MHS Wrestling: Get Excited For A Bright New Season

Photo by Siri Benrud Photography

By Bryce Shepard and Jake Anderson

The Menomonie High School wrestling team proves a rich history and looks to continue developing culture with the high quality athletes that return. The class of '26 seniors have been a part of a Mustang team that has been competing in the team sectional qualifier three years in a row.

While the 2023-24 team made Menomonie history by punching a ticket to team state. In that historic run, the ’23 team fought to win against Mukwonago in the first round, bringing excitement to the team and town. The Mustangs fell in the semifinal round against back-to-back champions Kaukauna, showing the firepower of the wrestling program. Last season, the Mustang’s squad outmatched West Salem-Bangor in the team sectional semifinals, falling to a strong Holmen team in the sectional finals. This year’s team looks to build on the success of the 2023-24 season and fight their way through a star-studded sectional, as they aim for team state. 

A new change to WIAA competition creates a single tournament to punch an individual ticket to state, with a team tournament the following week.  The weekend that holds regionals will be an individual sectional tournament this year, followed by a team sectional qualifier the next week. This will create tough competition for the Mustangs throughout the Division One-Sectional A.

With eleven returning varsity wrestlers, the team looks forward to another year of high-level competition. Coming off a Mustangs conference championship, the team led by head coach Rylan Lubeck reloads once again. The team finished with a 12-8 head-to-head dual record. Challenging themselves with high-level opponents competing at “The Clash” national duals, complemented with duals at the Mustangs' home tournament, the “Whitetail Shootout”.

The wrestling team returns considerable talent and experience with state placers in Aidan Aure (Jr),  two-time state qualifier Bryce Shepard (Sr) as an upper weight returner, followed up with three high-level seniors in Jacob Anderson, Bailey Casey, and  Luke Pember.

In addition to the excitement the prior season stats bring, an up-to-date site, Wisconsingrappler.com, provides season outlook and rankings that breed anticipation for this winter. Four seniors and two juniors find themselves ranked top ten in the state by the pre-season outlook. These rankings are as follows: 

Current division rankings:

Bailey Casey- 4th in D1 ( 1x state qualifier)

Aidan Aure - 2nd in D1  (2x state qualifier, 2024 4th @ D1 state)

Aaron Howard- 7th in D1 (1x state qualifier) 

Luke Pember- 8th in D1 (1x state qualifier) 

Jake Anderson- 8th in D1(1x state qualifier) 

Bryce Shepard- 8th in D1 (2x state qualifier) 

We asked a few wrestlers with prior state experience and a well-rounded freshman where their focus is and what they look forward to this wrestling season. 

Luke Pember, a 2023-24 state qualifier, said, “A lot of good guys are coming back, and I think six state qualifiers could do some damage. The season didn’t end in a pleasant way, I did training in the offseason to come back stronger than I ever did.” 

Calin Howard, a well-rounded freshman, said, “I look forward to having longer time with teammates like all of the bus rides. Also there are only three in middle school meets and at least four in high school. I look forward to being a part of the team and making a team state run. My focus is to make it to state but it is harder this year with how they changed the layout but my main goal is placing high at sectionals.”

“The seniors are really developed and have been wrestling their whole life,” said Aidan Aure, 2024-25 state place winner. “We have been together since covid and still have that chemistry that matters to pick someone up, it is a different feeling when someone you’ve been with forever talks to you than someone new. It is really nice just to see the people you grow up with really mature. I look forward to knowing that I belong there and believing in myself. By that time, I knew I was good enough to beat people who were good and placing well and winning big tournaments.”

"It would help if we can spread out all of the weights and make sure we get all of these freshmen well developed and learning the Mustang way and how it works in the high school,” a well-respected captain as a sophomore and state qualifier, Aaron Howard said. “We always get a lot of young guys on the team and we are looking forward to having a similar team from last year except some of our replacements will be freshman rather than seniors. We will have more studs like last year, we had some but this year we should have a lot of solid seniors and juniors that should be able to do really well at individual state so hopefully that should help the team aspect a lot more. Hopefully the young guys can hold their weight and not let up too many points or get the win. I can remember since we were in elementary school going to a bunch of different states to wrestle not just for wrestling but because we loved hanging out with each other and always going out to eat after tournaments. That being said we should have a very connected team which should help on the mat and also in the practice room feeling connected and feeling at home can help us feel comfortable and push ourselves harder.”

This new season for the Mustang’s brings motivation and a chance to prove themselves among elite competition.  As the season begins, the wrestlers will look to ramp up their mental and physical training to compete against the best and be the best.

This strong, young team will put their singlets on for the first time on December 5th at 7:00 PM sharp. This meet will be held in the MHS gymnasium in a dual setting against the Marshfield Tigers. This wrestling team, as a highlight of Menomonie athletics, has very limited home events to compete and show their abilities. All support is appreciated, and it would be an amazing atmosphere to pack the gym.