Delphos St. John’s Edward Kessen (Top) holds down his opponent, Covington’s Chase Vanderhorst (Bottom) on Saturday at Lima Catholic Central’s Thunderbird Invitational.
Jackelyn Johnson | The Lima News
DELPHOS – Delphos St. John’s sophomore Edward “Eddie” Kessen has a unique relationship with his father.
His father Jason Kessen, a 1992 Lima Central Catholic graduate, was a two-time state placer in wrestling at LCC.
Last season, Edward Kessen competed at the Division III state tournament in the 132-pound weight class, where he went 0-2.
This season, Kessen wants to take it to the next level.
“I want to go back (to the state tournament) and hopefully place,” Kessen said. “I still have some top goals that I need to accomplish, but it’s just one match at a time.”
This season, Kessen competes in the 138-pound weight class. At the very competitive Thunderbird Invitational at Lima Central Catholic (January 26, 27) Kessen (29-4) finished second in his weight class.
Kessen started wrestling at a young age. However, it took a while before he began to take the sport seriously.
“I started wrestling, like at six. I was the type of kid that just did not care back then,” Kessen said with a grin. “But later, I decided that I liked this sport. So, I really tried to put the time into it. It’s been really fun.”
Kessen said his father, an assistant coach at St. John’s, has played a huge role in his wrestling career.
“He’s been my coach my entire life. … It’s awesome,” Kessen said about his father. “There’s no pressure at all. He talks to me before the matches to help make me tougher. It’s kind of cool to have him at home because we can talk about stuff that we need to work on. So, it’s great to have him as a coach.”
Jason Kessen said his son’s interest in the sport has grown each year.
“To see the effort that he’s put in and the commitment that he has taken is great. We’ve had this conversation multiple times, ‘This is a grind. It’s a tough sport. It’s you versus somebody else’,” Jason Kessen said.
“When he was in the biddy (youth) program, he wasn’t sure (about wrestling). In his seventh-grade year, he said, ‘I want to do this’. In his eighth-grade year, he said even more about it. Last year, he said that he wanted to go to state. He has fallen in love with the sport of wrestling. It has been a lot of fun.”
Kessen’s focus is getting back to the state tournament, which runs March 8-10 at Ohio State. He will need to place in the top four in his weight class at the sectional tournament (2/24) to advance to the district tournament (3/1, 3/2).
Then, he will need to place in the top four in his weight class at the district tournament to move on to Columbus.
Kessen said that last year he was not mentally prepared for the big stage at Ohio State’s Jerome Schottenstein Center.
“Last year, I don’t know if I was as confident as I am now,” Kessen said. “I wasn’t as strong – mentally and physically. The mental part of it, I tweaked a little bit. I have more confidence now.”
Kessen not only wants to return to the state tournament, but he also wants to pursue his dream of being one of the best, if not the best wrestler in school history.
“I want to be a state champ. That’s my goal. Hopefully, I will be St. John’s first state champ,” Kessen said. “All of this (regular season) is like practice for state.”
Kessen is not looking too far ahead. However, he is interested in wrestling at the collegiate level if it works out with his academic plans.
“My ultimate goal is to wrestle in college, but I also want to get a good education,” Kessen said. “I really don’t care where I wrestle. It doesn’t have to be Division I or Division II. It can be anywhere. I just want a good education.”
Along with Kessen, teammate Riley Mueller is having a stellar season.
At the Thunderbird Invitational, Mueller, a sophomore, placed second in the 150-pound weight class. Mueller (10-5), a linebacker on the St. John’s football team, is coming back from an early-season concussion.
Last season, Mueller made it to the district tournament, where he went 0-2. He hopes to make a deeper run this postseason.
“It’s going to take a lot of hard work and determination to win those matches (at the district tournament) because they’re all going to be tough down there,” Mueller said.
St. John’s coach Brent Gable points to the work ethic of his two top wrestlers as a key component for their success.
“Eddie (Kessen) is pretty much a year-round wrestler at this point. He goes all over the place to wrestle. His dad is really good at helping him out with things. He drills really hard. He’s a really hard worker for us,” Gable said. “Riley (Mueller) is a hard worker too. He’s a big-time football player. He has that football mentality, which is a good thing to have.”
