Chris Caporale sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Contributed Photo Menominee Indian head coach Kirk Bahr is surrounded by many of his wrestlers as he holds a sign recognizing his 100th dual victory.
In his first two years as head coach in the early 2000s, Kirk Bahr led the Menominee Indian wrestling team to one dual meet victory.
Since then, the Eagles have won 101 more matches, earning the elusive 100th win in program history in a 54-18 home victory on Dec. 17 against Tri-County, which has six wrestlers.
“It added a little pressure, but I think we wrestled our best and wrestled like we normally do,” senior wrestler Patrick White said.
White earned a pin on the night, as did Omaha Warrington and Elliot Miller to help the Eagles secure the milestone victory. On top of helping the team get its 100th victory, Warrington received his first career varsity pin.
“The guys came out ready to wrestle. Sometimes it’s hard to get pumped up when wrestling a team with only six guys, but that’s how we started,” Bahr said in reference to his beginning seasons at Menominee Indian with few wrestlers.
It was just a few years back when the Eagles were used to losing, making it difficult to change the mindset of the program, one of the biggest changes Bahr has needed to make with the program.
“They got a winning attitude now. My seniors now were a part the regional championship team when they were freshmen. They’ve been a part of like 41 wins, I think, in the past three-and-a-half years. They wouldn’t know what it is like to be on a (losing team),” Bahr said. “We’re not dominating, but we get our wins every year.”
Menominee Indian had not recorded a dual victory in the 11 years prior to Bahr’s arrival at the school after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2001.
Now, Bahr would still appreciate more athletes coming out for the sport, pointing to the youth programs, which can be lacking in wrestlers on a week-to-week basis. There are currently no 7th-grade wrestlers in the program and the elementary school numbers vary greatly with little loyalty to the program.
“I just think we keep doing what we’re doing, and the wins will come,” Bahr said. “As long as we have our weight classes filled with dedicated kids, we’re going to keep winning duals every year.”
The Eagles have faced many close duals over the course of the season, including one of their best chances to defeat Bonduel, which ended in a 42-36 victory for the Bears.
The close losses show where the program still needs to improve, but for one night, the team got to celebrate exactly how far it has come.
“I mean, we’re right there. Sometimes, not having all the weights filled does hurt us, but I don’t know, maybe it was meant to be because we won at home against a team that we should beat,” Bahr said. “It was a fun night.”