Austin sophomore Aiden Wilson may be young in age, but he’s got plenty of experience in the wrestling room — and he’s ready to make it count.

Wilson has been a varsity wrestler for the Packers since he was a seventh grader and he’s hoping to wrestle with more intensity than he ever has before this winter. It all started for Wilson at last year’s Section 1AAA meet when he was a freshman wrestling against a senior in the wrestle-backs at 132 pounds.

Wilson had beaten that senior earlier in the season, but he wasn’t able to hold him off in the big meet and Wilson finished in fourth place, which was two spots out of a state berth. This year, Wilson has his sights set on getting to the state meet.

“I was really close last year,” he said. “I could’ve went harder for an extra twenty seconds in that match and it would’ve been different. You’ve got to want it to the point where you can see the results getting better every day. The drive always has to be there. You can’t just come in one day and say you want to go to state. It’s got to start from the beginning of the season.”

Wilson is standing at 59 wins in his career, so he has a chance to not only finish at the 100-win mark, he could go even further than that. Austin head coach Jer Osgood said that Wilson is a great wrestler to have on the team.

“I’m proud of his accomplishments thus far. I’m excited and eager to see where all of his hard work that he put in this summer takes him,” Osgood said. “He’s done a much better job of taking practice more seriously and his work ethic and attitude have improved. He’s been an example and a leader in the room.”

Wilson has wrestled at 106, 120, 126, 132 at the varsity level and he plans on wrestling at 138 this year. As he’s moved up in weight class, he’s had to take on tougher and stronger wrestlers. Wilson hasn’t been fazed by the increase in competition and he’s able to continue the grind in the wrestling room because he wants to improve.

“I’m all for having fun, but we have to come here and beat the crap out of each other,” Wilson said. “Then at the end of the day, we go to the locker room and say thanks for making me better.”

Wilson hasn’t always been a big force on the wrestling mat. He started wrestling after a suggestion from a friend and he struggled from the start. Before his sixth grade year, Wilson estimates that he won a dozen matches and lost 100.

Then, in his sixth grader year he hit his stride and went 50-3. That earned him a call-up to the varsity team when he got to middle school and it was a big boost for his confidence.

“It showed that I learned how to compete. There were better wrestlers than me, but you can’t give up and you’ve got to keep going,” Wilson said. “When I first started my intensity coming up here was not great enough. I watched some of the other kids in practice and they were going hard. I couldn’t keep up with them.”

Osgood said that Wilson has stepped up as a leader for the Packers and he’s expecting big things from him this year as Austin will have a younger team.

“He’s naturally been an athletic individual. He’s been wrestling for quite some time. He’s done a nice job of taking those skills and improving them to become a better wrestler,” Osgood said. “It doesn’t matter when you start, it’s the amount of determination you have and the time you put in.”

The Packers will open their wrestling season in the Faribault tournament Saturday. Austin will host the Falcons in a Big NIne dual 7 p.m. Dec. 10.