Jeff Chaney
Sports Scene
Although a returning undefeated state champion may not need any added confidence, Austin Severn’s win over Gabe Dean on December 28 couldn’t hurt his mental toughness.
The New Lothrop 189-pound senior beat Dean, the Lowell senior who also went undefeated last year and who won a state title himself, 5-4 in double overtime at the Lowell Quad. However, Dean got revenge two weeks later and defeated Severn 7-2 during the New Lothrop Hall of Fame tournament.
“I knew he was ranked higher than me, and I’m just happy to get a win over a great wrestler,” Severn said. “I try to treat every match and opponent the same and take one match at a time, but this was a good win.”
It was a battle of two great athletes, who were also all-state in football, Severn at linebacker and Dean at quarterback.
But Severn was able to win because of an escape in overtime and the ability to ride Dean out.
“I like a good match, but I don’t like them being that close,” said Severn, who was 15-0
New Lothrop coach Jeff Campbell said the grueling win over Dean, who was ranked second in the nation at 195 pounds by InterMat.com and who is going to Cornell University next year, was a great barometer as to where his skills and toughness are for the rest of the season.
“For Austin, it’s a good gauge of where he is at,” Campbell said. “He just got into wrestling as an eighth grader. And when you get to wrestle against a guy at the national level like Gabe is, it shows him where he is at.”
The match had ties off the mat, too, as Severn’s father, Rod Severn, used to be the workout partner of Dean’s father, Lowell coach Dave Dean, when both Severn and Dean wrestled for Montrose High School.
Rod Severn and his brother Dan went on to have successful collegiate careers at Arizona State University, while Dave Dean did likewise at Minnesota.
Austin Severn’s future athletic plans are not certain now. He doesn’t know if they include football or wrestling.
All he does know is that he has two months left of his senior wrestling season, and he would like to defend his state title.
“I still have work to do,” Austin said.
Campbell believes his talented wrestler will do well in anything he tackles, or takes down, in the future.
“I think he will be successful in what ever he does, but I think his upside is in wrestling,” Campbell said. “That’s because he hasn’t done that as much as football.”
As for New Lothrop as a team that day, it beat Jenison 52-21, Sparta 47-23 and lost to Lowell 48-14, falling to 6-1 coming out of the Christmas break.
“We have a little sickness and illness going on, and some kids missed weight so they sat out against Lowell,” said Campbell, whose team lost in the Division 4 semifinals last year at team state. “ But we still found out against Lowell we are not where we want to be.”