|
|
Photos by Dennis Oblander
|
|
Kelsey Hanson hopes that her future includes an education at the U.S. Naval Academy where she hopes to study nuclear propulsion.
|
|
Grosse Ile's Kelsey Hanson's goal for this winter is simple, really. It's a goal shared with many other elite wrestlers: Qualify for the individual state meet.
If what she's done so far is any indication, that goal might be within her reach.
Yes, "her" reach.
Hanson, a 103-pounder, is in her first season on Grosse Ile after moving in August from Golden, Colo. Heading into three days worth of meets this weekend, she was 9-4 with five pins.
She was first at Lincoln Park's team tournament and second at Highland Park's individual tournament, and all of her losses this season have been close.
To get to the Division 3 portion of the state meet, she's got to place in the top four in her weight class at a district, then place in the top four at a regional.
|
|
|
|
Kelsey Hanson, front, wrestles against Grosse Ile teammate Scott Dexheimer in practice. Hanson is ranked ninth nationally at 105 pounds by the United States Girls' Wrestling Association.
|
|
"Regionals are a great possibility," Grosse Ile Coach Rob Beaudrie said. "I see her getting out of districts. Regionals are going to be tough for her.
"That's her goal, to get to the state meet, and I hope she accomplishes it, not only for her but for the other girls who wrestle."
Competing on an elite level is nothing new for Hanson. While living in Colorado, Hanson qualified for the United States Girls' Wrestling Association national meet in March in Lake Orion, where she placed 11th out of 20 girls in the 105-pound weight class. As of Jan. 12, she was ranked ninth nationally by the USGWA at 105.
"She's come a long way from when I first met her," Beaudrie said. "She had a different technique. She knows the moves. At the beginning of the year, she was thinking more. Now she's using the technique and not thinking as much.
"We found out at the practices that she's the real deal."
Hanson recently won the team's Hustler of the Week award, based on practice and meet performances.
Despite arriving on Grosse Ile in August, she's a team co-captain.
"Between her and Chris (Toulouse), you can't ask for two better captains," Beaudrie said. "She is definitely a vocal leader. I don't look at her as a girl. She's a wrestler.
"The hardest thing for her is how guys are going to respond to her."
Hanson, who started wrestling three years ago, said she got some static from people, especially when she began competing in Colorado, but things have been quiet lately.
"I've had lectures and my parents have had lectures," Hanson said. "It's a sport. When you're out there, none of those things cross your mind."
Hanson wrestled for two years at Golden High School, west of Denver. She said she was "absolutely awful" in her sophomore season. Last year, she had a winning record on the junior varsity and got into some varsity matches. She bumped up to 112 and pinned another girl.
The move to Grosse Ile, which happened during the blackout, is yet another stop for Hanson. She was born in Michigan and lived in Grand Haven and Chelsea, then moved with her family to Golden when she was a ninth-grader because her father was working as a government subcontractor on the Rocky Flats Closure Project, which is a cleanup of a former nuclear weapons facility.
His role ended, so he landed a job in Luna Pier at Consumers Energy's J.R. Whiting Plant, which converts coal into electricity.
Even though she had to move again, Hanson kept on wrestling.
"It's really strange," she said. "Things started to click this summer."
And, the move was made easier by being immediately accepted by her new schoolmates.
"I was amazed," Hanson said. "Everybody knows everybody, and they know everything about you.
"People ask me about (wrestling). It's pretty neat. Some of them seem a little intimidated."
But, most don't.
Her brother, Alex, isn't intimidated. Their family owns a mat and the siblings used to wrestle each other at home in Golden, but it's still in storage after the move. Hanson admitted that it's not as easy to beat her 10th-grade brother, who is in his third year of wrestling and in the 145-pound weight class.
"He got a lot bigger over the summer," Hanson said. "It's a little bit more of a challenge."
She's proud of her kid brother. At a recent dual meet at Riverview, she wrestled before he did. During his match, she provided plenty of verbal support.
At meets, there have been a few adjustments for Hanson. She weighs in separately from the boys, and opposing schools have been providing separate changing facilities for her.
Hanson said she's enjoying her senior wrestling season too much for it to end yet. When it does, though, she's thinking about trying out for Grosse Ile's crew team this spring, which would take advantage of her tremendous upper-body strength.
It also would help keep her in shape if she attends the U.S. Naval Academy, where she wants to study nuclear propulsion.
If that doesn't work out, Hanson -- a straight-A student who is taking advanced-placement classes -- has applied to the University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin and Purdue University.
She really wants to go to the academy, though.
"I like the atmosphere and the structure, and I've always had a great deal of respect of people who serve in the armed forces," she said.
She said officials at the academy have said they might start a freestyle wrestling program. She might be able to practice with Navy's team, but wouldn't be able to compete. The lightest college wrestling weight class is 125.
But, Hanson wants to focus on what's going on now -- the wrestling season.
"I love to wrestle and I hate to think about the season being over," she said. "(Wrestling) is such a personal challenge. A loss can't get much more personal. When you win, it's an amazing feeling.
"There's no doubt about it -- you win or lose."
Hanson has been enjoying winning a lot more than losing this season. She's hoping to enjoy that winning feeling all the way to states.
TOP
JOBS
