stratford
District 3 Coach of the Year: Jason Lulloff - Holmen
District 4 Coach of the Year: Justin Lancaster - Freedom
District 5 Coach of the Year: Bob Empey/Dan Spilde - Stoughton and Chad Steldt - Fennimore (Tie)
District 6 Coach of the Year: Chris Graziano - Slinger
District 7 Coach of the Year: Kent Morin/Corey Bauer - Wauwatosa West/East
District 8 Coach of the Year: Kevin Koch - Concordia

Assistant Coach of the Year: Brad Baker - Freedom

Wrestler of the Year: Eric Barnett - Hortonville

WWCA President-Elect: Wendall Bean
WWCA District 7 Rep: Craig Austin
WWCA District 8 Rep: Kevin Koch

Nominations for President-Elect of the Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Association

Wendall Bean - Whitewater
Wendall is as committed to wrestling is Wisconsin as anyone I've met.  He was a longtime successful HS wrestling coach for Whitewater, qualifying for the Team State Tournament several years.  Because of his many years of coaching success, he was elected as a George Martin Hall of Famer.  Today, he continues coaching MS wrestling and officiates.  He's been a WWCA board member for many years and currently runs the Fall WWCA Convention.  In addition, he is the Tournament manager for the Mid-States Classic.  He knows how to run major events and is skilled in working with people and staying organized.  He's cool under pressure and has the best intentions for Wisconsin wrestling at heart.

Justin Lancaster - Freedom
Justin is the current District 4 Rep and has served in the past as WWCA secretary. He has been a successful coach at Freedom High School to which he has coached Freedom to two team state titles.   He has an enthusiasm for wrestling and he is committed to helping wrestling in Wisconsin any way he can.  Justin's time as District 4 Rep shows he has the skills to communicate and work with coaches.  With his time on the WWCA board, Justin has gained valuable experience for the position of President Elect.   

Jason Lulloff - Holmen
He has done an outstanding job at Holmen with Multiple Team State appearances, State Runner up last year, an excellent start to a girls high school program, District Rep, Coaches Advisory Committee member. He knows how to work with other coaches and the WIAA. He has a great mind that is always looking to improve wrestling. He would be a great asset as WWCA President. 

Nominations for Assistant Coach of the Year:

Abe Graziano - Fort Atkinson
You really cannot ask for a better assistant than Abe.  He's great with the kids, obsesses over the little things that often get missed by many coaches, and is always available - willing to do whatever it takes to help kids in the program improve and keep wrestling.  Abe runs our offseason program; a number of years ago, he created a camp in which he brings in clinicians from all over the midwest to work with our athletes.  It's a huge undertaking but Abe makes it look easy.  He has a passion for wrestling that cannot be understated.

Chris Satori - Hortonville
Coach Satori does it all for our Hortonville Wrestling Program. He is an Assistant High School coach, liaison between or Booster club and the Middle School program, he is our Booster Club president and also our head youth pre K - 2nd grade coach. Chris builds an excellent relationship with all the wrestlers on our High School team. One of Chris's best attributes is his ability to relate to all our wrestlers but especially our less experienced varsity and JV wrestlers. He is great at teaching them a true love for the sport!!!! This is crucially to keeping these athletes out for the sport to develop them into crucial components of a successful team. Chris's commitment to the high school program does not end in February. He works tirelessly all off season at open mat being a partner for all the upper height class wrestlers. He is responsible for the growth of our youth numbers over the past four years, this year topping out at 150+ youth wrestlers pre K - 5th grade. He is very creative and is constantly working on ways to brand our program, grow it and keep as top of the mind awareness in our community. Chris is the primary reason we are so excited about the future of our program at every age level. Without Coach Satori I would find it very difficult to continue to coach.

Jason Berna - Bay Port
This nomination is long overdue.  Coach Berna has been the head assistant coach at Bay Port since the 2003-4 season. During this time he has played an active role in developing our high school wrestlers during the day to day routine of practice. His commitment to our program is a major contributor to our success as a competitive team who won 7 of the last 9 conference titles and competed in two state semi-final duals that resulted in a state runner-up during this time. This season, we had a state champion who wrestled a total of 6 months in his life. Although an outstanding athlete, this cannot happen without excellent assistants who are lead by our head assistant, Jason Berna.Outside of practice, Jason is a partner with our wrestling club who contributes a ton of time to make sure we run an organized varsity tournament, jv/ms tournament, youth tournament, and WWF qualifier tournament.  He is the first one to show up for set-up and the last one to leave upon clean-up.  During this time we put approximately 1500 athletes through our doors and this cannot happen without the work and ideas of Coach Berna, who was the brain child of our 24 varsity team tournament, Battle on the Bay.   The most important role of a coach is his/her ability to work with an athlete to develop the overall student-athlete, the person.  This is something Jason excels at and should be recognized for. It is common to find him working with students to improve grades, improve home life, and prepare them for life after high school.  

Mike Steffen - St. Croix Falls
Mike has been the assistant coach at SCF for 15 years.  Over the last two years he has played a big role in winning 2 Northern Badgers and 2 sectional championships.  SCF has a dual record of 32-2 in the last 2 years and Mike has played a big part in their success.  He is a great man that gives a lot of himself to help out student athletes.

Mike Lyga - West Salem/Bangor
Mike has been an assistant coach for the West Salem/Bangor high school team over the last two years. Mike has been a part of the WB wrestling program for many years leading up to his latest position. He has also been an assistant coach at a few other area teams as well. Mike brings a ton of knowledge and experience to the program, but Mike's best quality is how he builds relationships with the kids. He has an uncanny ability to make anyone laugh in the room which can be extremely difficult to do in such a high-intensity environment. He also knows when to keep the comments limited and just be there for the athletes to vent to. He is able to get the most out of his athletes as well as his fellow coaches. Mike has really been a vital part of our team. Mike is the perfect compliment to our staff and he has been the best addition. It is a great honor to have the opportunity to work with him.

Mike Cummings - Hartford
Mike has been a dedicated Hartford Assistant Wresting Coach for 21 years.  Though his career, he has worked under three different head coaches and all of them have nothing but positive things to say about what he brings to the wrestling room.  His dedication to the sport of wrestling has helped countless wrestlers reach their goals on the mat and life.  When we go to wrestling events, Mike seems to know everyone and everyone knows him.  When he is not attending to our wrestlers, he loves catching up with coaches and referees on a personal level.  Mike is a priceless asset to Hartford Wrestling and would be a great choice for Assistance Wrestling Coach of the Year.

Lennie Shefchik - Denmark High School
Lennie has been coaching wrestling in some capacity for 51 years.  In 2017, he was recognized by the Wisconsin chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as an Outstanding American for his efforts in this great sport.  I have been fortunate enough to work with him over the last six years as the head coach at Denmark.  Lennie's knowledge of wrestling has played an important role in the development of our growing program.  Much of his impact occurs behind the scenes while at practice, over the phone, and in the halls of Denmark High School.  In addition to preparing kids for success on the mat, much of his effort is focused on preparing kids to be great young men long after they are finished wrestling.  Lennie has helped so many to handle adversity and perform well under pressure both personally and professionally.  His dedication to the sport of wrestling over the past 51 years make him a prime candidate for this recognition.  So for these reasons, I nominate Lennie Shefchik for Assistant Coach of the Year.

Dan Laurent - Kimberly 
Dan has been instrumental in Kimberly's success in recent years. He has been a coach at all levels in various districts for over 30 years, and his passion for the kids and the sport is still evident every day, both in and out of season. Dan organizers and contacts volunteers and officials for our annual Freestyle/Greco tournament, and helps enlighten student-athletes about the importance of out of season work like the FARGO camps and local wrestling clubs. He has done a lot to grow the culture of Kimberly wrestling by organizing get-togethers for parents and coaches and his organization and passion is something that we hold in high regard. He brings energy and purpose to the practice room every day. Because of everything he does both in and out of season to help further the sport, I think Dan is an excellent choice for Assistant coach of the year.

Brad Baker – Freedom
Brad has been coaching wrestling at Freedom in one form or another since graduating from Freedom in 2000. He wears many hats Brad has coached youth wrestling, freestyle, Greco, pre-season, post season, middle school, and high school. Brad is currently our middle school coach and has been for many years. This year Brad was also an assistant on the high school team who won a state title. Brad split his time with middle school practices and high school practices, and even helped coach our youth girl’s practices. Brad was an important part of us adding a girls wrestling program to Freedom. Brad’s passion for wrestling is a huge reason for the success of the Freedom Wrestling program.

Donale Zdanczewicz - Fennimore
Donald Zdanczewicz has been with Fennimore Wrestling program for the last five years. In those years Fennimore has experienced the most success and highest participation rates in Fennimore’s history. This is directly due to Coach Z’s strong work ethic and ability to relate to the kids. He has excelled with improving Fennimore’s upper weights and weight lifting program. Every week Coach Z has re-open the wrestling room late at night to improve the skill set of not only our varsity guys, but also our JV kids that will soon see the starting line-up. He is the main reason why we get kids to stay out and progressing through their senior year. Don also leads our 4k to 2nd grade program. He has done a great job combining wrestling and gymnastics so that our youngsters are well-rounded athletes. The participation numbers at this level are at all-time highs because of his approach and demeanor. Not only that, but Coach Z works with these kids in the summer, and goes above and beyond what is asked of him. He is a humbled leader in our local region, and we are lucky to have him.

Corey Day - Boyceville
Corey Day has been Boyceville's assistant coach for 12 years working primarily as the upper wt. coach.  Coach Day's resume in the last 12 years includes 12 state champs and 6 runner-ups.  5 conference titles, 4 regional titles and two sectional titles. Corey's passion, dedication and work ethic in the sport of wrestling is truly unmatched.  Coach Day spends many hours drilling and wrestling in the early morning hours and sometimes hours after practice is over.  Corey has incredible energy that rubs off on the kids, along with tremendous knowledge that he is continually passing on.  Corey's success in the past 4 years includes Garrett Joles 4x finalist-2x champ, James Palmer 4x qualifier and state champion, Brock Schlough 4x state champion and Trett Joles 2019 state champion and 3rd place in 2018.  

BILL TONSOR - SLINGER 
Bill Tonsor has been a full time assistant coach at Slinger HS for 8 years and a volunteer prior to that.  He brings extremely valuable training to the Slinger Wrestling program. Bill utilizes his extensive wrestling background combining his training from  Folkstyle, Freestyle & Greco-Roman to the practice room where the wrestlers learn, drill, and execute their technique in an effective way.  He consistently brings a positive attitude and hard work ethic while challenging and holding the wrestlers accountable for proper technique, work ethic and accountability to succeed on and off the mat. The wrestlers consistently say they get so much out of his coaching style, passion for the sport, and for the success of the wrestlers not just on the mat, but academically and in everyday life.   Bill's coaching isn't just at the high school level, he has been an integral part along with his brother (Cody Tonsor) in resurrecting the youth program that is now feeding the high school program.

Nominations for Wrestler of the Year:

Eric Barnett - Hortonville
Please consider Eric for  Wrestler of the Year. Eric finished this season 47-0 winning his 3rd consecutive DI State Title.  This is the 3rd year in a row Eric has gone undefeated amassing 139 wins in a row. He also finished without surrendering as offensive point!  He finished his High School career with a record of 185-3. Besides the 3rd State title this year, he won the MN Xmas Tournament and was also voted the MVW of that very prestigious and extremely tough tournament. Eric won his 3rd consecutive Oshkosh On the Water title with the MVW award.  He won his 4th consecutive Pulaski Invite, with MVW honors, his 4th Fox Valley Association Title with conference wrestler of the year honors. Eric also won his 4th straight Regional and Sectional titles.Eric was the Fargo Junior Freestyle  Champion this summer wining it with a pin. He also place 3rd in Fargo in Greco. Eric was invited to Flowrestling's Whose Number One challenge in October where he wrestled 2x cadet world champ Kurt McHenry and won by decision. Eric was the #1 ranked 120 pounder in the country for the majority of the year by Flowrestling. Flo currently has him ranked #2 at 126 pounds. Eric is currently the number one ranked 126 pounder in the country by trackwrestling rankings sponsored by Rudis.Eric was asked to represent Team USA on March 15th  in the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic (formerly know as the Dapper Dan). He will be wrestling 120 for Team USA in that dual. He is just the 15th wrestler from Wisconsin to be invited to join team USA since the start of the event in 1975.Besides the many wrestling accomplishments Eric has become an excellent role model for younger wrestlers. Eric can often be seen at tournament talking with, and even wrestling with many youth wrestlers in attendance at the event. He does this openly and warmly and not just with Hortonville youth, but with youngsters from any of the other teams in attendance.Lastly Eric will be taking his talents to the University of Wisconsin and compete as a Badger next fall! I feel Eric is very deserving of the Wrestler of the Year honors!

Brock Schlough - Boyceville
Brock won 138, 160, 152, 152 lb. titles to become Wisconsin's 17th 4 time state champion. Of the 17 4 timers, Brock was the only one to have won the 4 titles at those high of weight classes.  Brock ended his career with a 183-5 record losing 4 matches as a freshman and one as a sophomore.  Brock amassed 411 take downs and only giving up 12, 90 pins and 451 near falls.  4x academic all state carrying a 3.8 g.p.a. Brock is going to to pursue his academic and athletic career at St. Cloud State University.