Whitnall High School senior Kameron Bourgeois has always been small.

He weighed only 72 pounds his freshman year and now three years later, Bourgeois is hovering just around the 100-pound mark.

There is nothing small, however, about his progression and his success on the wrestling mat. He’s towered over many of his opponents during his high school career.

Bourgeois, who has wrestled mostly at 112 pounds this year but will move down to 103 before the postseason, has a 35-1 record and is ninth on the school's all-time wins list with 125. He’s also ranked fifth in the state at 103 pounds, according to Crossface Magazine's online state rankings.

This comes after Bourgeois won a Woodland Conference title at 103 and qualified for the WIAA state tournament in 2009-10.

“He really has a lot of confidence going out on the mat,” Whitnall co-head coach Craig Austin said. “He’s real determined.”

Wrestling wasn’t Bourgeois’ first love (basketball was), but he has Austin to thank for nudging him to the wrestling room and away from the basketball court.

“Coach Austin talked to me in sixth grade and said, ‘Why don’t you come out for wrestling next year?’” Bourgeois said. “And I wasn’t getting any bigger, so I just decided to wrestle.”

While he had a couple years to prepare before high school, Bourgeois indicated he was far from a polished wrestler.

But he’s dedicated himself to the sport year-round by joining the Milwaukee Ringers, a select team, to work on his skills in the offseason.

The extra practice has shown in his results. Bourgeois went from 16 wins his freshman year to 30 his sophomore year. He was 44-11 last year and is on pace to pass that mark.

“It’s great to see that when he first started he was the guy that was always looking up to people and always trying to ask questions,” Austin said. “Now, kids are doing it to him and he’s real good about trying to tell this kid what to do or staying after [practice] if kids want help. He’s been a good captain, and I know even when he graduates from here he’s going to be back helping out.”

But Bourgeois said he has unfinished business left before calling it a career. After losing his first two matches at state last year and being eliminated early in the tournament, he said the experience was a bit overwhelming.

“The first year I went it was real crazy to me,” Bourgeois said. “It was so big in there and it was kind of like ‘wow.’ This year, I kind of know what to expect.”

And when the state tournament rolls around at the end of February, he would like to create a little more noise in his bracket and said placing in the top four is a realistic goal.

Bourgeois said a couple Division III colleges have talked with him about wrestling next year. He said he would have to bulk up if that were to happen, as the lightest weight class in college is 125 pounds.

For Austin, he can envision Bourgeois wrestling next year and beyond – which is no small feat.

“I could definitely see him go on to the collegiate level,” Austin said. “Even when he started I knew he was very athletic and very talented that he could pick it up and do real well.”