MONROE — There are several Cheesemaker families that have made the sport of wrestling more than just a fun competitive activity — they’ve found success reaching the state meet, the pinnacle achievement for Wisconsin high schoolers.

Brothers Tom and John Witt were state champions in the late 1980s and now coach the varsity team. Each have had sons participate in the program over the last several years, and Tom’s son Alex, a senior, qualified for the state meet for the second straight season this past week.

Assistant coach Kyle Klopfenstein and brother Kevin were place-winners for Monroe over the past dozen years. In the 1960s, Wuetrich brothers Steve and Greg reached state, as did brothers Butch and Ed Anderson.

Wrestling has almost become a birthright in the Anderson family. Butch was a member of the original MHS team in 1958 and became the school’s first place-winner in 1961 with a runner-up finish at 120 pounds. Four years later, Ed was second in the 133-pound bracket.

“I was very proud of my brother and looked up to him,” said Ed, who was in eighth grade at the time Butch made it to state. According to Ed, in that era, students in junior high were able to wrestle with the high school team as an extra work-out person in the lighter weights. Ed took advantage of the opportunity, which helped him prepare for his own success a handful of years later.

As a father, Ed watched his son Jake Anderson reached state twice in the mid-90s. However, Jake, who reached in 1995 and 1996, was unable to place.

“I was so very proud of him,” Ed said. “Our kids grew up with wrestling, as I coached in Omro for seven years. They were used to going to matches and wrestling on the mat afterwards.”

And now, with Ed’s grandson Brady Schuh qualifying for the WIAA Division 2 meet at 126 pounds, the Anderson wrestling legacy of reaching state is three generations deep.

Brady, just a sophomore, had a bad taste left in his mouth as a freshman. Wrestling at 106 pounds, he placed second at regionals but was knocked out of the sectional after two matches. The bitter taste turned even more sour in the offseason when Brady suffered an elbow injury and needed surgery. He said he didn’t have his mind on wrestling, just rehabbing and getting better.

Doctors, coaches and the Schuh family were unsure when exactly he’d be healthy enough to return to the mat. By the time he did in late December 2019, the season was almost halfway over. Brady also bumped up three weight classes. Instead of cutting pounds to wrestle at 113, or even 120, he settled in at 126, at his natural weight.

In his first action since the surgery, Brady was fifth at the Richland Center Invitational, finishing 4-1 on the day.

“It was probably more scary for my parents than it was for me. But I went out there knowing that not a lot was expected of me, so I had some fun,” Brady said of his return to the mat.

As the regular season wound to a close, Brady was still unsure of how he would fare in the postseason at 126. He finished eighth at the Badger Conference meet, but then rallied for another second-place finish at the WIAA Prairie du Chien Regional two weeks later.

Brady said in the week of practice leading up to the Feb. 22 Evansville Sectional offered something different from all the other weeks he’s dawned a crimson and white singlet.

“I wrestled the best I ever did” at sectionals, Brady said. “I guess that’s what you get out of good week of practice.”

In his opening round match, Brady was leading 4-0 before taking a hard head-first spill onto the mat. After a quick injury timeout, he re-focused his energy to turn his opponent and snag a pin in the third period. In the semifinals, he would suffer an 11-6 loss to future sectional champion Austin Scofield (40-5) of Evansville. The pressure was on for Brady, who was back in the consolation bracket for the second straight year. 

Instead of letting the mental game overwhelm him, Brady rallied to score a pin in his next match, then won an emotional third-place match 12-6 against Justin Teague (30-10) of Beloit Turner to earn a trip to state. After hugging and high-fiving his coaches, Brady was met at the corner of the mat by his father, Tom Schuh, who embraced his son with a proud bear hug. In the top row of the bleachers, Uncle Jake clapped and hooted in pride for his nephew.

Prior to the second-place wrestleback, Brady joined his uncle in the top row of the bleachers.

“He was talking about keeping the (family) tradition alive,” Brady said.

Jake said he just wanted to relay to his nephew how proud and excited he was.

“That was a moment to be able to share in the happiness with him. I let him know how proud of him I was. As his uncle and Godfather, I am extremely proud. Knowing what that feeling is like, you just want to be able to share it so bad,” Jake said before adding, “he was also joking with me how he got there a year quicker than I did.”

Jake said when he talks to Brady about wrestling, they focus more on the mental side of the sport than technique.

“The difference in having a good season and making it to state is believing in yourself,” said Jake, who has two sons, ages 7 and 2. Jake said he thinks wrestling might be in their future because they look up to their cousins so much. He also knows that there is more talent in the bloodline than just wrestling.

“Keeping on the tradition of the family sport is important. But I’ve told each of the kids that their success is not expected by the family. They can set their own goals. Our family is all-in with them in support,” Jake said. “(Brady’s) got a lot of other talents — something my dad and I always joked about was we only had wrestling. Brady is an accomplished trumpet player; he volunteers at church and in the community — he does all the right things you want a kid to do.”

Brady also knows that his accomplishment doubles as motivation for his younger family members.

“It’s a great thing to be a role model for my brothers, too,” Brady said. 

The Andersons all said they consider the sport a part of pride and family tradition — but that hasn’t left Grandma Terri, Ed’s wife, from being fearful with every match.

“It is very difficult. You don’t want to see anyone get hurt, especially your own,” Terri said. “When Jake was in high school, my stomach would be in knots. The first time (Brady was) back after his elbow surgery was difficult to watch, for sure. I do a lot of praying.”

After Jake reached state his season year, Terri had emergency surgery and missed seeing him wrestle. “To this day, I still feel bad about that,” she said. This year, there’s a chance both her and Ed will miss seeing Brady at state, as both grandparents came down with a bronchial infection the weekend of sectionals. “We are pretty bummed out about that,” said Terri.

Jake bought enough tickets for his parents, just in case they are feeling up to traveling to the Kohl Center.

Without winning the sectional, Brady was forced to take the long way to a medal at the meet — all sectional champions receive a first-round bye. Brady (23-9) was set to face Wrightstown junior Kaiden Koltz (40-10) on Thursday evening (Feb. 27), with the winner moving on to Day 2 and a date with Chilton/Hilbert’s Joe Boehnlein (41-4) Friday morning (Feb. 28).

“I told him, ‘at this point, you’re playing with house money,’” Jake said.

A place in the top six would mean Brady could join his grandfather and great uncle on the wall in the Monroe High School gym as a place-winner.

“Every time I practice, I look up at that board and I want my name up there,” Brady said. “It’s a tough bracket. State is meant to be that way. I’m there for a reason, so I just have to come out and bring what I have. I’ve had a good week of practice here again. I’ve got nothing to lose as a sophomore. I just have to go out and have some fun.”