W-F senior gets scholarship to Davidson
By Greg Seubert
What does Weyauwega-Fremont High School senior Cian Fischer have in common with NBA superstar Steph Curry?
They both can say they attended Davidson College on an athletic scholarship.
Fischer signed his National Letter of Intent Nov. 14 to join the Division 1 wrestling program at the school, located in Davidson, North Carolina.
Before Fischer heads east, however, he still has one season of high school wrestling. He’s placed in the top four at the WIAA State Individual Meet as a freshman, sophomore and junior, but he has bigger aspirations this season.
“I want to win a championship and I want to represent my community well wherever I go,” he said.
Fischer, who has a 132-12 record with the Indians, placed second at 120 pounds in Division 3 at state last year, fourth as a sophomore at 106 and third as freshman at 106.
“We’ve had four state champions and he’s not a state champion yet,” W-F wrestling coach Tim Potratz said. “He’s so well-rounded. He wrestles on his feet, he wrestles on the mat. He wrestles freestyle, he wrestles folkstyle, he wrestles year-round. He might be the hardest-working kid, but that’s hard to say. We’ve had some really hard-working kids.”
Fischer is believed to be the fourth W-F athlete to receive a Division 1 scholarship. Rich Tomaszewski, Potratz’s longtime assistant coach, wrestled at the University of Madison; Sam Otte played volleyball at Central Michigan University; and Matt Rohde played basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
So how does a wrestler from Weyauwega-Fremont High School get his name out to college recruiters?
In Fischer’s case, it was competing in national tournaments during the offseason.
“I do a lot of fall and summer national tournaments,” he said. “The main one was the U.S. Men’s Freestyle Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota, this past summer. That’s where I met the Davidson coaches, started talking and got the ball rolling.
“Everything went well from there,” he said. “I went on a visit this fall and loved the campus. I got to meet the coaches and team and really enjoyed my visit there. I really fell in love with Davidson and wanted to make that choice clear, I have the comfort of knowing that I have my college decision made.”
“Some of the tournaments he went to around the country were to attract the attention of coaches so that he could get a scholarship,” Potratz said. “It’s another thing that you’re working on and preparing for. Now that that’s done, right now, his single focus is to be an undefeated state champion. That’s his goal and he’s going to work toward that. Fourth, third and second and there’s one more spot left. When he’s done, he’ll probably have won 170, 180 matches. Everything points toward him finishing it this year.”
Davidson’s 2018 roster includes a pair of freshman from Wisconsin: Random Lake’s Anthony Rautmann and Slinger’s Caleb Ziebell.
“I know they take a look at the state tournaments and see who’s doing what,” Fischer said. “I know Wisconsin isn’t the toughest wrestling state, but we’re ranked up there with some of them. We really have good, quality kids and they’re looking for that. They’re also looking for academics and that’s part of what got me in there, too. They want quality kids.”
Fischer is among the top students in his class and plans to study math or physics.
“I’ve thought about teaching,” he said. “I’ve also thought about maybe being a coach.”
Potratz is looking forward to one final year of coaching Fischer.
“You don’t have to spend a lot of time showing him a move,” he said. “I’ll show a technique and when we go out to work on that technique, I’m not going over to make sure he’s doing it right. I’m going to other people.”
While other high school athletes move from sport to sport, Fischer concentrates on wrestling.
“I love it,” he said. “It’s the thing for me. Other people play other sports, but wrestling’s my true love. That’s why I’m at where I’m at. I fell in love with it because I can put in much work into it as I want and I can get as good as I need to be. There’s no ceiling for how much I can develop as a wrestler.
“Wrestling year-round puts me in a mindset where I’ve put all this work in, now it’s time to hammer down and get ready to go,” he added. “I do take breaks once in awhile. When I do take those breaks, I start to get that itch. I’ll watch wrestling when I’m taking those breaks, but I want to be on the mat all the time.”
“It’s always the journey that’s the exciting part,” Potratz said. “His work ethic has rubbed off on other kids on the team. Other kids are working hard to match his accomplishments and get as far as they can.”