100: a monumental number in a lot of ways, but two Normal West seniors recently made it an athletic milestone for themselves.
On Jan. 11 and Jan. 18, 2025, Normal West senior wrestlers Abe Rader and McGrew emerged victorious for their 100th career varsity wins on the mat.
Normal West wrestling coach David Lehr is proud of his wrestlers for reaching the impressive feat.
“It’s pretty amazing news in West history right now,” Lehr said.
Rader and McGrew join an exclusive club in West history by becoming the 4th and 5th Wildcat wrestlers to reach 100 career varsity wins.
Rader hit 100 first, and going into the match, he was confident in his abilities to reach the milestone.
“I was pretty excited, more so going into the match because I knew I was going to win. But after I pinned my opponent, I got up and thought about how this was my 100th time getting my hand raised,” Rader described.
Rader put in a lot of work to get to this point in his career, crediting his development and improvement throughout his four years wrestling at Normal West.
“My greatest improvement has been in the neutral position. At the start of my high school career, I relied on pinning my opponents. With competition getting better as I moved up weight classes, I worked on learning to out-wrestle my opponents rather than just pin them,” Rader stated.
McGrew hit 100 on Jan. 18 and recognizes that his path was different, but still, he always believed reaching the coveted mark was possible.
“Two years ago, I was under 40 wins and never thought I would’ve hit that marker,” McGrew stated.
McGrew credits the hard work he put in during the offseason.
“A lot of offseason work, I wrestle for Iguana wrestling club in the spring and summer and going to the Fargo national tournament over the summer helped,” McGrew claimed.
“I got to see a lot of great competition. It doesn’t feel like the offseason work helps, but every year when I walk into the room, I can tell all the extra work helped,” McGrew continued.
Lehr praises their competitive drive to reach their accomplishment.
“They’re both very driven. They both come to practice every day and do the extra. It’s the internal drive on their part,” Lehr said.
Lehr mentioned how their relationship on and off the mat allowed their skills to rub off on each other, making them both better wrestlers.
“Abe [Rader] and Dylan [McGrew] have been practice partners for years, yet very different wrestlers. [Rader] is very analytical and technical where [McGrew] is a physical, aggressive wrestler. Despite their different styles, they make great practice partners and friends,” Lehr exclaimed.
Lehr was happy that the duo could accompany each other as they hit the milestone within a week of each other.
“I think it is awesome that they achieved this huge milestone so close to each other,” Lehr added.
Both McGrew & Rader will hit the mat once again on Saturday, January 25 at Champaign Central.
