Daily Pilot High School Male Athlete of the Week: Fountain Valley reloads with Wilner

At the end of the 2016-17 school year, all three of Fountain Valley High’s Masters Meet qualifiers walked out the door, leaving some to wonder if graduation would force the Barons to take a step back.

Karson Ayres, Merrick O’Donnell, and George Sykes had all finished their high school careers. Ayres, the first four-time league champion in school history, a CIF Southern Section Southern Division champion, and a state qualifier in the 145, seemed particularly difficult to replace.

It turns out that Ayres might have been grooming his own heir all along. Freshman Max Wilner has stepped in following years in the local feeder programs, including Fountain Valley’s own Genesis Wrestling, and he has solidified the Barons’ 145 slot.

“I’ve known Karson since fourth grade,” Wilner said. “[We] were on the same kids’ team at Team Thunder (run out of Santa Ana Calvary Chapel) when he was in like seventh grade, eighth grade, all the way to now that he’s graduated and a freshman in college.

“I’ve known him for a while, and I would come and train with him and the high school team in the offseason. [We] would scrap.”

Wilner has an extensive list of things that he would like to accomplish in his four years as a Baron.

His ambition is fueled by the feats of his role models. His older brother, Morris, secured a partial scholarship to San Francisco State University after finishing his own high school career as a four-time Orange Coast League champion and a sixth-place finisher at the 2016 state meet in the 182s for Calvary Chapel.

“I want to definitely be a four-time league champ,” Wilner said of his hope to match Ayres’ four Sunset League individual titles. “I have a really good shot at winning CIF this year, so hopefully, four-time CIF champ. Top three at Masters [this season]. These next four years, I want to be the first state champ here.”

Ayres, who is now wrestling at Queens University of Charlotte, hopes that Wilner’s competitive fire will continue to burn.

“I’ve known Max for a while, and he’s always been tough,” Ayres said. “If he keeps up his training, he’s got potential to do big stuff.”

Wilner has been committed to his training, often seeking out the biggest challenges. He has competed in major youth wrestling tournaments such as SCWAY (State of California Wrestling Alliance for the Youth) and the Super 32s. In the 2016 Tulsa Nationals, he placed second in a close 4-3 decision to fellow Californian Joseph Martin.

“I feel like that is the best way for me to get better, to know my flaws, and to know what I can improve on against [the top] guys in the country,” Wilner said of going to the major tournaments. “Going to those tournaments [puts] my name on the map. On FloWrestling, I was ranked 37^th pound-for-pound in the country in middle school.”

Coming into this weekend, Wilner had sustained a single loss. He was second in the Westminster Cossarek Classic. He followed up by winning the 145 of the Edison Beach Bash. Wilner recorded four pins in the tournament, being named the lower-weight MVP in the process.

On Saturday, Wilner advanced to the final of the Servite Mann Classic at Marina High, losing the championship bout to Riverside King’s Adrian Salgado. Wilner’s overall record now stands at 11-2.

“He just proves that wrestling at a younger age helps coming in,” Barons assistant coach Dennis Piramo said. “He’s been exposed to a lot of major tournaments at a young age, which has definitely helped him prepare for high school wrestling.

“He has been in those types of matches to where he is not flustered. He has had a lot of mat time at high levels. He’s very internally driven. He wants to be in the finals at every tournament. He wants to win.”

Piramo also noted that the feeder programs are essential to a team’s ability to reload rather than rebuild.

Fountain Valley had three freshmen in the finals at the Edison Beach Bash. Joining Wilner were Luis Ramirez (132) and Thomas Madrid (182).

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Max Wilner

Born: Oct. 8, 2002

Hometown: Costa Mesa

Height: 5 feet 7

Weight: 145 pounds

Sport: Wrestling

Year: Freshman

Coach: Brad Woodbury

Favorite food: Sushi

Favorite movie: “A Haunted House”

Favorite athletic moment: Wilner already has multiple state titles to his name. His favorite athletic moment was winning his third SCWAY state title in eighth grade in the 132s.

Week in review: The Barons freshman won all of his matches by pin to win the 145 title of the Edison Beach Bash on Saturday. Wilner was named the lower-weight MVP of the tournament.

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner