In eighth grade, Mitchel Lexvold took stock of the records and honors accumulated by his wrestling-mad brothers and asked a legitimate question.

"I wanted to know if there was a record for the number of wins for brothers," he said. "I didn't know if they kept records like that or not."

The wrestling bible, www.theguillotine.com, does indeed keep such records. And, thanks to Mitchel, now a senior, the Lexvold brothers of Kenyon-Wanamingo are the most successful high school wrestling family in state history.

He won his second consecutive individual state championship Saturday, defeating Mick Roemer of Wabasha-Kellogg 10-1 in the 120-pound division of the Class 1A tournament. That gave him 46 victories this season, 211 for his career and increased the family total --which includes brothers Nathan (186 victories), Drew (181) and Chad (132) -- to 710. Included among those victories are five individual state championships.

No other family has compiled more than 700 victories.

"It's kind of cool to think about," Lexvold said. "I remember asking about the record and then not thinking about it again until this year, when someone brought it up."

The path was blazed when father Wayne, an assistant coach at Kenyon-Wanamingo, installed a wrestling mat in the family basement. Mitchel credits the punishment he received down there for his success.

"They always said I would turn out to be the best one because I was always getting the crap beat out of me," he said with a laugh. "When I was young, I think I came up crying probably every day."

The beat-downs have softened into positive memories for Mitchel, who says he would not have changed a thing growing up.

"We used to fight all the time, but now we all have so much respect for each other because we know the hard work and dedication we've put in," he said. "I know it will probably be broken some day, but it's kind of sweet to say we have a record together."