Two, six and four.
Those were Deerfield’s dual win totals during wrestling coach Marc Pechter’s first three seasons at the helm.
The Warriors have come a long way since.
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Gone are the days of worrying about fielding a legitimate roster — Deerfield had just three varsity wrestlers the season prior to Pechter’s arrival. The team is 123-14 over the last five years and isn’t looking back.
“This program always takes positive steps in the right direction,” Pechter said. “We’re not taking huge jumps, but we always seem to be improving.”
Deerfield secured its first individual state championship last season when Colton Emmerich conquered Class 3A’s 182-pound bracket.
This season’s encore was also special: The Warriors won their first regional title and advanced to the state quarterfinals in the team tournament for the first time in history with a 48-12 sectional victory over Jacobs.
While the trip to state was short-lived as Deerfield fell to Lockport 33-30 Saturday at U.S. Cellular Coliseum, senior Brady Glantz thinks it will be the first of many.
“Pechter started with nothing and now he’s built this big program,” Glantz said. “We’re only going to get better and better, and you’ll be seeing us more down (at state) in the years to come.”
Deerfield (26-5) won seven of 14 matches against Lockport (23-6), but gave up bonus points in five bouts. It didn’t help matters that starting 126-pounder Kenny Kerstein was ruled ineligible due to a health issue.
“You need all your guns in a close meet, but I’m proud of the guys,” Pechter said. “They all wrestled hard and as a team to the best of their ability. Just being able to get down here is big.”
Sage Heller (160), Glantz (170) and heavyweight Chris Moran kept Deerfield in contention with pins.
The Porters countered with falls from state champion Shayne Oster (138), third-place medalist Abdullah Assaf (113) and North Carolina State recruit Tyler Johnson (220).
TJ Thompson (182), Kyle Clough (120), Nick Kupets (132) and state-placer Andrew Merholz (145) added decision wins for Deerfield, which is slated to return five of six statequalifiers.
“The last four weeks have just been incredible for us,” said Glantz, the lone senior qualifier. “Getting six down to state and then getting here (as a team).
“They just have to keep doing what they’re doing. Everyone’s working hard around the clock. There’s no reason we can’t be in the semifinals and finals.”
Logan Malloy is a freelance writer