Coach attends banquet in Green Bay
By Greg Seubert
Tim Potratz has a new home.
No, the longtime wrestling coach at Weyauwega-Fremont High School isn’t going anywhere.
He is, however, among the latest additions to the Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Association’s George Martin Wrestling Hall of Fame.
He joined Stratford High School coach Joe Schwabe, former Slinger High School coach Chris Graziano, former Concordia University Wisconsin coach Brett Corner, Peshtigo native and former University of Nebraska coach Tim Neumann and wrestling supporter Jill Brandl-Gurtner as this year’s inductees into the hall of fame, named for former University of Wisconsin wrestling coach George Martin. All five were inducted Nov. 12 at a banquet in Green Bay.
“I’m more proud of this than any individual or any one of the conference championships we’ve won because it means that the system that we run works,” Potratz said. “It means a lot to me because it’s not a flash in the pan. It’s not where you have a good group of kids come through, you win and you struggle for years.”
Potratz’s teams have had one losing season since he took the program over in 1990. They’ve also won 431 matches and 12 conference championships.
Potratz has also coached four WIAA state champions: Corey Baehnman (103 pounds, Division 2, 1995); Brian Loehrke (103 pounds, Division 2, 1999); Casey Haase (189 pounds, Division 3, 2011); and Cian Fischer (120 pounds, Division 3, 2019). Several other wrestlers also medaled at state by placing in the top six in their respective weight class.
“The individual state championships have been nice, but if you have a kid that’s maybe good enough to get a medal and they get a medal, I feel just as good,” Potratz said. “A state champion isn’t really a bigger thrill than a kid like Ben Strehlow last year. He took third in the state and that was probably as high as he could go.
“I don’t think anything tops conference championships,” he added. “It’s never the stars that win those championships. It’s always the team. Our No. 1 goal every year is to win conference. If we are able to achieve that, that’s great for everybody involved.”
Whether Potratz can take more wrestlers to state remains to be seen, but the road to this year’s tournament began Nov. 15 with the first day of practice.
The Warhawks compete in the Central Wisconsin Conference, which also includes Manawa, Shiocton, Bonduel, Wittenberg-Birnamwood, Amherst, Almond-Bancroft/Pacelli, Menominee Indian, Pittsville, Rosholt and Tri-County.
The team will open the season Thursday, Dec. 2, with a dual match at Wisconsin Dells.
“You’re always hoping that you get as many kids out for the team as you can,” Potratz said. “You have kids that transition from middle school to high school, so you hope they stay with the sport. There’s another transition when they’re sophomores. They get a driver’s license, they get a job, girlfriends. The more kids you have, the more of a team chemistry you can have. That makes it more fun. I always have that apprehension prior to the start of the season, but tonight’s the first practice. The kids are there and they’re excited.”
Wrestling at the high school level hasn’t changed much in the last 30 years, according to Potratz.
“I don’t know if the sport has changed, but kids have changed,” he said. “We live in a more electronic, quick-fix world. We can’t push them as hard as we did 30 years ago. I don’t think I’d have anybody left.
“Our technique stays pretty much the same year after year,” he said. “Because we have older kids showing it to younger kids and high school kids showing it to middle school kids, that part of it kind of takes care of itself. The kids all buy into it, they believe it and it carries on.”
Potratz wrestled at Oshkosh West High School and at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
“I got hurt in my senior year at Oshkosh West and my goal was to be the state champion, so I never got to go,” he said. “That was my motivation to go to college. In college, my goal was to be the national champion and didn’t get to be the national champion. I never thought about coaching.”
Once he switched to an education major at UW-Oshkosh, however, Potratz got into coaching and hasn’t slowed down.
“I’ve coached everything but basketball,” he said. “I love the competition, I love the teaching process. I stole a lot of ideas. I had a great college coach. I’m able to get my ideas across and I’m able to motivate them. I’m pushy and some kids don’t like it. I’ve lost wrestlers because of it, but if they stay, they find success.”
More than 20 of Potratz’s family members and former coaches, teammates and wrestlers showed up for the induction banquet.
“The vehicle here is wrestling, but it’s really about working with kids and helping them achieve their goals,” he said. “I don’t see myself as a star coach. I love the sport. I have a philosophy about it and I stay true to that philosophy. Always have.”