The Warrenton wrestling program has a storied history, and it’s busy updating the record books.

After winning the program’s first district title in 15 years last season, the Warriors placed 13th in Class 3, scoring 48 points.

Now, senior Nathan Donovan and his teammates will try to take things further in the 2025-26 season.

“We won GACs and then districts,” recalled Donovan. “I really want Warrenton to keep (succeeding). I want more district titles for this team. I want more conference championship teams. I think there’s pressure on us. There’s been a standard set here and we have to keep living up to that standard.”

Donovan joins senior Korben Johnson, senior Max Teson and junior Zayden Teson as wrestlers who made the state tournament one season ago. Medals

Zayden Teson was fifth at 113 while Donovan finished sixth at 106.

Warrenton coach Clayton Olsson said a new year brings new challenges. The coach is excited to see what the year brings. He added that, as long as the team makes strides every day, everything will work out.

“You get different kids with different abilities, different levels of experience, different motivations,” Olsson said. “So, you have to mold your team expectations around that a little bit, but a lot of times what we preach to the kids is we're not even that concerned with accolades and stuff.

“We're concerned with getting better every time you get out on the mat, and everything else takes care of itself,” Olsson said. “You want to be a state champion? Then you need to make sure that you are getting better every single day that you get an opportunity, and then that'll take care of itself. But if you're not getting better every single day, you'll never reach that goal. So, we try to focus more on those things.”

Donovan added that he’s excited to see what the younger guys on the team can do.

“I learned from the older guys about what’s expected here and now it’s our turn to make sure they learn what this program means,” Donovan said. “The younger guys have some excellent talent. We are working to let them know what Warrenton wrestling is about and they’re doing a good job.”

Olsson said that Donovan has gone up a weight class this season, as have Johnson and Max Teson. Zayden Teson will likely wrestle at 130 this year.

The coach added that sophomores Colton Tinker, Jude Lohrmann, Daniel McCristy and freshman Cameron Alexander should all provide valuable team depth this season.

“Alexander has been a leader, coming in, hoping to break into the lineup and make a name for himself,” Olsson said.

While the future looks bright, Olsson said the team's solid core of seniors should translate not only into growth on the mat but also within the program.

“We got another strong group of seniors,” the coach said. “We may not be as strong as we were top to bottom last year, but we've got some individual strengths that are going to help lead and carry us through some tournaments with good senior leadership. This is one of the bigger senior classes that we've had in a long time. They're really hard workers and overall good kids who stay out of trouble and get good grades. I’m proud of what they've accomplished and I’m just looking forward to seeing what they could do this year.”