When Wences Baumgartner was five years old, his parents signed him up to play soccer simply as a way to have him run around and stay busy.

Well, it stuck, and a little over a decade later, the Beecher senior is now the IHSA record holder for career goals with 187.

He reached that milestone, which had been 177 goals since 2011, by scoring a career-high 64 goals this season, tied for the fifth-most in a single season in state history.

It has been about two months since the Daily Journal Boys Soccer Player of the Year scored his record-setting goal, and it’s taken a little time for the fact that he sits alone atop the all-time scoring list to sink in.

“It was great, and I feel really special that I could do that,” he said. “It wasn’t a thing that was in my mind at the beginning of the season, and then I finally got it, and it was great.”

Baumgartner burst onto the Beecher soccer scene as a talented freshman in 2022, joining a team that a season before went 22-7 and won regional and sectional titles. That was after winning 19 total games in the preceding three full seasons, excluding a shortened 2020 campaign.

With a talented group ahead of him, including then-sophomore Logan Wilkins, who now ranks 15th in IHSA history in goals (138) and fifth in assists (92), Baumgartner set out to help the team in any way he could.

It turned out that the best way to achieve that was to put the ball in the back of the net.

He scored 30 goals in his freshman season, erupted for 54 as a sophomore and scored 39 more as a junior to put him within striking distance of the record.

He still needed to surpass his previous career high to make history, but as a senior, he stepped up as the team’s standalone No. 1 scoring option for the first time.

“It was definitely different knowing that I had Logan and all the seniors throughout my high school career,” he said. “It was a little different stepping into that leadership role and being the loudest on the field, but with the group that we had, I think everyone had the type of connection that made it easier on me.”

The Bobcats went 18-6-1 and finished 10-0 in River Valley Conference play to wrap up their third straight conference title, all with unbeaten RVC records. The program has gone 104-29-3 over the past five seasons with two regional and a sectional title in that span.

Since head coach Dawn Compton took over a relatively young program in 2007, the Bobcats have won about two-thirds of their games. She said that Baumgartner’s historic feat is a great addition to that team’s success, especially in what was her final season as head coach.

“It was pretty cool to be there on the sidelines and be along for the ride with him,” she said. “We worked really hard to build a program that’s not just known for winning, but for being a quality program that someone can be proud of and proud to be a part of.

“Having players like Wences and Logan come through and help put our name on the map, and teams coming through and winning some regional titles and sectional titles, has helped solidify the Beecher soccer program.”

With his high school soccer career now over, Baumgartner said he is unsure of how the game will feature in his life going forward, with education being his main priority while making college plans.

He also has the rest of his senior year to look forward to, and as a multi-sport athlete, a couple more sports to make a final mark in.

He is currently in the early stages of his final basketball season, looking to follow up an All-RVC junior season as the most-experienced piece on a young team. Then he will head into track and field season, where last season he set a school record and won a sectional title with a high jump of 1.80 meters.

“I’m just looking to make the most of it,” he said. “I have to step up in the leadership role like I did in soccer and be the leader for basketball and track. We’re just trying to make the most of it and be as successful as we can.”

No matter what happens between now and the end of the school year, Baumgartner has certainly solidified his spot in both school and state history.