Photos courtesy of Marshall Area Wrestling Association Marshall wrestler Dylan Louwagie compete at the second day of the Class A state individual wrestling tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Louwagie finished as runner-up in in the Class AA 133 wrestling tournament, earning his fifth state medal.

Next year’s state wrestling tournament is going to be missing a familiar face. Dylan Louwagie has been a Class AA state medalist five times since he joined the Marshall wrestling team as a seventh grader. The senior Tiger capped off his prep career in style, setting a series of school records while claiming a runner-up medal in the Class AA 133-pound state tournament. His performance both this season and over the course of his career earned him the title of the Independent’s Wrestler of the Year.

Wrestling has been a part of Louwagie’s life for about as long as he can remember. His father, Lee, and his older brother, Grant, were both high school wrestlers, as is his younger brother Tyson. Dylan also recalled wanting to be like some of the wrestlers he saw on TV as a kid, prompting him to get involved in the sport before he even started kindergarten.

“[We’ve been training together] since like preschool. Our parents were friends so we have baby pictures of us wrestling and stuff,” Tate Condezo, Louwagie’s training partner and co-captain on the Marshall wrestling team, said. 

It wasn’t long after that when Louwagie realized he may have found his niche. He was in kindergarten when he won his first youth state championship, a moment that he says inspired him to work harder to harness his talent in the sport.

That desire to get better is in part what has allowed Louwagie to reach the heights he has, Marshall head wrestling coach Ethan Hoppe said. This season was Hoppe’s first as the head coach but his 14th overall with the team. Hoppe had also known the Louwagie family for years so he had the opportunity to watch Dylan come up through the youth wrestling scene as well.

“Dylan’s constantly trying to learn and he’s constantly trying to better himself and others,” Hoppe said. “He’s very goal-oriented. He sets his mind on what he wants to achieve and how he’s going to get there and he works at getting there. So he’s constantly trying to change how he wrestles or how he approaches a match, from a technique point of view and also from a mindset point of view… Since the first day he walked in the room as a seventh grader, he’s always treated every practice as if it’s his last.”

“He always practices with an intent and purpose,” Condezo added. “He drills very hard and he always has a reason for everything he’s doing.”

It didn’t take Louwagie long to make his mark on the Marshall wrestling program. He went into his seventh-grade season as a 106-pounder and didn’t take long to acclimate to the varsity level.

“I thought it would be a lot worse than it actually was for me because I didn’t really have a lot of expectations for myself,” Louwagie said. “I was just going to go out there, wrestle and do my best. But all of a sudden, I kept winning and winning and I kind of just went with it.”

Louwagie went into his first state tournament as the only seventh grader in the field. Still, his lack of experience didn’t hurt him.

Louwagie won each of his first three matches to advance to the state championship before falling to Waseca sophomore Mason Gehloff. Still, he compiled a 40-9 record and a state medal with five more years of prep wrestling ahead of him. He had plenty of time to grow and improve.

Over the next two years, Louwagie had a dip in his performance, but only by his lofty standards. He claimed a fifth-place medal as an eighth grader in the 113AA championships and qualified for the state tournament before falling without medaling in his freshman season, his first year in 132. 

Once he got accustomed to his new weight class, he dominated it. Louwagie went 45-4 as a sophomore, earning the role of team captain for the first time in his young career.

“I was a little nervous at first but I was honored to be picked,” Louwagie said. “I guess I just wanted to lead the team to state and help the team they can at that point.

Louwagie isn’t necessarily a vocal leader but he sets the tone with his actions. Beyond the way he diligently trains, he also competes for the team rather than himself. 

“I don’t think I ever saw him stand up after a big match and flex. Not once, or like scream at teammates in excitement or anything like that,” Hoppe said. “He’ll get more amped up and excited and emotional for his teammates’ matches than he will for his own. 

“So if we have a big win, he’s excited, he’s jacked, he’s ready to go. If he’s getting ready for one of his matches that might be a big match, he’s pretty mellow… He might pump his first every once in a while, but that was the extent of it.”

“I just want to see [my teammates] be successful too,” Louwagie said. “When you’re doing good and your teammates are doing good, it’s usually a pretty fun season that way.”

While the Tigers didn’t earn a team appearance, Louwagie claimed a third-place medal in the individual state tournament after losing to undefeated Tyler Wells of Princeton. He returned to the state championship the next season, claiming his second state runner-up medal after going 47-3 with a loss to undefeated Wells in the state championship match. With Wells graduating at the end of Louwagie’s junior season, a path was open for him to make a run in his final season.

As he entered his senior year, he looked once again better than ever. Louwagie finished his regular season undefeated on the year. His 256-27 career record and 118 career pins were both Marshall program records, as were his 51 wins in a season by the time all was said and done.

Even coming off of a successful previous two years, Louwagie was still trying to add more to his arsenal. 

“The last two years, I feel like I’ve really grown as a wrestler because I used to only use a couple of moves throughout the match but I’ve widened the variety of moves I use,” Louwagie said. He specifically cited the improvement of his single-leg finish, while Condezo said that Louwagie’s quickness and scrambling have helped him to takedowns.

From the start of this year’s state tournament, Louwagie looked like a man on a mission. He defeated Plainview-Elgin-Millville’s Aiden Graner via a 13-2 major decision in the first match of the 133AA tournament, beat Perham’s Chandler Mickelson by 9-1 major decision, and took down Alex Lehman of Grand Rapids in another 13-0 major decision to return to the championship match for the third time overall and the second time in a row.

In the championship match, Louwagie was pinned up against Justus Heeg, an eighth grader from Simley with a 44-9 record. While Louwagie had one of the most impressive resumes in recent years, Heeg had the hot hand and defeated Louwagie 5-3, ending the senior Tiger’s shot at a prep state title.

“At first, it really bothered me,” Louwagie said. “It took a couple of weeks but, I mean, now I’m starting to realize that there’s more to wrestling than just that one match. Looking at [my career] with a more overall view helps.”

Still, Louwagie still has plenty of wrestling ahead of him after committing to compete for Southwest Minnesota State University at the Division II level, a decision he made based on the school’s head coach, Chayse Jackson, and his own competitive drive.

“I just really like winning,” Louwagie said. “I’m good at wrestling, so it just made sense for me to continue wrestling in college.”

While he closes out his high school career without a state title, Louwagie certainly left behind a legacy in the black and orange. No one loss can take away his five state tournament medals — including three top-3 finishes — and his name written all across the Marshall wrestling record books.

“It’s been an honor to be able to sit in his corner and watch him do what he loves to do,” Hoppe said. “It’s been an honor to interact with his teammates and really bring them in to help bring the team together with the other group of seniors and really help form a family-like atmosphere and culture… He’s really helped build up the Marshall wrestling program.”

With his high school legacy written, Louwagie still has plenty left to compete for as he moves on to his next chapter.