photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State senior Drew Streeter battles against Lawrence's Blaine Schwada in the 132-pound bout of a City Showdown dual at Free State on January 22, 2025.

Caleb Streeter often hits the road on weekends, leaving Hays to travel to wherever the Free State wrestling team is playing in a tournament.

Caleb watches his youngest brother, Drew, wrestle for their dad, Randy. Being the eldest Streeter brother and four years older than Drew, Caleb didn’t get to wrestle with Drew like he did Eric, the middle brother. Instead, Caleb tries to attend as many duals and tournaments as he can, even as a student over 200 miles away from Lawrence at Fort Hays State University.

And Eric, who wrestles at Labette Community College in Parsons, traveled to watch Drew next to Caleb. He often has his duals and tournaments with his college team when the Firebirds compete, but he supports Drew in person whenever possible.

One such time came in December when Drew, a senior, became the third Streeter brother to reach 100 career wins in high school.

“They were there for me, just like I was there for them,” Drew said. “They both support me fully and are always there for me throughout my wrestling career.”

It’s important for the Streeter boys to be there for each others’ accomplishments, especially when wrestling for their dad at the high school they all went to. The sport became a foundation in their lives. With them all being close in age, they each grew as wrestlers and watched each other’s success.

All three brothers competed at Free State. Caleb was a senior during their father’s first year as the head coach, which was also Eric’s sophomore season. Drew, an eighth grader at that time, didn’t get to compete on the same high school team as Caleb, but Eric had the privilege of being with both.

Randy Streeter, a longtime wrestling coach and founder of the Sunflower Kids Wrestling Club, would bring his sons to practices and tournaments when he was an assistant coach at Lawrence High School.

At first, Drew didn’t want to wrestle. His brothers and father knew that would change.

“We told him he didn’t have to wrestle — he just had to go to practices,” Randy said. “We kind of tricked him.”

Wrestling became enshrined in the Streeter family early on. It surrounded their childhoods year-round, with the brothers starting the sport as 5-year-olds. A room in the Streeter house became the dedicated wrestling room, with a wrestling mat splayed across the floor. Each brother took their turn taking licks and dishing them out. Drew, being the youngest, had the challenging task of fighting against a pair of older brothers.

“Our whole life, it was pretty much always a battle to see who was the best and pretty much talk a little crap, talk a little smack,” Caleb said. “When we got older, we got to give each other confidence and help each other grow more and more.”

The sport strengthened their relationships. Growing up on the same club team, the Streeter brothers would spend their Sundays in tournaments, competing alongside each other. It gave them all something to relate to and look forward to doing together.

Randy always pushed the boys. As their longtime coach, the boys credit him for their success. His influence isn’t just shown through his sons but also in the success of Free State’s program in the few years that he has been in charge. Eric says his dad’s ability to push his players has led to the team’s recent success.

Now, what they’ve accomplished as brothers is not often seen in the sport. All three brothers achieved the milestone of 100 wins in different ways. Caleb earned his 100th in late January of his senior year in a dual against Blue Valley West. It was the final dual of the season for the Firebirds. He and Eric played during a shortened season due to COVID-19, in which they competed in 20 matches instead of the usual 50.

Eric hit the milestone during the state tournament in his senior year. The win came in the semifinal match to make the state championship bout for the 144-pound weight class. Eric finished as the state champion after an earlier injury almost took his final season away.

“I was more celebrating making the finals than getting the 100th win,” Eric said.

photo by: Conner Becker/Journal-World

Free State senior Eric Streeter hugs his father, wrestling coach Randy Streeter after winning his fifth match in a row for a first-place crown Saturday, February 25, 2023, at the 6A state wrestling tournament.

With multiple daily practices, Eric doesn’t get to visit home as much as he’d like. He keeps in touch with his brothers on the phone every day and goes to tournaments whenever possible, and so he was there for Drew’s 100th win.

Drew didn’t have the instant success that his brothers had early in their careers, but he has made his mark all the same. Caleb said that watching Drew’s development has been special to watch, especially considering how similar the two brothers are.

“I’ve always looked at Drew as my mini-me,” Caleb said. “He has the same mannerisms as me. He wrestles pretty similarly to me. Eric has always been kind of his own person. Eric has his own style of wrestling. Drew and I have the same.”

While each brother is different and has had a unique wrestling journey, they’ve all done it together. Eric said it was remarkable to watch it all come full circle after all the years of work they put into the sport. They got to accomplish something unique at Free State and across the state.

“It means a lot to me — I haven’t met anyone who has two brothers who also hit 100 wins,” Drew said. “There was a lot of fighting growing up, but on the mat, we’re always supporting one another, no matter what. My brothers are always there to talk to me when I have a good match or a bad match to tell me what I did right or what I did wrong.”

Drew still has more to do before his high school career ends. As a senior, he has one last chance to win a state title and reach the podium again. However his Free State career ends, he’ll have his father beside the mat and his brothers in the crowd.