By Jake Krier, UWEC Sports Information
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - With a new coach in each of his four years wrestling for the Blugolds, very little team success, lack in depth of training partners, and several injuries along the way, Nathaniel Behnke has seemingly faced a gauntlet of adversity.
Despite adverse circumstances, Behnke has persevered and has found himself atop the leaderboard as the all-time wins leader for Blugold wrestling.
Not only did he accomplish this under four different coaches, but he made a point to attribute much of his success to each of them. "They each taught me something new about myself and wrestling," stated Behnke, who also credited his work ethic, teammates, and family support as additional reasons for his success.
While the native of Bruce, Wisconsin claimed All-American honors in his freshman season with a fifth place finish at the national tournament, he has earned his fair share of accomplishments in this final season of his as well. In early December, Behnke earned his 100th career victory, becoming just the sixth Blugold to do so while wrestling for UW-Eau Claire. A few weeks later, he surpassed Derek Sikora (the school's only National Champion in program history) with career win number 112.
Head coach Tim Fader said of Behnke, "This is a tremendous accomplishment when you think about wrestling being a sport offered by UWEC athletics for over 50 years… Nathaniel being at the top of that list says a lot."
Carrying a career record of 115-22 and a record of 21-2 on the season, the job is not yet done for the senior. This Sunday, Behnke will wrestle in his final WIAC tournament. Following this, the NCAA Division III West Regional tournament takes place February 27, and if all goes well there, he has the opportunity to qualify for Nationals (March 11-12) for a third time.
When asked what he needs to do to finish his career strong, Behnke replied, "looking ahead at these next few tournaments, I'm going to continue to work hard and to push myself to achieve my goals. I recently got a little banged up, so I'm going to rest up and trust in God's plan for me. Once I'm fully healed, I will get back into the grind and stay mentally strong."
As his time with the wrestling program nears its conclusion, Behnke also touched on what he will remember most as a Blugold.
"The thing that I will remember most about wrestling here at UWEC is the friendships that I have made and will have for the rest of my life. Along with that, I will remember the trials that I faced and had to overcome. I think that I will always remember that I can do anything because after wrestling, everything else is easy."
With the grueling conference, regional, and national tournament run approaching, Behnke looks to build on his strong regular season and carry that into what will be his final matches in a Blugold singlet.
There could not be a more fitting testament to the character of Behnke than by concluding this with Fader's future approach in years to come. He said, "As we look to build this wrestling program at UW-Eau Claire, we want to find more student-athletes like Nathaniel Behnke."
