As fall sports wrap up, winter sports begin. Lodi Wrestling hits the mat on November 18th, looking to keep their dominance from years past. Last season, Lodi Wrestling had lots of success by contributing multiple wrestlers to individual State. With the loss of their talented senior wrestlers, will the wrestling team still do well in 2024-2025?
Looking back to last season, the Lodi wrestling team had many accomplishments and highlights. The team had a fantastic record of 16-4 in dual meets and won multiple tournaments, including the Warrior Invite and the tough Fond Du Lac Invite for the first time. They also won the Capitol North Conference for the 9th time in the last 10 years (2020 was the Covid-19 year) with 285 points.
A new team arrived last year with the introduction of a girl’s wrestling team. The team had 3 players, including Zoe Licht, Katie Frey, and Marah Lane. The girl’s team went a combined 45-50 on duals, with Zoe Licht leading the team in wins with 26. The team looks to add more players this season, trying to grow girl’s wrestling in Lodi and increase the team’s overall record.
The boys wrestlers start their season with a game against Aquinas on December 5th, while the girls wrestlers start their season on December 7th with an invitational at Stoughton. Senior Captain Brady Dorshorst thinks the team will be strong again this year. “Our program has set a high standard for our team, and this year we will have a lot of guys stepping up into varsity roles to help meet that standard,” said Brady. Although the wrestling team is very young this season, 25 guys showed up to a summer camp this summer, showing how much dedication the team has to keep up with the Lodi Wrestling standard. “This year’s team has so much room to grow, and we as a program are incredibly optimistic that this is going to be one of the most improved teams from the beginning of the year to the end of the year that we’ve been able to coach,” said Coach Endres, showing how much faith he has in his team this year. The team looks to win the conference for the 4th time in a row and qualify for state as a team for the first time in the last few years.
Lodi wrestling is full of talented wrestlers, but a few stand out from the rest. Senior captain Brady Dorshorst looks to build on his 2023-2024 season, where he ended with 50 wins and 18 pins, finishing 4th in state in his weight class. This summer Brady attended the biggest high school wrestling tournament in Fargo, North Dakota. “Of all the athletes I’ve ever coached, I don’t know if anybody has improved more during the course of their high school career than Brady,” said Coach Endres. Brady says he is excited for the Duffy tournament because the brackets are small and tough. As Brady looks to make a deep run in the individual state bracket, other younger wrestlers, including Alex Brenuig, Xander Kellogg, and Bryer Caves, look to improve and become state qualifiers.
As the season approaches, the anticipation builds for another amazing wrestling season from the Lodi Wrestling Team. No matter the ups and downs, improving steadily throughout the whole season will give this team a chance at qualifying for state. No matter the team’s result, senior captain Brady Dorshorst and other up-and-coming wrestlers look to make runs in individual states. This season is a season of youth and growth for both the girl’s and boy’s teams, making the Lodi wrestling’s future bright for years to come.
