Berge finds new perspective in senior season

During the Rochester Area Sports Banquet on January 30, Brady Berge sat at a table as the Male Athlete of the Year award was about to be announced. Earlier in the night, the Kasson-Mantorville wrestling team had been well represented, but hadn’t taken home any hardware as head coach Jamie Heidt was nominated for Coach of the Year and the KoMets were nominated for team of the year. 
Yet, Berge was still up for this award and thanks to some quick math, Berge believed that there was a chance.
“I had wondered when Jamie and our team didn’t win those awards,” Berge admitted. “I was thinking maybe I was going to win this one, but I was still surprised when it happened.”
Berge’s name would be uttered moments later and for a while, the normally unflappable Berge found himself in a little bit of shock as he walked towardsthe podium. As the second straight K-M athlete to win the award (K-M softball pitcher Maddie Damon won the Female Athlete of the Year Award in 2015), the honor was something that Berge held in high regard.
“It’s a pretty high honor,” Berge stated. “Sam Stoll won it a couple years ago and my brother, Broc, was a finalist when he was a senior. I’m just really humbled and blessed to receive this award.”
It was a fitting ending to what would wind up being an eventful year for Berge beginning with becoming the all-time wins leader in program history last February. However, the key moment of Berge’s 2016 came on February 27 when Berge was in the Class AA 160-pound semi-finals. In that match against Luverne’s Solomon Nielsen, Berge would roll up on his leg early in the second period. Although he would try to continue, the pain would be too much and Berge had to forfeit the match and