Few programs are blessed with a family line like the Spencer clan in Baraboo - where all six Spencer brothers were state qualifiers and Troy and Traenor Spencer were state champions. Yet family ties and success often go hand-in-hand.
Another example of the positive family values the sport promotes took place at last Saturday's Purgolder Invitational. Ripon won the team title at the eight-school meet and host Madison East was runner-up. The chase for the team championship, though, took a back seat to the individual championship matches.
Madison Memorial senior Tony Ayala became a two-time Purgolder Invitational champion when he defeated Brodhead sophomore Bruce Slack 7-0 for the 125-pound title.
Ayala and teammate Jimmy Mack, who won the 160-pound championship, led Memorial to a fifth-place finish in the team competition.
But Ayala also had his attention focused on the 112- and 135-pound matches.
That was where his younger cousins, Sergio and Diego Mireles, were trying to win their respective titles for East.
"That was definitely a cool experience having us all there together," said Ayala, who won the Wisconsin Heights Invitational title earlier this season and is 11-1 overall.
"Our families controlled about a quarter of the stands. It was great having that many people cheering for us."
Their families had a lot to cheer for as both Sergio and Diego Mireles joined Ayala as champions.
Sergio Mireles, a freshman, beat previously undefeated junior Nathan Kleinschmidt of Marshall 9-1 to improve his record to 11-0 this season.
Diego Mireles, a sophomore, beat Orfordville Parkview sophomore Andrew Lewis 8-3 in the finals to up his record to 8-2.
"It was great they could cheer for me, too," Ayala said of his cousins. "It was tough on my family when my teammates wrestled Sergio and Diego.
"But I had a blast. It was great we could all do so well."
Ayala said the trio talked earlier in the day about their hopes to win all of their individual matches so they could qualify for the finals.
But the potential for the family to take home three individual titles didn't really begin to sink in until the second round of competition.
"When I realized we all had a good chance to be in the finals, I was stoked," Ayala said with a chuckle. "Then it fell our way."
There will be more at stake, though, when Ayala and his cousins meet the next time.
Memorial will compete in a Big Eight Conference dual at East on Friday where the city title also will be on the line.
The defending city champion Spartans are 1-0 in the city with a victory over West, while East is 2-0 with victories over La Follette and West.
"That's a big one for us and for them too," Ayala said of Friday's dual. "I have to pull for my teammates but I still want to see my cousins do well."
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