Most wins in school history

By Erik Buchinger

New London senior wrestler Scott Cook secured his record-setting victory in the finals of the Cutler Classic Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 14 in New London.

Wrestling at 138 pounds, Cook entered the invitational with 123 career victories in his high school career, needing four wins to surpass the previous New London wrestling record of 126.

“It feels cool to be the all-time wins leader,” Cook said. “I’ve been wrestling since I was little and always saw New London’s most wins list in history in the wrestling room, and that was always one of my goals.”

Cook received a bye in round one and defeated Coleman’s Ty Hoffman in 42 seconds in the second round to put him at 125 wins.

In the semifinals, Cook defeated Maatilor Josiah from Oostburg before taking down Appleton East’s Zach Scharenbrock in the first-place match to put him ahead of Mike Murphy in the school’s all-time wins.

Cook said setting the school’s wins record has been a goal of his for a while.

“When I first thought of it, I thought it would be a really cool achievement,” Cook said. “I kept wrestling and kept getting wins. Eventually, I got to 100 wins and knew I could do it and finally got it.”

Cook said he has always been encouraged by his parents and coaches to get to this position.

“I think probably my coaches and parents did the most for me because they’ve always pushed me,” Cook said. “They’ve always been there for me during all the ups and downs.”

Cook said he was happy to set the record in New London where he had plenty of friends and family supporting him.

“It felt amazing because of all of the support there,” Cook said. “A lot of people were cheering me on, and it was just a really cool moment.”

Cook said his next goal is to win a title at state, where he has qualified in each of his first three years of high school wrestling.