The Waunakee Warriors boys’ wrestling team can officially call themselves conference champions.
Taking on the Badger-Conference Championship on Saturday, Feb. 7, at Fort Atkinson High School, the Warriors scored a large-division high 185 team points to claim the Badger-Large title, continuing their undefeated streak against conference opponents throughout the 2025-26 high school boys wrestling season.
In light of the team's success on the mat, Waunakee (fittingly) found plenty of individual success, thanks to three individual conference champions: junior Brett Farrell (120 lbs), senior Gabriel Metzler (157 lbs), and senior McCoy Smith (215 lbs).
Farrell claimed his individual conference title after winning his first-place match thanks to a 16-7 decision. In his semifinal match, Farrell scored a 10-4 decision after a 17-0 victory by technical fall in the quarterfinals.
Momentum followed over to Gabriel Metzler, who continued his near-perfect 2025-26 campaign in dominant fashion.
Notably, Metzler needed just 46 seconds to pin his opponent in his first-place match to hoist the individual championship crown. Metzler won his semifinal match by pin in one minute and 12 seconds, in addition to scoring a pin in one minute and 20 seconds in the quarterfinals.
Then came McCoy Smith, who defeated Stoughton’s Kade Splinter in the sudden victory period by a score of 17-14 to become the third Warrior to win an individual championship.
Smith’s championship victory came off the heels of a 4-3 decision victory in the semifinals and a 45-second pin in the quarterfinals.
In addition to the Warriors’ trio of individual conference champions, senior Mason Spear (113 lbs) placed second, while junior Sawyer Ellis (190 lbs) placed third.
Other notable finishes from the Warriors include a fourth-place finish from freshman Dominic Manno (165 lbs) and a fifth-place finish from senior Braydon Barbian (150 lbs).
Now, playoff season for Waunakee boys wrestling is officially in the picture.
First up for the Warriors will be individual sectionals on Saturday, Feb. 14, at DeForest High School. According to Waunakee Athletics, it is listed to start at 9:30 a.m.
2026 Badger-Conference Team Scores
T-7.) Monona Grove/McFarland: 142