Dunn caps high school career with eighth-place finish at
nationals, set to wrestle at Cal Poly
He had done it. He had reached the pinnacle of his sport, earning All-American honors in Greco-Roman wrestling with his performance at the National Championships.
But in a moment of confusion, Ryan Dunn didn’t even realize what he had accomplished. In fact, he thought he had just missed out on the chance to become an All-American in the 215-pound weight class for the second straight year.
With a 5-1 start to the championships, held July 22-29 in Fargo, N.D., Dunn had already secured the top-eight finish necessary to achieve the honor. But after running around in a futile attempt to learn his standing, he took the mat and lost in a close decision, a 2-1 defeat he thought would leave him just short again.
“I lost by one point and I thought that was the match I had to win to place, so I was pissed,” recalled Dunn, who fell one victory shy of becoming an All-American as a junior. “I knew I was done and I didn’t think I’d placed. I took my shoes off and I went and sat up in the stands because after your second loss you’re done, no matter what.”
But he need not have worried. Despite that defeat, a narrow loss to the eventual national champion, no less, Dunn had completed his high school career in storybook fashion – by finishing eighth in the country.
‘Baler Glory Only the Beginning
Most athletes would have been thrilled to call it a career after the senior year Ryan Dunn had.
First, there was San Benito High’s Central Coast Section football championship over Oak Grove, a last-minute victory that was even more rewarding because the team had fallen in the title game the two previous years. “Playing football with the same guys from fifth grade and then winning it with the same guys, there’s nothing like it,” said Dunn, a defensive tackle and offensive lineman. “(It was) the best possible note it could’ve ended on.”
And then, there was Dunn’s awesome undefeated run through the ‘Balers’ wrestling season, a streak in which he rampaged to the Central Coast Section championship as a 215-pounder and back to the CIF State Championships for the second consecutive year.
But Dunn was just getting started.
A Whirlwind Summer of Riches
Barely a month removed from his abrupt exit from the prep state tournament, a showing in which Dunn couldn’t recover from an early loss to meet his expectation of placing, he took the mat with another state title on the line. And this time, Dunn made his competition pay.
Whereas the shock of the first loss of his season at the high school championships saw him fall two matches later to a CCS opponent he had comfortably defeated before, Dunn regained his focus and confidence to roll through the field en route to the junior state freestyle title April 21-23.
After taking third in that tournament as a junior, Dunn went 8-0 as a senior to lock up his third straight trip to the National Championships in July.
But there were a few more stops before the return to Fargo and a few more accolades to pick up along the way.
Once Dunn got through a bump in the road – or make that head – as a concussion forced an early exit from the junior state Greco-Roman championships, he was rolling.
Combining with many of the best CCS wrestlers, Dunn helped the Santa Clara Valley Wrestling Association to an outstanding showing in the state association championships in Bakersfield. Dunn’s 8-1 record led the team to a first-place finish in the Greco-Roman competition and second in freestyle June 2-4.
“That’s the funnest trip of the year because you know everyone in the section (from) wrestling during the year, but now you’re teammates,” related Dunn, whose one loss came when competing as a heavyweight.
Then, after graduating with his San Benito classmates, Dunn joined Team California for a trip to Oklahoma City, Okla. for the National Dual-Meet Championships June 27-July 3. In a tournament he described as “grueling because you have to wrestle so many matches,” Dunn posted a 10-3 record. Team California finished third in Greco-Roman and sixth in freestyle.
Another blow to the head – this time in the form of a wakeboarding accident on Anderson Lake just days before the national training camp opened – threatened to derail Dunn’s All-American dreams. But after 10 staples sewed up the gash, a bald Dunn took the mat in Fargo with a white mummy wrap protecting his wound.
Budding Heavyweight Packs on the Pounds
Back in Hollister after the National Championships with a rare break in the action before he reports to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in September, Dunn has found a new favorite activity – eating.
“My mom cooks a lot at home and then it’s just pretty much anywhere I can get food,” said Dunn, 6-foot-2, who will bump up to the heavyweight division in college. “After I came home, I’ve just been eating and lifting, eating and lifting, all the time. Lots of protein, but … everything. I mean, I don’t have to make weight ever again, so I’m just packing on the pounds. Good pounds though. I want good weight, not McDonald’s weight.”
With a current weight in the 230-235-pound range, Dunn hopes to head south having added on at least another five pounds.
After his eventful summer of competition, Dunn spoke of enjoying the waning moments with his friends, many of whom have already headed off to their new schools. “When I told my buddies that I’m an All-American, they’re like, ‘Ooh, All-American?'” Dunn shared. “One of my friends thought I got to meet the President.”
Dunn & Co. did find time for another wakeboarding adventure – one that had more of a happy ending.
But now, Dunn is turning his attention to his next challenge, competing as a collegiate athlete in the Pacific 10 Conference.
“(This) year will be pretty much to adapt to college wrestling and to get bigger for heavies,” said Dunn, who expects to be redshirted as a freshman. “I’ll get beat up the first couple of years. It’s a whole different level, a whole different style. It’ll be a lot different.
“It’s going to be good, too, because I’ve never really had a wrestling partner to challenge me that much, like I didn’t have that many people to work out with in high school.”
Dunn, the competitor, is patiently biding his time at home, itching to tackle the next chapter in his wrestling career.
“I’m just looking forward to seeing what the competition is like, seeing how I’ll do after getting beat up every time in practice, watching myself get better,” he said. “That’s what my goal is, to go in to one of the toughest schools in California and just work my way up from there.”
