By Bill Bray
Little Giant senior, Dean Hetrick, has raised and shown animals for competition at both the county and state fair levels. He knows what it takes to be a champion and uses this same philosophy in his own athletic endeavors.
From the time Hetrick was big enough to walk, he has spent countless hours on the wrestling mat. His uncle, Chad Hetrick, has been his coach for the majority of his 14-year wrestling career. The elder Hetrick saw his nephew grow from a thin little four-year-old in 2008 to a solid 190 pounds in 2022.
In Dean’s freshman year, wrestling at just 132 pounds, he was moved up to varsity but admittedly did not wrestle well at tournaments like Maumee Bay. A large growth spurt occurred between his freshman and sophomore years. As a sophomore, Hetrick was tipping the scale at 170 pounds. “I guess you could say I was a late bloomer,” Hetrick said. Entering his junior wrestling campaign, he was wrestling at 182 pounds and advanced to the district tournament for the first time in his career. “I had hoped to stay at 182 lbs. for this season, but the weight classes got shifted up, so my choices were to wrestle at either 175 or 190,” Hetrick explained. “There was no way I was going to 175 lbs. because I came in after football at around 208 lbs. Plus if I stayed at 190 lbs., I would maintain my muscle mass from the weightlifting I did during football.”
“Wrestling is a love, hate relationship to be honest,“ Hetrick said. “A lot of times it is more hate than love,” he said with a chuckle. “When you are winning and doing good, or even when you are losing but learning from it, that’s when you love it.”
Hetrick is congratulated after winning the TRAC tournament at 190 pounds.
Hetrick learned much from the last two years, as his best finish at the TRAC matches was a pair of fourth places during his sophomore and junior seasons. This year was a different story; Hetrick won a TRAC title to catapult him into the post season as an odds-on favorite to fare well at sectionals. The result did just that, as Hetrick won a sectional title this last weekend with a 6-2 decision over Joseph Roesch from Avon. Ironically enough, Hetrick had to forfeit his 170-pound match against Roesch two years ago at the sectional match.
Dean Hetrick also, apparently, makes a fashion statement with his choice of hair style. The summer between his freshman and sophomore years, it was mentioned by the senior that he couldn’t really find time for a haircut. “My aunt decided to cut my hair after it had gotten long. She chose to cut it into a mullet one night during the county fair. I needed it cut before I went to show my animals. Ever since then I have kept it, getting it trimmed up every now and then. It’s been a long process. Now I see everyone else starting to get mullets and I just sit back and think that I was the one to start it, around here at least.” In watching a youth practice at the wrestling facility at Ross High School, it certainly was evident that the “mullet” cut is back in style as several youth wrestlers are emulating the same style as one of their heroes.
When Hetrick is not tied to a sport, or even when he is, he raises and shows livestock at the county fair. “Right now, I have two heifers and a steer,” Hetrick said proudly. “One heifer will be sold at the beef expo at state fair,” he said. “I will take my steer and other heifer to the fair to show them. When we are done showing, we’ll bring one of the heifers back to keep her as a cow. I’m anxious to see how I will do with my steer.”
Like wrestling, Dean did not develop into a starting football player until his senior season. “Football was even harder than wrestling to break into the lineup,” Hetrick added. “My
freshman through junior years I played some junior varsity but was never big enough to play much varsity,” Hetrick explained. The week before the Tiffin game, the team’s first game, Hetrick won the chance to bump up to a starter. “They were looking for someone a little quicker and chose me. I started the remainder of the season.“
Chad Long had an easy decision to make when deciding whether to start Hetrick. “It was crazy to watch, but he hit a growth spurt and started putting on some muscle and got rid of some of his baby fat and he matured amazingly fast,” Long remembered. “We thought going into this football season that Dean could win a starting spot, and he did very easily.”
With an honorable mention football season now behind him, and hopefully two more weeks of wrestling ahead of him, the senior has two more goals to accomplish. Finish high enough at the district matches to qualify for the state meet, and then earn a spot on the podium in Columbus. “That would just be icing on the cake for me,” Hetrick said.
After a spring and summer of prepping his animals for one more turn on the show circuit, the graduating senior will hopefully be on his way to the University of Northwest Ohio to be trained in diesel and auto mechanics. Here’s hoping the very best for Dean Hetrick. Bring home the GOLD.