This year was full of successes for the varsity wrestling team. They placed fifth at the GAC tournament, third at districts, and 12th at state. They accumulated more than 300 individual wins. But the grandeur of the season isn’t in the wins or the finishes at tournaments; It isn’t in the team successes made during the year. The splendor is in the colossal record breaking that has wrestled its way onto the mats this season: two varsity wrestlers, Harold Ritchie and Brenton Harms, broke records this year. They set goals that they went at with gusto, making history in the process.

First there was junior Harold Ritchie. He has wrestled on varsity for the past three years, starting as a 112-pound freshmen, finishing with a 30-13 record and placing fifth at state. Unfortunately, he took a stumble from his prodigious track, going 20-16, and placing a secondary sixth at state during his sophomore year. In 2009, however, he is back, and with a vengeance. Firstly, he has placed first at districts for the first time in his already stunning career. But, much more significantly, this year Ritchie has a mere three losses and an astonishing 45 wins- giving him the new school record for the most wins in a season.

“I really didn’t think that it was that big of a deal,” Ritchie said. “I thought it was cool.”

As cavalier as Ritchie seemed about his accomplishment, there was definite call for celebration. The record was set in 2006 by John Vanvelkinburgh. That year he went 41-6 and took second at the state tournament.

Ritchie never plotted breaking the record. He simply stumbled upon it in the pursuit of perfecting his game.

“I didn’t even know that I was close until I tied,” Ritchie said.

The record was tied by Ritchie on Jan 30, and crushed by him amid thunderous cheers at 7:57 p.m. on senior night on Feb. 3.

“It’s an accomplishment. The last [record] to be set was four years ago. To do that at this level is remarkable,” varsity Coach Harold Ritchie Sr. said.

Although Coach Ritchie is Wrestler Harold Ritchie’s father, many would think he is at an advantage.

“I just treat him like any other wrestler,” Coach Ritchie said.

This mirrors his past when it comes to training wrestlers, as more than 30 of North’s varsity wrestlers have placed in the top six at state under Coach Ritchie.

However, the comeback story of the year is Brenton Harms. This senior wrestler, who didn’t place in any major tournament last year, has emerged as a shining star on the varsity team. Besides placing first at districts, he has also managed to pound out a 39-10 record, and, most historically, made 29 pins in the season, breaking the monumental record that formally was the longest standing wrestling record in the school’s 25-year history.

“I was happy and scared to break the record. I mean, it used to belong to a three time state champ,” Harms said.

The record was set 20 years ago by Jason Sexton, who went 31-0 with 28 pins in 1990.

“It was my senior year, and I was good. At the time I had developed into a dominant wrestler,” Sexton said.

He was previously unaware that his record was still standing. Currently, Sexton lives in Dallas, and is helping to develop wrestling programs for high schools in that area.

Last year, Harms didn’t qualify for state. He had a less than .500 record, and wasn’t anything to be scared of on the mats. He has made a complete 180 for this season, when he is anything but the man you want to wrestle.

“He has really worked hard all year,” Harms’ father Dulaney Harms said. “I could see in the off season how much time and effort that he put into conditioning and improving.”

The record came across Harms’ radar early in the season, after pinning his first few opponents. He found it realistically in his grasp.

“I started pinning people and I made it a goal to break it,” Harms said.

According to Harms, it was coach Brown who helped him the most. They worked together after school to condition and sculpt him into the wrestler that he is today. In the weight room, Harms reigns supreme, with the most power clean weight lifted and the third most bench weight. The season wasn’t over after districts though for these record breakers. Both Harms and Ritchie qualified for state after finishing firstat districts. Tragically for Harms, he fell out of competition in a first round loss to Zach Drinkall of Lebanon, evenafter smashing the 20-year-old record that was an essential part of the formula for Sexton’s state championship. Ritchie, on the other hand, would fight his way to place fourth in the 135 weight class.

“It is an accomplishment. These aren’t easy records to overcome, in fact they are extremely hard,” Sexton said. “All records are meant to be broken. All records are set to be surpassed.”