Jeff Chaney
Sports Scene
Garrett Stehley does not regret giving up two sports that he enjoyed and had played since he was a little kid.
The Lowell senior gave up football and baseball after his sophomore year to concentrate on wrestling, the sport he loves the most.
That decision, although tough, paid dividends last year, as Stehley took second in the 189-pound weight class in Division 2.
He lost a heartbreaking 11-9 decision to St. Johns’ Payne Hayden in the final. Hayden now wrestles for the University of Michigan.
Stehley is a three-time all-state wrestler. He took fourth at 189 his freshman year, sixth at 171 as a sophomore, and finished runner-up last year.
“No regrets, because I know I’m pursuing the goals in the sport I love,” said Stehley, who has a 98-15 record in his three years on the varsity wrestling team. “I wasn’t where I wanted to be as a wrestler. I knew not everyone could be a great athlete at two or three sports, so I knew I had to drop one or two.”
The thing is, Stehley was pretty good in the other two sports.
In football, he started at center as a freshman and at linebacker as a sophomore, and he played in two Division 2 state championship games.
He was also a two-year starter on the varsity baseball team.
“He wanted to improve his wrestling and wanted to prepare for wrestling in college,” said Garrett’s father, Rob Stehley. “It’s been harder for me and his mom than him. He is fine with it; he trains year round for wrestling now. We miss him playing football and baseball more than he does. But he has put his goals first, and his goal to compete at a high level for a college Division I program in wrestling. He has put his goals in front of everything else, and you have to respect that.”
Garrett Stehley says he was helped with his decision when his brother Jake Stehley graduated from Lowell and went to Elmhurst College in Illinois to play football.
“I grew up playing football and baseball all my life, and I enjoyed playing them,” Garrett Stehley said. “I played with my brother, but after he graduated, it wasn’t the same. About that time, I determined I wanted to be a Division I college wrestler, and I knew I needed to step up my level to do that.”
He has gotten looks from Division I programs. He has already visited Michigan State University and Clarion University of Pennsylvania and this weekend will make an official visit to Lehigh University. He also has plans to take long looks at Duke University and the University of North Carolina.
“I feel like this has helped me,” said Stehley, who carries a 3.6 GPA. “I have had a lot of off-season training and have competed in national events. And I have had more off-season lifting and training with my coaches, and more down time to prepare me as a wrestler.”
Stehley does go to games to support his former teammates. But he has no regrets.
“I usually go,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I miss those sports, but I do like to go out and support my classmates, because I know they will be there to support me.”
And what might they support this year?
“Obviously, I would like to win a team state title, which I think we are able to do,” Stehley said. “And I want to win a individual title. We have a really solid team this year, and I think we can win it.”