Wrestler Keegan Gibbons climbs from last to sectional champ

Tom Keegan
onwardtrojans@gmail.com

Keegan Gibbons threw more dirt on the relevance of a day he remembers well, the day he watched others from every weight division pose for the ultimate cliche wrestling photo, holding the giant bracket from the highest step.
That memory is 3 years old. Gibbons replaced it Saturday with a more pleasing one. The placers in the 215-pound division of the LaPorte sectional were summoned upstairs for the awards and this time Gibbons was holding the bracket board and smiling for the cameras.
“I never thought I’d be here, to be honest,” Gibbons said after winning a 4-3 decision against Valparaiso’s Ryan Cheek in the title match.
As with many, wrestling was an acquired taste for Gibbons.
“At DAC my eighth grade year, I got last. That was my first year. To be honest, the first year I kind of liked nothing about it, but then seeing the outcome of hard work when you put it in, that stuck,” Gibbons said. “I thought about not coming back, but then I was doing tournaments the whole summer going into freshman year and I felt myself getting better. Seeing the progress made me stay.”
Gibbons repeatedly has heard that it takes 10 years to become a good wrestler, but he didn’t let the fact that he started later than many discourage him from staying with it.
“I’ve seen plenty of guys get good in three, four years,” he said.
Chesterton head wrestling coach Andrew Trevino encourages young athletes to get into the sport as early as possible, but also welcomes wrestlers who come to the sport late.
“I met him when he was in eighth grade,” Trevino said of Gibbons. “He’s been a kid who’s there pretty consistently at summer stuff. He’s the little engine that could. He keeps trying, didn’t start off that well, and he’s always looking to get better. He’s a success story.”
The time Gibbons spent in Chesterton’s wrestling room in the week leading up to the sectionals amounted to a suitable microcosm of his career and even for this season so far. Both started from a humble place.
The first time Gibbons faced Cheek this season, at a dual meet at Valparaiso, Cheek won a 4-0 decision. Then at the DAC championships at Chesterton, Cheek won by technical fall (winning by 15 or more points, which ends the match). Cheek dominated Gibbons by a 21-4 score when the match was stopped 36 seconds into the third period.
That’s a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time, but after a week of working on a specific weakness with two coaches and two teammates, Gibbons made it happen with a suspenseful match that he led 1-0 going into the final period. Cheek tied it, then Gibbons went up 4-1, then Cheek cut his deficit to 4-3 late and scrapped hard until the buzzer sounded.
Based on how Cheek wrestled in their first two meetings, Gibbons, Trevino and assistant coach Brian Bowen had no trouble pinpointing what needed work.
“Leg defense,” said Gibbons, who improved his record to 18-13 with his three wins. “He was double leg-riding me the whole time. Coach Trevino and Coach Bolin were walking me through leg defense the whole week and I was working with (165-pounder, who won the 190 spot in a wrestle off) Grayson Strickland and (heavyweight) Tyler Nevious. Grayson is more technical with the legs, so I wanted to get that, and the Valpo guy is heavier than me, so I wanted to work with Tyler to get that.”
The plan worked, and Gibbons joins 10 teammates in advancing to the Crown Point regional. Gibbons, Max Quiroz (126 pounds) and Drew Shaffer (165 pounds) helped their regional seeds by winning sectional championships.

Eleven Trojans advanced to Saturday’s regional at Crown Point.
Team scores: 1. New Prairie 249.5; 2. Chesterton 189.5; 3. LaPorte 163.5; 4. Valparaiso 140; 5. Knox 120; 6. Glenn 89; 7. Michigan City 57.5

Chesterton regional qualifiers
Sectional champions: Max Quiroz (126), Drew Shaffer (165), Keegan Gibbons (215).
Second place: Emeric Ritter (120); Caden Mahaffey (150); Charlie Shaffer (157); Lucas Anderson (175); Tyler Nevious (285).
Third place: Gavin Cisnewski (113), Greyson Strickland (190);
Fourth place: Damien Santiago (132).