It was four years ago when Austin senior Kole Igou walked into the AHS wrestling room and started practicing with Brandon Cotter.

At first, the differences in the two were obvious, but the now the senior duo is a lot closer as they are both headed to their first Class AAA state wrestling meet at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul Friday.

Cotter, is a 100-win wrestler and he has wrestled since he was five years old and Igou didn’t begin wrestling until he was a freshman in high school.

Cotter remembers Igou as a wrestler with raw strength.

“He had a hard work ethic, which every wrestler needs,” Cotter said of Igou as a freshman. “At first he didn’t know too much technique, but he had the strength so you could tell he could be pretty good.”

Igou and Cotter have been wrestling partners this entire season and that has paid off for the Packers. They push each other every day in practice and it carries over to meets.

“[Cotter’s] probably one of the biggest reasons I am where I am today,” Igou said. “I was the new kid and nobody really took it easy on me. Mitch Tebay, Braden Eggum and Brandon were all huge influences on me being a better wrestler.”

Igou initially joined wrestling because his dad was a wrestler and he wanted to get better at football. He said practices have gotten intense with Cotter, but it’s nothing that has lasted long enough to make them mad at each other.

“You get into it quite a bit, but by the end of practice your laughing about it,” Igou said of their practice battles. “I feel if you’re that much harder on you’re partner then they’ll get that much better.”

As they prepare for the state meet, Cotter and Igou both have tough matches waiting for them. Igou, who is 27-8, will face off against Mark Hall of Apple Valley at 170. Hall is 38-0 and is ranked No. 1 nationally in multiple publications.

Cotter, who is 27-8, will open with Garrett Berman of Henry Sibley. Berman is 39-1 and ranked No. 3 in Class AAA.

While they both want to win as much as they can at state, Cotter and Igou were pretty happy to end Austin’s two year drought of sending a wrestler to state and they’re just glad to get a chance to wrestle in Excel.

“The pressure’s kind of off, but we still want to do well at state and make a name for ourselves,” Cotter said.

On Monday, Austin head coach Jer Osgood had Cotter and Igou meeting with a group of youth wrestlers from Austin. Ogsood is hoping the trip to state will not only be fun for his two seniors, he’s also hoping it inspires a younger generation of wrestlers.

“I’m very proud of the accomplishments of both of those two and the team in itself. I’m very excited for this opportunity for the program. I think this is a great place to start and it’ll help build towards next year,” Osgood said. “[Kole and Brandon] are both leaders both by example and they’re vocal leaders. They make each other better and they compliment each others’ abilities. They have high expectations.”

STATE WRESTLING SCHEDULE

All matches at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul

Friday

Class AAA first round, 9 a.m.; Class A first round, 11 a.m.; Class AA first round, 1 p.m.; Class AAA individual quarterfinals, 4:30 p.m.; Class A quarterfinals, 5:30 p.m.; Class AA quarterfinals, 6:30 p.m.; wrestlebacks, 7:30 p.mm.

Saturday

Consolation quarterfinals, 9:30 a.m.; championship semifinals, 10:45 a.m.; consolation semifinals, 12:45 p.m.; third and fifth place matches, 4:30 p.m.; finals, 7 p.m.