Kotzebue seniors wrestle way to higher education

TAMAR BEN-YOSEF

May 09, 2008 at 11:21AM AKST

Once one has wrestled, everything else in life is easy, according to members of the Kotzebue wrestling team and their coach.

Perhaps the fact that all seven seniors on the team plan to go on this fall towards higher education has something to do with that assumption.

Kevin Hansen, Matt Kittrel, Kirk Howarth, John Mendenhall, Harold Lie, Stephen Bolen and Brendon Ballot, the seven seniors, all have chosen schools outside of Kotzebue, some even outside of Alaska.

Both Hansen and Howarth will attend Dickinson State University in North Dakota. The two also plan to continue wrestling through college.

Hansen, a three-time State champion, has received a full scholarship to attend the school and will wrestle for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics powerhouse Blue Hawks.

His home coach, Mark Lane, said Hansen would likely impact the Blue Hawks immediately.

"He is a hard worker both on the mat and in school," Lane said.

Howarth is also in the process of signing up for the school and hopes to receive a scholarship as well. Like his high school and soon-to-be college colleague, Howarth, a two-time State placer, is said to have strong work ethic.

He hasn’t decided yet what his major will be, but he said he knows he would like to become a carpenter.

Coming from small-town Kotzebue to a school in the Lower 48 is making both Howarth and Hansen a bit nervous but going together provides some comfort. Though the two don’t plan to room together.

"You make friends much faster if you don’t," Howarth said.

Hansen and Howarth are not the only ones departing their nest to the same destination. Bolen, Mendenhall and Lie are also going as a group.

The three, all state placers, will head to Ridgewater Junior College in Willmar, Minn., where they will continue their wrestling activities through the school’s team. Ridgewater is a vocational technical school, a perfect fit for the three, who are interested in mechanics and electricity.

Bolen had begun thinking about Ridgewater when he was contacted by the school, which found him through a profile he had created on a Website called BeRecruited.com.

The two other seniors, Ballot and Kittrel, will make the shorter trip to the Kenai Peninsula where they will attend Alaska Vocational Technical College in Seward.

Ballot is planning to complete a degree in mechanics, and Kittrel is interested in a welding certificate.

"This is very monumental to send all of our senior wrestlers to higher education," Lane said.

"We all would love to win State titles every year, but the real goal is to get these boys headed off in the right direction after their high school career is finished," he said.

"All seven of these young gentlemen have shown and still possess the work ethic to be successful at whatever they put their mind to. As a coach and a teacher, we could not be happier for each of these boys.

"The opportunity of success is right in front them. Now it is up to them to take control of their own destiny and make the most of it.

In a phone interview on Wednesday, April 30, Hansen seemed up for the challenge.

"Wrestling makes you mentally strong and you pass limits you didn’t think you could go over," he said.

"I feel like I can do anything really," he said.

A wrestler, Hansen said, must have a lot of dedication.

"You can’t just show up late or whenever you want. You have to be on time and put a lot into this work."

Tamar Ben-Yosef can be reached at (907) 348-2419 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 419.