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When many programs talk about “the glory days” they are often looking at the past or, in other instances, with a hopeful eye toward the future. But for Fennimore wrestling, the glory days are right now.

The Golden Eagles have made four Team State appearances in program history and all of them have come in the past four seasons. Fennimore captured the Division 3 Team State title in 2016 and has finished as state runner-up in D3 the past two years.

In that same timespan, the Golden Eagles have produced 31 individual state qualifiers, 20 state place winners and four individual state champions.

This sustained success is the product of a mindset that can be found top-to-bottom, throughout the program.

“We just try to elevate the standard of excellence or the standard that we want to achieve every year,” Fennimore head coach Chad Steldt said. “We’re definitely not where we want to be. The constant principle we always preach is daily progression, daily improvement. I think that helps.

“The second thing is the family and camaraderie we have. [The wrestlers] have to be part of a bigger family of wrestlers and that goes all the way to the youth and the parents. I don’t believe in separating anybody out of that equation.”

This year’s squad is ranked second in D3 in the latest Wisconsin Wrestling Online team rankings. Ten of Fennimore’s 14 starters are individually ranked with another garnering an Honorable Mention nod.

Fennimore’s State Ranked Wrestlers

The depth of his lineup has Steldt thinking big come postseason time.

“I think this year we should be able to win a Team State title,” Steldt said. “The top-three teams are pretty tough: us, Stratford and Coleman,” Steldt said. “Stratford and Coleman are going to have to wrestle each other right away (at Team Sectionals). Then … it’s all matchup.”

Fennimore and Stratford have crossed paths in the Team State finals each of the last three seasons. The Tigers hold a 2-1 advantage in those meetings.

The Golden Eagles fell to Coleman in the Team State semifinals back in 2015.

Though another showdown with top-ranked Stratford or No. 3 Coleman could be on the horizon, Steldt believes the quest for continuous improvement, along with some challenging regular season tournaments help keep his athletes from looking too far down the road.

“Our boys know they are really talented. But I would say half of my team is multi-sport athletes. So when we go to a tournament like [Cheesehead] or we go to Iowa, we’re wrestling against some of the nation’s best and they are singular athletes, which is fine. So that creates a humbling experience,” said Steldt. “We reset our goals to be very action-oriented. So that naturally creates the blinders. We’re constantly searching for what we can improve from today to tomorrow.”

Achieving that type of focus while maintaining steady improvement takes a special kind of relationship between athletes and coaches. Steldt believes that balance can be found within his program.

“My kids are really, really resilient,” said Steldt. “We don’t lie to them. We’re very honest and realistic. It hurts them sometimes. But, when a bad day happens, they are willing to bounce back quicker.”

The Golden Eagles travel to Richland Center for the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League-Southwest Conference Clash on Saturday before beginning postseason action at the Lancaster Regional on Feb. 9.