Kyle Hatch can’t remember how many matches he’s won in his Warsaw wrestling career, and struggles to come up with the exact number of wins he has in this, his junior season. But without hesitation he knows exactly how many losses he’s had. He remembers all 14, and the lessons learned from each. It’s the combination of lessons learned and simply hating to lose that has driven Hatch to a 36-0 record this season, 114 wins in his career, a school record 31 wins by fall this season, three Northern Lakes Conference championships, three sectional titles, a regional title and a trip to the regional wrestling tournament Saturday in Rochester. “(The losses) are more noticeable,” Hatch said. The losses I’ve had showed me what I was doing wrong or what can make me better. “Yes and no, the losses stick with me. Yes when I go up against the same person, I think about it and want to get revenge. And no, because once the match is over you can’t just keep it in your head and think about it constantly.” Hatch said he’s been wrestling since the second grade, but began to take it seriously in as an eighth grader. “We just messed around with it until about middle school, and then starting in the eighth grade I really got into it,” he said. So what drove him to get serious about the sport? “Well, I had never had a year where I went undefeated. But in the eighth grade I had a loss and I was like ‘I don’t want to lose like this again.’ So I put it into high gear and worked and worked and worked.” Hatch has experienced competing against elite-level wrestlers, so now he has an idea what his opponents think when preparing for him. “From my experience, I think they really go after me, try to beat me. I was looking to wrestle against people that were really good, and now I’m the one people are looking for instead. So it’s different. “I don’t think a lot about it, but I certainly want to wrestle well.” Warsaw head coach Justin Smith has had a front-row seat to watch Hatch’s career progress. “He’s improved in every facet of wrestling. He’s constantly working on new moves, new techniques,” Smith said. “He’s much more dangerous on his feet and he has a whole repertoire of moves in top and bottom position he can access depending on who he’s wrestling. “So he’s become a lot more dynamic; he’s stronger, he’s quicker. A lot of that comes with age, but a lot comes because he works hard. He puts in the time and the results speak for themselves. With a sterling win-loss record, Hatch is naturally a team leader, a responsibility he handles well, according to Smith. “Beng a team captain not withstanding, which he is, the younger kids are going to look at him; they’re going to want to emulate him because they want to emulate the success,” Smith said. “So it’s important for him to continue to push himself and set a good example, and he does that. some of the young guys we have up here now are working out in their offseason to see what he does.” The obvious long-term goal for Hatch this season is to win the state championship under the bright lights in Indianapolis. Both coach and athlete know getting to that point requires laser-like focus on the task at hand. “It’s one step at a time,” Smith said. “Let’s make sure we wrestle well at regionals, qualify and get to semistate. Then get through those first two matches before we start talking about wrapping up an unbeaten season or a state championship. “He’s very good at staying focused. There’s all kinds of examples out there of people looking ahead and then something happens and they don’t get to where they want to be. He’s focused on having a good practice (today), then getting to regionals and making sure he wins his matches at regionals. “Then once the pairings come out for semistate, then we’ll start talking about semistate. But right now it’s all about regionals; that’s the focus and there hasn’t been any state talk. We expect him to be there; it’s not unrealistic to expect him, with his record and his resume to be there, but we’re not preparing for anybody at state yet, we’re not tailoring anything for state yet. We’re in regional week and that’s where the focus is. And Kyle is very good with being in that mindset.” The Rochester regional wrestling tournament begins at 9 a.m. Saturday.
