Wrestlers know all about making sacrifices.
So when Hillsboro junior Dylan Owens experienced a “growth spurt” last year, he was worried he wouldn’t be able to cut enough weight to wrestle at 120 pounds, the weight at which he qualified for the state tournament last year.
Earlier this season, Owens was slated to wrestle Pacific’s Noah Patton but needed to lose eight pounds in 24 hours to get to 120. Owens sweated out those pounds and beat Patton the next day.
But it came at a cost.
“I was completely dead and wrestled horribly until the last 10 seconds when I put him on his back,” Owens said Saturday after improving to 38-0 with the 120-pound championship at the 39th annual Bob Georger Wrestling Classic.
To stay at 120 pounds, Owens has to limit his diet even further. He’s cut out all dairy and bread, and lives on fresh fruit, vegetables and unseasoned grilled chicken and fish.
Owens held up the palm of his hand. He said his lean meat intake can’t be any larger than that.
“After the first few days my body became accustomed to it and I’m back to where I was before, energy-wise,” Owens said.
With the Class 3 District 1 tournament in Farmington coming Feb. 10-11, that’s bad news for the rest of the field at 120.
Owens was focused like a laser beam at the Georger meet and held no quarter for his four opponents, all of whom he pinned. If Owens keeps winning through the district meet, he knows the target on his singlet will grow with each match.
“That tells me that I’m that guy now that I looked up to when I was a freshman,” he said. “Guys say, ‘I want to beat him because he’s undefeated.’ Everyone wants to end my undefeated season. That pushes me to get better every day.”
Helping Owens in the pursuit of perfection is teammate Nick Short. The junior 113-pounder is 34-2 this year and the two wrestlers give the Hawks a potent one-two punch in the lower weights.
“We’ve been wrestling together for about seven years,” Owens said. “We push each other to succeed and accomplish our goals. We’re constantly going at it in the wrestling room. We always are saying, ‘Who’s going to pin their opponent first? Who’s the best?’”
Owens’ confidence surged Jan. 7 after winning the 126-pound championship at the Excelsior Springs Tournament. In the final, he faced a tough, seasoned opponent in Dalen Moore of Carthage, a state medalist in 2016. Owens said he felt pressure and excitement going into the match, which he won 3-2.
“During the tournament, (Moore) was wrestling after me so I couldn’t watch his matches. But he and his coaches got to watch me wrestle. I knew going in I was better from a neutral (position). In the first period we weren’t tying up too much. I knew I had to get a shot in. I set up a sweep to the right side and he blocked it off and I shot my signature shot, a low inside single-leg. I shot that to the opposite side and scored a takedown.
“Going into the third period, he was going to defer to me. I knew his strongest position was top. When I went down I knew I needed an escape. I hit my ‘quad pod’ to a standup and got an escape in about 15 seconds. He was taking his shots, down 3-1, but I stayed in the middle (of the mat). We got into a big scramble and I decided to give him an escape point.
“(Then) the bloodbath happened. I had a bloody nose, he had a busted eye. That’s when the match got the most aggressive because he knew he needed a takedown. It was a bloodbath the last 1:30 of that match.”
With wins like that, Owens can keep dreaming the ultimate dream – to be an undefeated state champion.
“I know I’ve got what it takes and I’m on the right path,” he said. “I have to keep improving every day and I will accomplish that goal.”