Reusse: Legacy wrestling to lead Watertown-Mayer in Class 2A tournament

The wrestling room at Watertown-Mayer High School is not blessed with excess space. The mats cover almost every square foot of the lower-level room, and the four coaches have to watch their steps as they move around.

One of those coaches, Bill McDonald, was the Royals’ first state wrestling champion, winning in 1984 at 145 pounds in Class A. He went from there to become a four-time All-American for Southwest Minnesota State. He’s in both the SMSU and Northern Sun Conference Halls of Fame.

Bill has rounded out a bit physically in the decades since he was a killer on the mat, but the enthusiasm for the favorite of his three sports (also football and baseball) and his home high school remains off the charts.

Kurt Becker and McDonald describe themselves as co-head coaches for the Royals. T.J. Friederichs, father to twins Joel and Titan, and Troy Peterson, former state runner-up here and stepfather to 172-pounder Bryce Burkett, serve as assistants.

McDonald takes the prize in the conversation area. On Monday, he was agreeing with me that no sport matches wrestling for the grueling effort it requires.

“Wrestling is hard!” McDonald said. “You want to have fun? Play baseball. You get your swings in batting practice, then stand around in the field while other guys are hitting.

“You want to get thrown around for 90 minutes in a hot room? Wrestle. You want to get some laughs for 90 minutes? Go to baseball practice.”

Seventh-graders through seniors, there were 30 kids in this wrestling room. Lots of smaller young men, but don’t let that fool you.

Titan Friederichs is a 127-pound junior entering the state meet at 40-0 this winter. He’s a two-time defending state champion and carries a 138-match winning streak. Brother Joel is at 121 pounds, also 40-0 and 131-9 over the past three seasons.

And then there’s the Friederichs’ self-described “big brother,” senior Burkett, another state champion — 41-0 this season and 141-1 for the past three years.

“The twins are so full of energy,” Burkett said. “They drive me crazy, and at the same time, I love them to death. When we aren’t wrestling, high school, development programs, national meets … if it’s summer, we’re playing golf at Timber Creek."

Joel said: “Burkett can make a 3, followed by a 13, faster than anybody on a golf course.”

Burkett laughed and said: “There’s no lie there.”

There will not be as much golf this summer. Burkett has committed to wrestle at Oklahoma and the Sooners — a staff with a strong connection to Minnesota — want him in Norman only a couple of weeks after he graduates from high school.

The Friederichs already are committed to the Gophers. “We’ve known [coach] Brandon Eggum for a long time; we’ve worked in the regional training program at the U,” Joel said. “And the Gophers were in contact with offers on the first day a college could do that last June.”

Eggum and the twins’ late uncle, Ty Friederichs, were teammates with the Gophers. Ty was a four-time state champion at Osseo High School. Their father, T.J., also was a standout there and then wrestled at St. Cloud State.

So T.J. — how was it that one twin is Joel (common name) and his partner in birth winds up being a Titan?

“Timothy Joel is my name; he arrived first and was a junior,” father Friederichs said. “The second baby took 45 minutes and gave his mother a very hard birth. We decided that made him a Titan.”

Training partners with proper skills can be hard to find for tremendous wrestlers in smaller high schools. The twins have each other.

“We get in some battles and wind up practice upset with each other,” Joel said. “By the time we get home, we’re best friends again. Now the golf course … that’s where the real battles take place."

Watertown-Mayer is 19-1 this season, losing only to Class 3A power St. Michael-Albertville, 30-21. The Royals are seeded No. 1 in Class 2A, opening vs. Totino-Grace on Thursday at 11 a.m.

They also have seven individuals in competition: the twins, Burkett, Blake Brose, Sully Marx, Kaleb Mead and Kyler Burmeister, a 215-pounder. Burmeister would be a college recruit in football and wrestling, but he’s going to be an electrician, not a college student.

Titan will be going for a third state title and has that tremendous winning streak to protect this week.

“My last loss ended my eighth-grade season in the state tournament,” Titan said. “Robby Sherk from Park Rapids caught me in a cradle and pinned me. Then he lost his next match, so I didn’t get to wrestle again.

“Big mistake by me. You can’t make those.”

Lesson learned — 138 prep matches ago, and counting.