Devin was hooked right then and there, and now as a sophomore wrestling in the 170-pound weight division for the Mohawks, his passion for the sport is clear as day whenever he steps onto the mat. He’ll put a 34-1 record on the line this weekend as Madison competes in the Southwestern Buckeye League tournament Friday and Saturday at Monroe.
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“He had two older brothers that wrestled, and it’s just — insatiable, that’s the best way to describe him,” Stan said. “He’ll compete in 20-40 matches over the summer, travel all over. Any time there is a camp he finds out about, he’s wanting and willing to go. It’s an insatiable appetite for the sport.”
Devin has been competing since he was a tiny little tot, but said he started putting serious time into improving in middle school, he said.
That’s also when he started to grow. Devin was 100 pounds in sixth grade, but hit a growth spurt and began building up muscle in seventh and eighth grade. Last year, he won the SWBL tournament at 160 pounds and moved up another division this season after seeing more gains in the weight room during football season.
Despite being in one of the heavier weight classes, Devin still wrestles more like a light-weight.
“I scramble a lot,” said Devin, who has 27 pins this season. “If I find myself in a scramble, I know I can come out on top. I like to wrestle a little funkier than everyone else. If you’re big and strong, you usually try to muscle kids, but I roll around a lot and catch people in scrambles because that’s where I’m comfortable. Wrestling at 170, I know I have to be strong too, so I lift two or three times a week on top of training so I can stay on point with my technique.”
While football has helped make him a stronger wrestler, Devin calls himself a “wrestler first.” It seems to run in his blood, as many of the men on his dad’s side of the family wrestled.
All his time around the wrestling room has paid off over the years. Stan described Devin as versatile, but said his biggest attribute is his focus and ability to stay calm no matter the situation.
“He stays so calm,” Stan said. “Through the years of experience, the big venues, big battles, he has learned to control his emotions and control the match. He’s just crazy calm. That calmness transformed between his freshman and sophomore year, and his drive too. Anytime there is a snow day he wants to work out in the basement, or if I have to go to the school for something he wants to get a cardio circuit in or he wants to go to Prodigy for extra practice. He’s always been driven, but he’s pushed even harder this year.”
This weekend, he will be driven by the reminder of the one blip on his record. Devin said he still can’t get over the fact he could have been undefeated at this point had it not been for a bad day earlier this month during a quad meet at Waynesville.
He believes he could have won that match, and the loss “lit a fire” under him to prove he could bounce back.
The league title appears to be Devin’s to lose, Stan said. Last year, Franklin’s Gage Johnson won it and went on to qualify for state. Johnson will be back to defend his championship, but Devin beat him 3-1 in a dual match a couple of weeks ago, so he has a good shot of winning the weight class.
“My confidence level is up and I stay positive no matter who I’m going up against,” Devin said. “I know there are some guys I’ve wrestled that are solid, but I’m feeling good lately so I feel I have a pretty good chance.”
Beyond the league tournament, Devin looks to qualify for the Division III state event and try to win a title by next year.
“You always want to get atop the podium, but I have to be reasonable as a sophomore,” Devin said. “I lost in the consolation semis to a guy that placed at state last year and I regretted all the shots I didn’t take, so it was one of those things I’ve thought about and I know I can get there this year if I just work hard and stay focused.”
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