WRESTLING TAKES HOLD OF HUTCHINSON'S JENSEN

Dylan Jensen’s old home was the hardwood, not the wrestling mat. “When I was in middle school, I broke my arm, so I couldn’t try out for the basketball team,” Jensen said. “So I tried out for the wrestling team once my arm healed. I really liked it.” Now a 220-pound junior in Hutchinson’s wrestling lineup, Jensen may have never discovered the sport if not for a seventh-grade injury. He played basketball throughout his younger days. Wrestling was completely new, and was intended to be a stopgap to improve his fitness. “I actually ended up liking it more than I liked basketball, so ever since then I just kept going out for the wrestling team,” Jensen said. Salthawk wrestling reaps the rewards of Jensen’s decision. He is ranked fourth in his Class 6A weight division entering the season. That number shows the respect Jensen has in the classification, though one honor still eludes him – a spot at state. Hutchinson was tossed into the Dodge City regional for Jensen’s sophomore season, which in turn would produce seven of the Top 15 and four of the Top 6 teams at state. “It’s tough, but he’s a competitor,” said Hutchinson coach Mike Garcia. “He’s a pretty smart kid. He knows it’s a tough regional. In another regional, he’s qualifying. You go out to the one we go to, and it’s tough.” Every match was a tango of two warships. Jensen was unable to navigate out of the bracket. “Even if you walk in and the kid hasn’t won very many matches, you still have to be ready, because with those big kids, you never know,” Jensen said. “They can still throw you or get you in a tough spot.” The suggestion that Jensen could have qualified for state if he were at another regional is a nonstarter for him. He wants to perform better. The suggestion that Jensen could consider a different weight class does not catch his interest, either. Jensen does not want the easy way out. He wants the best competition he can find. So the focus now becomes how Jensen ensures he can swim through the rough waters of regionals. “I think a lot of it is his confidence,” Garcia said. “Last year, I think, for him, was kind of a feel out. He had some good wins. He’s just got to have confidence to know he can go out there week-to-week and battle with the best.” Keep in mind that many of Jensen’s opponents have about five years more experience on the former hoopster. To even make this much progress in such a relatively short-time frame is an accomplish of its own. Jensen wants to become a master technician. He is powerful – the lineman was a second-team Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League Division 1 football selection on both sides of the ball this fall – but strength cannot win him every match. “I think the majority of the time I just need to be quicker on my stuff. Quicker on my shots and quicker on all my moves,” Jensen said. “Try to pick the pace up and keep going at it as much as I can. Try not to slow down and give them room to catch their breath or anything.” That was one of the draws that lured Jensen to wrestling. Every second counts over six minutes. “In basketball sometimes, you can kind of slow down and stand there a little bit,” Jensen said. “I felt like in wrestling, you’re always moving no matter what, and you can’t really stop or you’ll get stuck.”

WRESTLING TAKES HOLD OF HUTCHINSON'S JENSEN

Photo Credit: Travis Morisse