Kane County Chronicle Wrestler of the Year: Marmion's Nathan Traxler

Marmion 182-pounder Nathan Traxler won the final bout of his junior wrestling season by forfeit, a passive ending to an otherwise action-packed and unbeaten run against foes from Illinois.

“It’s a little bit of a letdown because you had to train those extra few days for really nothing, you know,” Traxler said. “It’s also a little bit nice because you can just relax and support your team and watch them. It’s both.”

A week after climbing the podium upon capturing a Class 3A individual title in Champaign, Traxler was unable to unleash his aggressiveness during Saturday’s team dual state quarterfinal in Bloomington.

Traxler, a St. Charles resident and the Kane County Chronicle Wrestler of the Year, won’t have to idle for long. He begins training for freestyle club season in two weeks, aiming to repeat a cycle that helped spawn so much prep success in 2014-15.

Traxler is a product of Campton Hills-based SCN Youth Wrestling, but also has worked with Naperville’s Overtime School of Wrestling since middle school.

In 2014, he competed at 195 for most spring and summer tournaments, hardly a stretch considering his Marmion history. Traxler is a three-year starter at 182 for the Cadets, growing into that weight class as he did his 6-foot-2 frame.

As a freshman, he filled the lineup spot out of necessity despite hovering around 165 pounds for most of the season. The experience allowed Traxler to gain seasoning as well as comfort with an assertive style bent on tight technique and attacking opponents’ legs from various positions.

Last spring, when he defeated longtime training partner Tyler Johnson, a Lockport senior who took fourth at 195 in Champaign last month, he sensed something clicking. And beamed.

“I beat him in a tournament that I never really expected to beat him, and that really boosted my confidence,” Traxler said. “That showed me I don’t have anything holding me back in a tough match, so why not just attack and make sure I do what I need to do.”

Fourth in Class 3A as a sophomore, Traxler derived further motivation from a Cadets mat room brimming with ambitious teammates he had known since his youth, largely via SCN.

To be sure, the road bridging Traxler’s 35-9 finish as a sophomore and a 43-2 junior season featured plenty of Riley DeMoss. Primed for his own breakthrough after missing his sophomore season with a torn hip labrum, DeMoss frequently sparred with his pal, Traxler, en route to a title at 170.

“We’ve been wrestling together since we were in third or fourth grade,” DeMoss said. “We just love getting each other better.”

If there’s been one constant for Traxler in that nearly decade-long span, it’s this:

“He’s even-keeled the whole way through,” Cadets co-coach Ryan Cumbee said.

It’s apparent very little bothers Traxler, whose cellphone voicemail greeting sounds like it was recorded before he even knew what a takedown was.

He knew such national online outlets as Flowrestling and InterMat Wrestle ranked him among the top 10 nationally for much of the season, but worked to block out any hype.

Traxler said he “didn’t really realize” his unbeaten streak against Illinois opponents existed until the eve of the 3A Batavia Regional.

“After that, that gave me another big confidence boost for my state series,” he said. “I just had to finish my season strong to know that I could say that, that I hadn’t lost to anyone from Illinois.”

His opponent in the title match, Rockton Hononegah senior Tyler DeMoss – no relation to Riley – fell one win short of being able to stake the same claim.

Traxler’s 7-4 decision victory marked DeMoss’ lone loss of the season. Traxler, meanwhile, only fell to highly regarded opponents from California and Ohio en route to a fourth-place finish in the Walsh Jesuit (Ohio) Ironman tournament in mid-December.

His victories included a 7-6 decision against eventual 2A state champ Xavier Montalvo of Montini, as well as a 4-3 win against Marist’s Alex Benoit, who edged Traxler for third place last season.

The results hinged, once more, on Traxler’s attacking style.

“If I get to the leg,” he said, “I know I can finish from there.”