Last season I was chasing my second state title as a sophomore in high school. Your sophomore season is arguably the hardest year to win the state tournament for a couple of reasons. First, you become complacent because you reached the pinnacle of a high school wrestler’s dreams. Second, you become a know-it-all. You think you know everything and you don’t take your elders’ wise advice, until you get a wakeup call.

My wakeup call occurred at the national tournament in the quarter-finals when I was defeated by Daton Fix from Oklahoma. He went on to win the national tournament that year and I went on to destroy the rest of my opponents. I ended up wrestling all the way back to second place. This loss was a huge reality check for me. It made me realize that I need to train harder and open up my ears. I am actually very thankful that I took this loss when I did instead of maybe in the state finals. You also don’t have as much drive to win that second state title.
My good friend Josh had all of these issues. I had these issues for a while, too. Josh went undefeated throughout the entire season until the state finals where he was pinned by Robert who he had beaten the previous year in the state finals. I talked to his dad a month later and he had talked about Josh’s complacency and how he knew everything, but he said, “Josh now has more motivation than ever to win his second state title next season.” Josh recently went to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for a training camp. He is working very hard to accomplish his goals.

Rewind two months ago. The state tournament was held February 27 to March 1 this year, but before the state tournament you need to go through regionals and sectionals. On February 8, 2014, I competed in the WIAA Division 2 regionals in Saint Croix Falls. I was competing at 113 pounds, but I weighed in just under 116 pounds because we got a three pound allowance. I received a first round bye. In the semi-finals I wrestled Samuel Woods from Somerset. I was much bigger than him and I dominated the match from start to finish. I pinned him in fifty eight seconds. In the finals, I wrestled Cole Britton. I pinned him in a minute and fifty one seconds. With this win I secured myself a spot in the sectional tournament the next weekend in Amery.

The next weekend, I competed in the WIAA Division 2 sectional tournament at Amery. In the quarterfinals, I won by injury default over Cole Skelton from Baldwin-Woodville. In the semi-finals, I won by fall over Ryan Ponick from Stanley-Boy/Owen-Withee/Thorp. I pinned him in a minute and fifty nine seconds. In the finals, I had to wrestle Luke Schroeder from Rice Lake. I pinned him in a minute and nineteen seconds. With this win, I earned myself a spot in the WIAA Division 2 state tournament at 113 pounds.

I competed at the state tournament in Madison February 27- March 1, 2014. On February 27, I had to weigh in at 116 pounds or under. In February, we got a three pound allowance and after Christmas we got a two pound allowance. I didn’t have to wrestle because I had a first round bye, but I got to watch my first opponent wrestle his first match. His name was Jason Clapper. He is from Lodi, Wisconsin. I defeated him by major decision. The score was 12-1 and I moved onto the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, I had Dillan Micke from Wrightstown. I won by tech fall 16-0 and I advanced to the state finals for the second time in my career. I had to wrestle Taylor from ( Praire Du Chien/Wauzeka-St.) for the second time in my career. Last year I pinned him in the state finals to win my first WIAA state title, but I knew he was going to be a tough opponent because he took me down last year and I rarely get taken down. After he took me down in the first period, a switch went off in my head and I reversed him and rode him out for the remainder of the first period. In the second period I chose bottom and reversed him again to take a 4-2 lead. I started working for a turn right away. I locked in a very tight arm bar and half and turned him to his back with about twenty seconds left in the second period. I was exerting all of my energy to try and pin him. I pinned him with ten seconds left in the second period to claim my first state title as a freshman. I was not going to be denied my second state title and I wasn’t going to give him a takedown this time. I was going to dominate him from start to finish. I was going to do this by getting to my tie ups, taking great shots, and fighting with everything I had for six straight minutes.

Going into my finals match, I felt very confident because I had wrestled a great tournament thus far. I felt like I was wrestling to the best of my ability. I had dominated everyone thus far and I destroyed every one of them. I hadn’t surrendered a single earned point throughout the tournament. In the first period, I scored right away on a poor shot by Taylor to take a two point lead. I then cut him loose. This means I let my opponent get an escape in hopes of scoring more points. I then got to my under hook, which is my best tie up and I went to my go-to shot, which is my high crotch single. I was finishing through the back door and he put an illegal hold on my head. With this penalty point I took a 3-1 lead. With a little time left in the first period I took Taylor down again with a single leg. I took a 5-1 lead going into the second period. I elected to go down and I earned an escape midway through the second period. When we got to our feet, Taylor got in on a single leg, but I defended it and stretched him out. As soon as I knew he was extended and out of position, I got a go behind. I took an 8-1 lead with that takedown, but when I was going behind him, I pulled on his head a little too hard and gave up a penalty point. I now was leading 8-2 with little time left in the second period. I rode him for the remainder of the period. In the third period, Taylor elected both up and I took him down again with a single leg. With this takedown, I had the match wrapped up. I now was up 10-2 and I was riding him very tough. At the end of the third period, he earned an escape and time expired. I won 10-3 and won my second state title, I was super pumped. After the match, I hugged my coaches and celebrated with my family. I had a great season and I am looking forward to chasing my third state title as a junior!