Zach Muller learned a hard lesson last year.
As a freshman on the Downers Grove South varsity wrestling team, Muller was only mildly interested in the sport, content with his 19-20 record. When he missed qualifying for the sectional meet by one place, something snapped.
He didn’t change the way he wrestled. He changed the way he looked at everything.
“It’s my attitude that’s different than last year,” Muller said. “I just had a bad attitude about everything. My style hasn’t changed a lot, but my attitude toward conditioning, practice, weigh training, everything, has improved. I feel like I want to be better and thrive. I don’t want to be the kid who almost did something. I don’t want to be that second-place guy. I feel I can be the best, and that’s the attitude that got me through a lot.”
The attitude adjustment appears to have worked. Muller is 16-2 through Monday and the third-ranked wrestler in the state at 220 pounds, according to illinoismatmen.com. His only losses this season have come at the hands of Hinsdale South’s Joshua King, the second-ranked 220-pounder, and last weekend against the top-ranked wrestler in Ohio.
“He’s a mat rat,” Downers South coach Sean Lovelace said. “We track our offseason activity in terms of points for those who work out, go to tournaments, go to camps. Zach’s number is nearly double everybody else. He just loves to wrestle. And he loves to win. And when you put those two things together, good things are going to happen.”
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Muller qualified for the prestigious Asics Cadet and Junior Nationals last summer in Fargo, N.D., where he went 2-2 in Greco-Roman against the best competition in the nation.
“The success always helps,” Muller said. “Last year was hard, being a freshman on the varsity. I wasn’t winning and I had some slumps. But this year I walked into practice with open arms. Everyone seemed to have a different attitude about me and I had a different attitude about them. I needed that. There will be hard times and good times. This sport can really beat you down.”
But he’s willing to make a run at it and be the best. While most of his competition this year has been competing at 220, he will likely move up to heavyweight for the state playoffs. The competition will be just as fierce, but with a new attitude, Muller thinks the sky is the limit.
“I don’t think I’ve found my ceiling yet,” he said. “I feel like I have room to grow. I’m almost with the elite guys. Almost. I feel like I’m one of the best in the state at my weight. There is no finish line. It’s all about just working to get better.”