Preparation vital to Westphal-Edwards’ success

Knowledge is power. In sports, it helps to know the tendencies of an opponent.

Washington High School wrestler Tristin Westphal-Edwards, who won the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 2A championship at 182 pounds Saturday, Feb. 16, in Des Moines, likes to know what his opponent might do in a match.

'I'm big on watching film,” Westphal-Edwards said. 'I'm a big film freak. I like to watch film. I really like to scout my opponent.”

Westphal-Edwards won his opening match Thursday at state with a pin in 29 seconds.

In Westphal-Edwards' second of four matches at state and his first on that Friday, he wrestled Sheldon-South O'Brien's Luke Jeness, who had a 44-3 record.

'This was the match that I was most nervous for, to be honest,” Westphal-Edwards said. 'I had wrestled this kid before and he was one of those who if you got out of position he was going to throw you to your back. If you lost your position at all, he was going to take advantage of that.”

Preparation is a big part of Westphal-Edwards‘s repertoire that he goes to.

'You have to have a good workout ethic, and Tristin definitely does,” Washington wrestling coach Brent Van Weelden said. 'He put the time in to get pretty dang good at the basics. If you look at all of the kids that won state titles, they were probably able to take their opponent down and they were probably able to get away. If you can do those two things really well, you are going to win a lot of matches.”

In the quarterfinal victory over Jeness, Westphal-Edwards scored a takedown within 24 seconds of the match starting.

'He was super strong and he was a different style wrestler,” Westphal-Edwards said. 'It was one of those things where I had to be cautious in every position that I went into. I had to just do what I do, which is score points. That's what I was able to do.”

Jeness eventually escaped, but Westphal-Edwards scored another takedown with under 10 seconds left in the first round to lead 4-1 starting the second.

'Tristan is very good on his feet,” Van Weelden said. 'I would say that is where he is at its best. But in the last year, I think he became very good on top at riding guys. I don't know that there is anybody that can hold him down. There were times when he was younger, he may question his chances when he was underneath somebody. But not this year. He was very confident in all three areas - top, bottom and on his feet.”

Westphal-Edwards started the second round on the bottom but got a reversal. Jeness escaped with 22 seconds left in the round for a 6-2 score after two rounds.

'I was able to keep getting to his legs, Westphal-Edwards said. 'I had wrestled him before but it had been in eighth grade so I'm sure we both matured a lot since then the last couple years in high school. He had been a weight class above me, so he has always been pretty big. I know what to look for and what kind of wrestler he was. I knew the different kind of style that he wrestled with. That helped me out.”

Knowledge is power.

'All year I had practiced defending people that went for my legs and how to get them off,” Westphal-Edwards said. 'It was one of the things I had worked on all year and I had taught myself how to do better. In that match, he was taking shots and taken shots, so I had to counter back with my shot. I also had to work on fending off his shot.

The third round started in the netral position and ended that way for a 6-2 victory and on to the next round later that day.

'Not only does Tristin have a good workout ethic, he has a good mindset and a good attitude every day,” Van Weelden said. 'Of course people have some days that aren't as good as others, but his attitude was always very good. He spent a lot of time working on improving areas that he wasn't as good at. I think that is a big attribute that got him so far this year.”

Preparation leads to knowledge and knowledge is power.

'When I'm wrestling somebody for a second or third time, I feel like I have a big advantage,” Westphal-Edwards said.

Read Thursday's Evening Journal for Westphal-Edwards's comments about his toughest match at state, an overtime victory in the semifinal.