EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – (blugolds.com) The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire wrestling team has announced their 2021 team awards.
The team's Most Valuable Wrestler went to Jake Drexler (Jr. – Stratford, WI). Drexler placed 1st at the 2021 WIAC Championships at the 149-weight class, the first Blugold WIAC Champion since 2006. Along with his historic conference performance, Drexler finished the year with a six-match win streak.
Jackson Schichel (Fr. – Hastings, MN) received the 2021 Never Better Attitude Award. Schichel's rookie season with a record of 3-5 and placed 6th at the WIAC Championships.
The 2021 Hardest Working Blugold Award was given to Tristan Massie (So. – Hillsdale, WI/Barron). Massie went 8-2 on the year and took 3rd at conference.
Grant Balconi (Sr. – Muskego, WI) was honored with the Ricky Gonzales Award.
Other awards given out to Blugolds included the Blugold Most improved going to Niall Schoenfelder (Fr. – Antioch, IL) and Rookies of the Year awarded to Schoenfelder and Javon Taschuk (Fr. – Afton, MN/Stillwater). The MOVE Well Spring Performance awards went to Reid Lawrence (Fr. – Hugo, MN/Mahtomedi), Chase Schmidt (Sr. – Rice Lake, WI), and Jan Hernandez-Soto (Fr. – Minneapolis, MN/Patrick Henry).
