Winning 100 matches over a high school wrestling career is no easy feat. It takes a combination of talent, hard work, experience and a bit of luck to average more than 25 wins a season for four years starting as a 14 year-old freshman.

Throw in a shortened campaign due to COVID-related shutdowns, the goal becomes that much harder to reach.

None of that stopped Cole Ekerson, Montesano’s dynamic 132-pounder who eclipsed that mark on Saturday.

Wrestling in the 1A Evergreen League duals – where league teams face off against one another – Ekerson won three matches against opponents from Eatonville, Elma and Tenino on Saturday, putting the senior at 99 wins for his prep career.

“I had a lot of wins last season, so going into this season I knew I had to be getting close,” Ekerson said. “After a few tournaments we went back and looked and did a little research and I think after last weekend we ended up hitting 96 and knew I had four matches this weekend.”

In what would be his final match on the home floor of Bo Griffith Memorial Gymnasium, Ekerson squared off against Hoquiam’s Santiago Martinez, earning a pinfall win at 1:24 of the first round to become the fourth wrestler to hit the century mark during head coach Jeff Klinger’s two-decade tenure.

PHOTO BY SUE MICHALAK BUDSBERG Montesano’s Cole Ekerson, top, defeated Hoquiam’s Santiago Martinez via pinfall to earn the 100th victory in his prep career on Saturday at Montesano High School.

“I knew it was coming and knew I was going to have a shot at it this weekend,” Ekerson said. “I was just so happy I was able to do it in my hometown with my family and everyone, it was really cool.”

“One-hundred wins is an outstanding achievement, especially considering one of his years was the shortened COVID year,” Klinger said. “A lot of hard work and dedication went into him achieving that. The other coaches and I are all very proud of him. After talking with (former longtime Monte assistant and current Elma head coach) Jeff Catterlin, we believe he is the fifth wrestler to 100 wins at Montesano since I became head coach.”

Ekerson placed fifth in the state as a freshman to help lead Monte to a third-place state finish in 2020.

The following season was whittled down and delayed due to COVID, creating a strange scenario where Cole and his teammates – as well as every other program in the state – were denied the opportunity to compete in a state-championship tournament.

Ekerson roared back his junior season to win the 1A Regional 1 championship and placed second in the state after losing a 5-0 decision to Toppenish’s Marcos Torres.

After dominating the competition this season, Ekerson joins Kyler Prante, Taylor Rupe, Austin Cain and Jacob Ellefson as 100-win club members coached by Klinger at Montesano.

“I’ve been working my whole life for one goal and hitting that 100 club was a really big deal to me,” Ekerson said. “It’s pretty cool. It’s a good feeling. The work I’ve been putting in has been paying off. I’m blessed to be a part of it. It didn’t come easy and that’s why there is only a handful of us in that club. It took a lot of work but I don’t regret a second of it.”

Ekerson’s skills on the mat are undeniable.

Having competed in wrestling tournaments for the past 14 years, Ekerson is a skilled, athletic and intelligent wrestler who possesses a wealth of experience.

Ekerson credits his success to the support he gets at home, the multiple coaches that have helped him along the way, but most of all he credits what is long known in the wrestling world to produce top-flight competitors: Dedication, perseverance and hard work.

“It takes heart,” he said. “Wrestling is a really hard sport, it’s the hardest sport you can do in high school. You’ve got to want it. Everyday you have to wake up and want to be the best and be great. Wrestling is a sport that is going to kick your butt, but if you keep punching back and keep fighting, you are only going to get better.”

SUBMITTED PHOTO Montesano 132-pound wrestler Cole Ekerson poses with a banner celebrating his 100th victory on Saturday at Montesano High School.

So the moment Ekerson won his 100th match, he didn’t immediately leap to his feet and unsnap his headgear as he is apt to do while his hand is being raised in the air. For No. 100 was a little different. That win held a bit more significance.

“I just kind of sat there on the mat, just reflected in my head that all the hard work I put into this, all the people that have given me their hard work and time to help get me to where I am, I just reflect back on it all,” he said. “I only have a few more weeks of this for the rest of my life. When I hit a hundred I had to take it all in for a second. So I didn’t stand up too fast, I didn’t take my headgear off too fast, I just let it sink in.”

With one lifetime goal out of the way, Ekerson said he has his sights locked in on winning a state title that so closely eluded him last season.

“The job is not finished yet, I realize that,” he said, noting he plans to leave his wrestling shoes on the mat at the end of his high school career. “I think I’m going to try to end on a high-school state title. It’s been the goal since I was four and I think that’s what I want to end on.”

Ekerson and Montesano’s post-season journey begins at the sub-district meet scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Eatonville High School.