Lehighton's Connor Frey is no stranger to success.

As a junior, Frey enjoyed a stellar postseason, winning a District 11 Class AA championship at 182 pounds; posting a runner-up finish at the Southeast Regional; and capping his year with a seventh place finish at the PIAA Championships.But Friday night at the Schuylkill League Wrestling Tournament, Frey further cemented himself as one of the all-time greats for a program that has had its share of talented wrestlers over the years.A moment four years in the making took just over 60 seconds to achieve, as Frey surpassed Derek Brownmiller with his school-record 124th career win by pinning Pottsville's Cyle Hinson in the quarterfinals on the opening night of the league tournament."I knew in his freshman year that he was the real deal," Lehighton head coach Danny Williams said after Frey's historic victory. "As a freshman, I could put him anywhere in the lineup and he was able to compete, and do so against some really tough guys."To have someone like that be the cornerstone of your lineup as a freshman, I knew he was special."So did Floyd Brown, who was Lehighton's head wrestling coach during Brownmiller's sophomore, junior and senior seasons and an assistant middle school coach when Frey was in eighth grade.Brown returned to the mat this season as an assistant under Williams, and has seen many of the same qualities in Frey that he did in Brownmiller."Derek and Connor are very similar in that they are both self-motivated. You never had to tell Derek to work harder or pick up the pace at practice; I see the same with Connor," Brown said. "They also put in the time in the off-season to make themselves better and encouraged their teammates to do the same."They are both great team leaders. I see coach Williams rely on Connor's leadership just as we would rely on Derek's in his junior and senior years."Those traits have helped lead the Indians to great team successes, too, as evidenced by their fourth place result in the team standings over the weekend and current third place position in the District 11 Class AA standings.Frey and fellow seniors Tegan Durishin (105-36), Zach Kemmerer (96-39) and Tyler Cann (65-37) have come up through the ranks together and it didn't take long for Williams to see the potential of what has been one of the most successful classes in school history."You know when you have a group of kids like that, that are all working at it together like that and moving up together, you know that you're going to have, at some point in time, a year that is going to be a special year," Williams said. "And this is that culminating year."It's a grueling sport, it's a tough sport. So to see that group from a young age stick it out, that's what makes it so special."And for a sport that is so unforgiving, that success has helped bring in more talent, such as seniors Wyatt Clements (34-15) and Xander Smith (34-36); junior Dylan Schock (25-26); and sophomores Nate Kemmerer (44-18) and Cody Scherer (32-27)."I think this group has shown an interest and gotten others to show an interest in the sport," Williams said. "They've shown kids that you can have success at Lehighton in this sport and they've really helped to set the stage for us."And for Frey, that's more important than any individual record will ever be."My goal was to represent my town and get it back on the map," Frey said. "A lot of people don't know what Lehighton wrestling is all about. But hopefully we get some respect and people give us credit for what we're doing here."*****JOIN THE CLUB … In last Tuesday's dual against Palmerton, Northern Lehigh's Matt Schmall earned his 100th career victory by pinning Jacob Kupillas in just 24 seconds. Schmall is the third wrestler in the Times News area to reach the 100-win milestone this season, joining Lehighton's Tegan Durishin and Panther Valley's Ali Capobianco.*****SPEAKING OF WINS …While Schmall, Durishin and Capobianco have accomplished the feat already, several others are knocking on the door. Lehighton's Zach Kemmerer is currently at 96 wins, while Northwestern's Quentin Bernhard is at 98 and teammate Jarret White is currently at 95. It goes without saying that this has already been a special season for Times News area wrestlers and it doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon.*****RIGHT IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD … Panther Valley will host its annual Coal Cracker Wrestling Tournament this weekend. The event, which will feature 15 teams, including Jim Thorpe, will take place both Friday and Saturday at the Panther Valley Middle School and Panther Valley High School. Action will begin at 5 p.m. Friday with preliminaries and conclude for the day at 7:30 p.m. with second round consolation matches. Semifinals will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at the middle school. Finals will take place at 3 p.m. - on two mats - and also be held at the middle school. The top three in each weight class will receive medals. There will also be a most outstanding wrestler chosen by the tournament's officials.*****STATUS QUO … Saucon Valley (16-0) remained atop the District 11 Class AA standings. Pen Argyl (14-4) holds the No. 2 spot, while Lehighton (13-3) slots in at No. 3 and Northern Lehigh (14-3) No. 4. Northwestern (14-4) is sixth and Panther Valley (10-3) seventh. Palmerton (9-13) comes in at No. 12 and holds the final qualifying spot for the District 11 Team Tournament. Jim Thorpe (1-8) is 17th, while Tamaqua (0-10) is 18th. In Class AAA, Pleasant Valley (6-8) is 18th. Pottsville (8-0) is the No. 1 AAA team.*****OFF THE MAT UPDATE … The Times News area retained its strong presence in Off the Mat's Jan. 19 Class AA state rankings. Northern Lehigh led the way, as Colten Rex (120 pounds, 7th), Matt Schmall (138, 4th), Ryan Farber (160, 4th), CJ Young (170, 11th) and Cameron Kates (285, 12th) were all honored. Northwestern wasn't far behind, with Matt Peters (113, 15th), Quentin Bernhard (126, 12th), Jarret White (132, 16th), and Caleb Clymer (152, 13th) all earning recognition. For Lehighton, Connor Frey (195, 1st), Wyatt Clements (220, 10th) and Nate Kemmerer (106, 15th) made the list, while Panther Valley's Darren Goida (126, 13th) and Ali Capobianco (145, 14th) were selected. Tamaqua's Tanner McHugh (126, 14th), Jim Thorpe's Kevan Gentile (106, 2nd) and Palmerton's Jared Mooney (182, 10th) also were ranked. In Off the Mat's Class AA dual meet rankings, Northern Lehigh (10th), Lehighton (20th) and Northwestern (24th) all made the Top-25.