Austin senior Sam Winkels has made a steady rise as a Packer wrestler, and now he’s put himself among the best to ever do it. Winkels recently surpassed the century mark for career wins and he’s now sitting at 104 wins as a Packer. “A couple of years ago I didn’t think it would be possible; I never really looked at myself as a huge wrestler during my sophomore year,” Winkels said. “Triple digits is a big deal in wrestling, no matter where you are. Now that I’ve done it, it’s a good feeling.” Having landed on the elite list of Packers, Winkels has a chance to move into even more exclusive company. He won’t be able to catch AHS’ all-time leader TJ Parlin, who had 191 wins, but he is 29 wins from moving into the top five of all time. Winkels knows of some of the wrestlers he has joined as he has met Parlin, Dave Cunningham (132 career wins) and Dan Rysavy (142 career wins). He also has high hopes of making some noise at the state meet. “It’s my senior year and I’ve got nothing, but everything to lose. I’m going to go out there and wrestle 100 percent and if I get my hand raised at the end of the match, I love that. If I don’t, it is what it is, and I’ll go to practice the next day and get better,” Winkels said. “I’m just trying to maintain focus and not get too far ahead of myself. The goal is to get back to state and win it, but I’ve got a lot of matches in between and I can’t look past anybody and I’ve got to wrestle one match at a time.” Winkels, who has committed to wrestle at St. Cloud State University, is 11-0 overall this season and  ranked No. 2 at 285-pounds in Class AA, trailing only Logan Bender, a senior from Chisago Lakes. Last year, Winkels finished 49-3 overall and he took fourth place at state at 285 pounds. As a sophomore, Winkels went 37-5 and he lost in the wrestle backs at 225 pounds. Winkels was closer to 218 pounds on the second day of state last year, but he’s trained his way up to a solid 250 pounds this season. ‘The stronger you get, the harder it is. You’ve got to learn to love it and I couldn’t ask for a better coach. Coach (Jacy) Bodie does a great job,” Winkels said of his training. “I’m getting stronger and maturing every year.” Winkels has emerged as a major leader in the weight room and on the mat for the Packers and he’s hoping other AHS athletes will follow in his footsteps. “I can do as much as I want to; it’s on other kids if they want to follow,” he said. “I can be a leader and I’m going to do what I can to make myself better. I hope people see that and say they want to do that too and they want to be great.” The Packers will host a wrestling triangular at 5 p.m. Thursday.   The post Climbing up the ladder: Austin’s Winkels surpasses 100 wins appeared first on Austin Daily Herald.