Kern adjust to D-1 wrestling
If all were going to plan, freshman Dillon Kern would be competing unattached at the National Collegiate Open this weekend.
Instead Kern will take on No. 17 Nick Purdue of Ohio on Friday and Kent State’s No. 5 Dustin Kilgore on Sunday.
Kern came to Central expecting to redshirt a season after going 60-2 and winning a state championship at 189 pounds his senior season at Fowlerville high school.
But when the coaches realized junior Mike Miller would be out with an injury after National Duals Jan. 9 and Mid-American Conference play starting up, it would be Kearn who was put into the starting lineup.
“I was just planning on redshirting and preparing for next season,” he said. “But with injuries and everything, a spot opened up for me so I’m just trying to make the best of the opportunity.”
Kern quickly learned the difference between wrestling at open tournaments and high school to wrestling at Division I for No. 6 Central Michigan.
“The crowd here is good,” he said, “You get a lot of suport but the competition is a lot better than in opens.”
Having lost all five of his matches since moving into the starting lineup, Kearn said he is focused on listening to the coaches during practice and bring that into an actual match.
“I need to work on my feet a lot and getting up off the bottom,” he said. “I just need to work on maturing and getting stronger."
Coach Tom Borrelli said he has seen a difference in Kern in his matches just over the course of the five matches.
“He has been very competitive in his last few matches,” he said. “He has had a chance to win both of those matches, he just has to stay basic and more fundamental and believe in the stuff he is working on in practice.”
After losing three straight matches by major decision when he moved into the lineup, Kern’s latest two losses have come by one point against Northern Illinois’s Zach Benzio and three points February 7 to Buffalo’s Josh Peters last Sunday.
Borrelli said Kern’s biggest issue is needs to adjust and stay with what the coaches and veterans on the team are teaching him during practice.
“He sometimes reverts back to things that aren’t as high percentage that worked back in high school and it ends up catching up to him in the matches,” Borrelli said.
