66th Fred Lehrke Invitational celebrates wrestling, coaching legends

SCHOFIELD, Wis. (WSAW) - The wrestling community in central Wisconsin is very familiar with the Lehrke name. Between Fred Lehrke and his son Eric, the two have spent 46 years as head coaches at D.C. Everest. Saturday, they were honored at the 66th Fred Lehrke Invitational, the wrestling tournament with Fred’s name on it.

“Wrestling’s been a really important part of our family for years and years,” said Eric Lehrke. “For my mom and dad, my brothers and sisters, and so to kind of had a name on it and things like that, the Fred Lehrke, it’s a real honor.”

Fred coached D.C. Everest to their first team title in 1978. Eventually, Eric took over the program, who had his own esteemed wrestling career next to his brother Fritz. Fred was situated right by the mats for the action Saturday. For him, his coaching philosophy was always simple.

“I tried to teach, you know, kids that we naturally develop a system of wrestling or just horsing around and as a result, you try to coach through that,” said Fred Lehrke.

As for the wrestling itself, 12 teams participated in the annual invite. Stratford finished first as a team with 392 points. D.C. Everest was second with 336. Riverdale finished third.

Here are the individual winners:

106: Derek Godard-Auburndale

113: Colin Cournoyer- Stratford

120: Trenton Cournoyer- Stratford

126: Easton Cooper- D.C. Everest

132: Colton Weiler- Auburndale

138: Blake Heal- D.C. Everest

145: Gavin Finch- Tomah

152: Carsen Herm- Shawano

160: Ashton Miess- Riverdale

170: Rylee Wanek- Riverdale

182: Tyson Bogacz- Bonduel

195: Jackson Ormond- Stratford

220: Sloan Welch- Auburndale

285: Lucas Johnson- River Falls

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