WHITEHALL — Shelby didn’t have a bad night Wednesday at the Whitehall Quad, defeating Fremont 54-27 in its second match of the evening. The Tigers did take a 64-12 loss to the Vikings, but that’s life with a young roster and against one of the top teams in the state in Division 3.
The frustrations for coach Dustin Dean came with his wrestlers not taking enough matches the distance. The Tigers were pinned seven times against Whitehall and even against Fremont, they were pinned four times. Dean is trying to impress upon his wrestlers the virtues of losing matches by points rather than by pin, in order to help the team’s score. In one stretch of the Whitehall match, the Vikings had eight out of nine matches won by pin or technical fall, helping them bury Shelby in a 53-0 deficit.
“A lot of it is just us being young and having a lot of young guys in the lineup, not understanding that this is an individual sport, but with a team concept,” Dean said. “Their match counts for the team...That’s what they struggle with. They don’t necessarily realize that it’s six minutes. They’re starting to realize that you can win by points, and you don’t just have to pin or get pinned.”
Two wrestlers Dean has rarely had to be concerned with are Brody Fessenden and Jaylin Henderson, his returning state qualifiers, who enjoyed great days again Wednesday. Fessenden pinned both his opponents, and Henderson scored a pin against Whitehall before picking up a forfeit victory against Fremont. Their consecutive wins accounted for all the team’s points against Whitehall.
Dean said the two veteran stars are better wrestlers now than they were when they competed at Ford Field last season.
“They’re starting to think their way through matches more,” Dean said. “They’re more calculated. They are more stingy with their points. They understand that the big matches are important, and they go after them a little bit differently. All around, just more mature, understanding scenarios better, understanding the score, the time, the position, is where they’re improving.”
Most of Shelby’s victory margin against Fremont was due to four forfeits, but the Tigers also had some bright spots on the mat. In addition to Fessenden, Alden Beyer, Nash Hagstrom, Javier Cervantes and Julian Prado all also scored pin victories against Fremont.
Cesar Cadena lost his match to Whitehall and won by forfeit against Fremont. Dean said the 120-pounder is a wrestler to watch as the season hits its home stretch.
“He’s just running into some hammers and has been in some hammer tournaments, but that’s all going to pay off, we think, at the end,” Dean said.
The coach also pointed to Colin Fenton and Alonzo Garcia as two who could make postseason runs, as well as his promising group of freshmen; you never know who might make an early leap into contention, or when, among athletes that young.
As a team, Dean said he hopes his wrestlers are continuing to learn about wrestling with intensity from their veteran leaders. The sooner that lesson is learned and applied, the more competitive the Tigers can be.
“I’m looking for us to compete and not worry about the name of their wrestler, but worry about the name on the back of their own singlet,” Dean said. “It doesn’t matter who we step across (from), we have to be able to wrestle our match, regardless of how good Whitehall is, or how good one of their kids is.”
