When Ryan Dunn takes the mat today at Bakersfield’s Rabobank Arena, he will assume his rightful place alongside California’s best wrestlers. He belongs.
San Benito’s star wrestler is making his second consecutive trip to the CIF State Championships and, as a senior, he knows this is his last chance to win a State title. After cementing his legacy in the illustrious Haybaler wrestling program by winning the Central Coast Section 215-pound title in San Jose last weekend, Dunn remains focused and intent on finishing his high school career with a flourish.
“Since last year, my whole goal was to go to State and have a good showing,” said Dunn, who finished a match away from placing in the top eight in Bakersfield as a junior. “It all came down to last weekend and this weekend. I just have to step it up.”
Exactly how one steps it up from wrestling to a spotless record to date seems murky at the surface, but Dunn said the key was not to look beyond the match at hand.
“I try to wrestle one at a time,” said Dunn, who puts his 37-0 record this season on the line when he faces Zac Sweeney of Sultana High (Southern Section) in his opening match. “If you start looking ahead, you kind of get nervous. It’s better to just look at one match at a time.”
Matt Olejnik, the San Benito head coach, said Dunn cannot afford to look beyond Sweeney.
“[Ryan] has a tough draw,” said Olejnik, noting that Sweeney was ranked third in California for much of the season before a mid-season injury and recent cautious defaults lowered his placement in the State tournament. “There’s no question. It’s a very tough first match for a CCS champion.”
Asked his strategy heading into the tournament, Dunn said, “Wrestle really offensively. Just take it to him. Score early. Just wrestle hard and wrestle aggressive.”
Dunn will certainly lean on his State experience from last year as he gets dialed in. As a junior, Dunn won his first two matches in the championship bracket, but fell in his third, and then was eliminated with a loss in his first consolation match. The ‘Baler spoke of how he will be much more at ease having already competed on the big stage.
“It’s always a shock the first time you go there,” related Dunn. “This year, I can come in and wrestle good. [The first year] gets all the jitters out.”
Olejnik agreed that Dunn’s experience will come in handy.
“You know what to expect,” said Olejnik. You know what it takes to get in there and place.”
A return trip to State almost didn’t happen for Dunn. While training with his San Benito teammates in late December, Dunn landed on his left shoulder and felt it pop. The resulting separated shoulder left Dunn wondering whether he would be able to return to action at all this season.
“When it first happened, I thought everything was going to be over,” recalled Dunn. “I didn’t know how the season would end up. It was just a hard thing. I didn’t know how long I was going to be out.”
But the determined Haybaler beat his doctor’s projection of 4-5 weeks of recovery time by a healthy margin, returning to competition within three weeks.
Now fully healthy, Dunn sets out in Bakersfield to add to his impressive haul of individual championships. In addition to claiming the CCS title at Overfelt High last Saturday, Dunn’s accomplishments this season include winning his weight class in the prestigious Mid-Cal Classic.
Should he defeat Sweeney in his opening match, Dunn will likely face Vacaville High’s Jack Clayton next.
“Both those guys are tough,” said Dunn, who has never faced either. “If I get through them, it’s going to look pretty good.”
Looming as a potential semifinal opponent is Ryan Flores, the Central Section champion of Buchanon High. After training alongside Flores last summer with the California Junior Duals and competing alongside him in Oklahoma, Dunn spoke of his eagerness to test himself against California’s top-ranked wrestler in the 215-pound weight class.
With the Championships set to begin, Dunn knows preserving his perfect season and accomplishing his ultimate goal remain bound together.
“It was always a goal of mine to finish the year out [undefeated] and to get the State title,” said Dunn.
Dunn’s coach, among many others, can’t wait to see what the senior has in store to wrap up his San Benito career.
“He’s ready to go,” said Olejnik. “I know he’s ready.”
