By Chris Parker & Amanda Perkins
About 30 months ago, wrestling was the furthest thing from Hollister senior Bryson Whitman’s mind.
He was lying in a hospital bed after a serious ATV accident not sure what recovery would look like.
“I was laying in that hospital bed not sure if I was going to make it,” Whitman said. “I was definitely struggling, but God has always been there for me, laid hands on me and taken care of me. One verse that has always been there for me is Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,”. He has always been there for me and given me tools to be the best I can, and I have worked as hard as I can.”
That hard work and long road back concluded on Thursday night with his hand being raised as a state champion at 165 pounds in Class 2 with a 14-5 major decision over Savannah’s Deagen Pasley. He is Hollister’s first wrestling state champion.
Whitman forced the action early, getting a takedown just 17 seconds into the match building a 9-3 lead after one period.
“Getting the first takedown takes off so many nerves and so much pressure,” Whitman said. “Then you can kind of relax and it puts pressure on him. I was super excited going into that match. I knew it was the last match I would ever wrestle. It was six minutes as hard as I could go and give everything I had.”
The championship was a culmination of a lot of hard work fueled by some key matches over the past five days.
The first key match was in the district championship match last Saturday at Buffalo where Whitman finished runner-up.
“It (the loss) gave me fuel,” Whitman said. “I didn’t feel like I wrestled my match in the district championship. Honestly, I feel like I had to lose that one to have the experience and ability to win today. I was fired up coming into this tournament after last weekend.”
Then in the state quarterfinal round yesterday, Whitman faced defending state champion Austyn Hunter from Kirksville who had not lost in two years. Whitman scored six points in the first 45 seconds of the match to build a 6-1 lead on the way to a 6-5 win.
That victory was big for Whitman, but he focused on keeping the underdog mentality for the rest of the tournament.
“It is kind of hard not to get a big head after having a match like that, but it is one match at a time, and anybody can upset anybody,” Whitman said. “I had to go into the next match with the same mindset that I am still the underdog, and I still have more to prove.”
