The hustle award is given to the wrestler who earns the most amount of points based on a calculation of an individuals highschool GPA and wrestling record. Coach Tim Duff said, “This award was designed to recognize the individual who performs on the mat and in the classroom.” Sophomore Keaton Schroeder earned this award with a HUSTLE score of 18.544. He said, “It has always been an expectation to give my full effort to my schoolwork and my athletics.” Schroeder also won the highest GPA for his sophomore class on the wrestling team. He emphasized how important it was to be a good student because it was a reflection of himself. Duff said, “This is Keaton’s second time winning this award and shows how he wants to be the best at everything he does.”

This is voted on by each individual of the wrestling team. This position is to represent who did the best job leading and inspiring the others. Duff said, “These two were not only our leaders in the practice room and on the mat but examples of who we want the wrestlers to be outside of wrestling.” This was awarded to seniors Braxton Hass and Donovan Hedrington. This is the second year in a row that Hass was awarded this. He said, “It comes down to always being a leader in and out of the room, showing leadership characteristics as well as always staying positive.” This was Hedrington’s first time being a recipient. He said, “I’m honored to be a Captain. It’s great to see that my teammates felt like I was a leader.” Each of these two wrestlers earned this position after being participants all four years of high school and making state appearances.

The Hardest Worker Award was earned by senior Braxton Hass. This is another team-voted award.  “This award is to be given to the wrestler who puts in the most work to be the best wrestler they can be,” said Coach Tim Duff. Hass has been wrestling since age three, making that 15 years of work. He put in numerous hours of work for the sport. Duff said, “Braxton finished his career with 171 wins, which puts him as our 4th winningest wrestler in Atlantic history.” His hard work is shown throughout the record book. It takes a special wrestler to earn the hardest work award because of the numerous out-of-season hours it takes to be successful, but Duff said, “Braxton was a very motivated person.  Braxton had high goals and understood that in order to reach those goals, he had to put in the work.  Braxton would condition hard, he would drill hard, and he would wrestle live hard.” Duff said this is what set him apart. To earn this award, Hass said, “I stayed after, always pushed the pace, and gave it 110% all the time. This led me to getting 7th, and I couldn’t be more proud of myself.”

The David Khen “Never Quit” Award was created to honor David, who lost his battle against ALS in 2017. His infamous quote was to “Never Quit,” whether this be in wrestling or in your battle against illness. The winner of this award was senior Dart Hansen. Ironically, Dart Hansen had the never quit attitude. Duff said, “This winner was a wrestler who never got the spotlight, the attention, or the accolades, but he kept showing up, never gave up, and never quit.” Hansen wrestled many different weights and was utilized to bumping the weight classes around. In duals, Hansen was vital to allow Atlantic to create better match-ups, which led them to go undefeated in the Hawkeye ten duals, making them conference champions. Hansen said, “To get this award, it just took a lot of work. I did what I was told. Work hard, show up, cut weight, gain weight, wrestle up, wrestle down, just whatever it took to win.”

There is one award specifically aimed at honoring the work done by the junior varsity wrestlers. Duff said, “This award is given to the junior varsity wrestler who demonstrates great effort and desire during practice and matches.” The recipient of this award was sophomore Owen Miller. He had the second-most winning record on the junior varsity team for the 2026 season. Duff said, “We fully expect to see Owen continue in that journey of improvement and keep battling next year.” Miller said, “Lots of hard work and dedication got me to where I am.”

The Rex Mehroff award was created to honor former Coach Rex Mehroff, who passed away seven years ago. He was an assistant coach and a proud fan of the Atlantic wrestling team. This year, two individuals were awarded. Duff said, “This recipient has the great fight on the mat and the positive attitude off the mat. The exact characteristic that Mehroff would love.” The first recipient was sophomore Keaton Schroeder. He said, “I am very honored to be given this award. I go to club practices in the off-season, and knowing that they see the time and effort I put in is rewarding.” The second recipient was Jayden Harter. Duff said, “This wrestler put in the work that Mehroff would have respected and is the epitome of hard work pays off.” Harter said, “It is nice to be recognized for the extra work that we put in outside of the season.” This award is given to carry on Mehroff’s legacy because he believed wrestling is a process, and to reach the goals, you have to put in the work.

Dayton Van Horn was awarded this year’s Outstanding Wrestler at the State Tournament. Duff said, “This award speaks to how we want to wrestle as a program. We want to wrestle our very best at the state tournament, to wrestle the best when it matters most. This award is chosen by the coaches to recognize the individual who goes above and beyond his teammates at the state tournament.” Van Horn entered the tournament as the 20th seed. He upset three wrestlers working his way through the bracket to reach the medal matches. Van Horn said, ” As a first time varisty wrestler, I was pretty proud to make it to state and then to the podium.” He earned 12 points that go towards Atlantic’s team score, with a 4-2 record. Van Horn said, “It took a lot of hard work to get there, a lot of time going to Ace, and a lot of dedication. Just a lot of work in the off-season.”

The last award of the night is the Most Valuable Wrestler Award. “This award is selected by the coaches to be given to the wrestler who we believe was the most valuable wrestler. This year, we have decided to honor two wrestlers with this award,” said Duff. The two recipients of this award are seniors Braxton Hass and Donovan Hedrington. This year, Hedrington went undefeated in his Hawkeye Ten dual matches and won the conference at the 190-pound weight class. To earn this award, he said, “I wrestled every match like it was my last until it was my last match.” Hedrington knew that this year his last match would come. Hass also placed first in the conference at the Hawkeye Ten meet and placed seventh at the state tournament. Hass claims that without his teammates, he would not have been as successful as he was this season. He said, “In my eyes, the most valuable wrestler is everyone, everyone scored us points and showed up when we needed them. I am proud of everyone, but I’m very thankful I got this reward.”