More Top Picks Best Smart Projectors For Streaming
When Highland’s Aramis McNutt visited Florida during a vacation over the summer, he didn’t scour the internet for a beach or a restaurant.
McNutt looked for a wrestling room.
“I’ve been trying to get as much mat time as I can,” he said. “People always say you should dream big and you can get there. But dreaming big is only half of it, maybe even 25% of it. You have to step into the realm of making it happen.”
That has been McNutt’s singular focus since he tasted postseason success earlier this year. The senior 285-pounder is 7-0 with a first-place finish at Lake Central’s Harvest Classic on Dec. 2.
McNutt — who said people call him “AC,” a nickname he shares with his father and grandfather — soared up the state rankings last season while going 45-3 and placing fifth at 285 at the state meet. That left him hungry for more.
“When I was on that podium for that fifth-place spot, I knew that first place would be real sweet,” he said. “I just have to work for it.”
That drive has guided him to every weight room or wrestling mat he could find, even the Black Hive Wrestling Club in Jacksonville, Florida, where he ended up this summer.
He said he believes he can compete for a state championship this season.
“The closer I got to it, the more I knew I could do it,” he said. “The more I started putting in the effort, the more it was like, ‘Yeah, I can do this.'”
McNutt was Highland’s first state medalist since 2013, when Mark Maldonado placed fourth at 160. Maldonado is McNutt’s coach and said he has noticed rapid improvement since their initial drilling sessions near the end of McNutt’s sophomore season.
“He was really strong and had good technique,” Maldonado said. “There were some things I was catching him on, but he started learning real fast.”
Maldonado said McNutt also has a different demeanor this season. McNutt’s teammates have noticed it too.
“He seems more locked in and focused,” senior Joshua Hubbard said. “He’ll have his headphones on at the beginning of practices, and he won’t say anything to anybody. He’ll just be jumping rope and getting ready.”
Hubbard said they still see McNutt’s lighter side after practices or during school days, but it’s all business inside the wrestling room.
“As soon as it’s time to practice, it’s headgear on, and he’s locked in,” Hubbard said.
McNutt said he started wrestling in middle school while living in Ohio and moved to Indiana at the end of his freshman year. He wants to continue wrestling in college.
“I feel like I still have a lot to prove,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I’m an underdog, but I came in late in the game. A lot of these kids have been wrestling since they came out of the womb. My goal is to get my name out there and show I can compete.”
More Top Picks Best Fabric Shavers
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.