LHS senior Corey Fichter has played an integral role for several sports at LHS over his three years, and wrestling is no exception. The senior was on varsity ever since he came to LHS as a sophomore, and he held a 137-25 record over his wrestling career.

In his senior season at LHS, Fichter boasted a 40-5 record and was a three-time placewinner at state. He placed 3rd overall in the state wrestling tournament this year after two 5th place finishes in his sophomore and junior years, so it was nice for him to improve on that in his final year. Fichter was the team captain and earned both the Most Valuable Wrestler and Pinner awards. He ended his career in the top five in every statistical category. Head wrestling coach Mark Ernster appreciates everything that Fichter brought to the LHS wrestling program over his career here.

“Corey was a great example of getting mentally prepared for a big match,” said Ernster. “Win or lose he always left it on the mat. Corey also had grace and humility – he learned from his mistakes and strove to get better and never thought of himself as better than anyone else. He is a great athlete, and had a skill set that not many upper weight wrestlers have. He was patient and explosive, and when points came they usually came in a flurry.”

Any athlete knows that family support and the environment around them is a huge factor in their success, and that having a family who understands and appreciates the meaning of their sport is very important. Fichter and the LHS wrestling team have been fortunate enough over his athletic careers to have a great amount of backing from his parents and siblings.

“Corey has been wrestling since he could probably walk, he had an older brother so he had to start learning to defend himself at an early age,” said Ernster. “He has a very supportive family, his parents Brian and Chelon came to every event and always volunteered at our tournaments. His older brother Ben and sister Tiernee would even come and watch when they could.”

Being part of such a close family has also helped Fichter become not only a good person, but a leader as well. Since he was a senior on such a young team, many of the younger members of the team looked up to him and how he acted.

“What makes Corey a good person is the environment that he comes from,” said Ernster. “You can see that supportive ‘big brother’ in Corey towards the rest of the team. We were really young and he did a great job mentoring and working with them. Corey also has a pretty good outlook on life in general, he usually has a smile on his face and something good to say when you run into him.”