Warriors Athlete of Week: Schlosser replaces Pickar at top of school wins list

Brainerd’s Andy Schlosser (right) faces off against Peter Nelson during a meet against St. Cloud Apollo this season. Kelly Humphrey/Brainerd Dispatch

By Michael Bialka

January 25, 2017 at 8:01 PM

Andy Schlosser

Sport: Wrestling

Weight: 145 and 152

Year: Senior

Age: 18

Height: 5-foot-7

Career highlight: Breaking the school record for wins

Other sports: Soccer

Favorite class: Math

Favorite food: Anything

Future plans: Probably attend Central Lakes College

Favorite wrestler: Jake Clark

Parent: Kevin Schlosser

Brainerd's all-time leader in wrestling victories remains an Andy.

Two-time state champion Andy Pickar compiled a 146-25 record in six varsity seasons for the Warriors. He was also a state runner-up, a five-time state participant and won three section championships.

Andy Schlosser displaced Pickar as the Warriors' wins leader Jan. 21 when he won his first match at the Champlin Park dual meet tournament. He won two of three matches there to finish the weekend with 148 victories.

"I guess I was thankful and proud," Schlosser said of breaking the record. "I knew it was going to happen all year so it wasn't like it was sudden or anything."

Warriors co-head coach Mike Boran coached Pickar as well as Schlosser, who's also in his sixth year of varsity competition. Boran said the similarities between the two include being talented and reaching the varsity as seventh-graders.

"You get that experience when you're young, you keep getting better, and the wins start piling up," Boran said. "Both started young. Both were successful when they were young. That's a good combination for getting a lot of wins.

"It's been a pleasure to coach guys like that. It's been fun to see them progress through the years."

Wrestling at 145 pounds, Schlosser pinned Maple Grove's Sarah Tilson in 1:31 for win No. 147.

"I'm pretty sure I just took (her) down to (her) back right away and held (her) for about a minute until I finally got the pin," Schlosser said.

Boran said one of Schlosser's attributes is that he's an unorthodox wrestler.

"He's got real strong hips," Boran said. "He's able to get in and out of positions that most wrestlers can't. He's dangerous that way because he can get his hips across and catch people in bad positions and score points, get falls.

"An unorthodox style of wrestling helps him. A lot of it is hip strength and physical strength. His biggest attribute is he's able to win in positions that most wrestlers aren't able to win in because of his strength and flexibility."

Being an unorthodox wrestler has helped Schlosser staple many opponent's backs to the mat for falls. Almost half of his career victories (78) have been pins.

"He's got a ton of pins," Boran said. "I don't know what the school record for pins is but he's got to be awfully close."

"A lot of them come from scramble situations," Schlosser said of his propensity to pin. "I just catch them on their back."

Schlosser finished third in Class 3A as a sophomore at 120. He missed qualifying for state last season, going 33-4 with 15 pins and finishing third in the section at 145. Injuries have hampered him last year and this winter. He's 14-5 so far this season and has missed about 10 matches due to injury.

Boran said the injuries have hampered Schlosser's conditioning.

"Because of injuries, I don't think he's been at the top of his game," Boran said. "He's still a very good wrestler, a guy we count on to get big wins for us, and he's been able to do that for the most part.

"His losses have been to very good wrestlers. I think if we can get him a little better conditioned as the season rolls on, he can be a contender to make the state tournament."

Other notable efforts:

• Mitchell Andres, boys hockey, had four points vs. Sartell.

• Michael Bylander and Preston Owen, swimming, won races at the Section 8-2A True Team meet.

• James Engen, boys hockey, stopped 28 of 29 shots vs. Bemidji.

• Michael Russell, boys basketball, scored 27 points vs. Sauk Rapids.

• Cole Kubesh, wrestling, went 3-0 at the Champlin Park Dual Meet Tournament.

100-win Warrior wrestlers

1. Andy Schlosser 149-61

2. Andy Pickar 146-25

3. Tyler Jensen 132-24

4. Chris Studer 132-25*

5. Nick Lingwall 123-43