Kaneland senior wrestler Dan Goress advanced to the IHSA Class 2A state meet at 138 pounds last season, and is one of three returning Knights who competed in Champaign. Goress also is among a large group of experienced seniors, and for that reason enters the 2012-13 season brimming with optimism. Kane County Chronicle sports reporter Kevin Druley caught up with Goress for this week’s edition of the Weekend Chit-Chat, addressing Goress’ outlook on wrestling and briefly looking back at Kaneland’s recently completed football season, in which Goress played linebacker for the 10-1 Knights. The following is an edited transcript:
How have the first few weeks of wrestling workouts gone?
Not bad. We’re going in feet first right now. Morning conditioning, practice after school, lots of lifting. We’ve got nine seniors and we’re really excited about what we can do this year. ... Esai Ponce, Stephen Gust, Zach Theis, Luke Kreiter, Sonny Horn, David Barnhart, Connor Williams and Nick Sharp, along with me. We’re ready.
There’s a lot of your football teammates in that haul. How long did you give yourselves to rest between football and wrestling?
We just took the week off after the loss that we had [top-seeded Kaneland lost at Lincoln-Way West in the second round of the 5A playoffs]. Football’s a long season, you know. As soon as you get out of wrestling, you’re in the weight room working out and running. So we just decided to get the week off and get a little rest.
Any final football thoughts?
I don’t want to sound cocky or anything, but no one was really expecting that loss. We thought we would be going far. We’re surprised the season ended early, but it shows we’ve got to be sure to go one game at a time.
Coach [Monty] Jahns is calm when you talk wrestling with him, but he’s anything but calm in the room, right?
I’d actually say he’s a little more intense this year. He knows he’s got something, knows we can be a better dual team, so he’s trying to take advantage of that. … The tempo of practice is a bit faster and he’s a little more involved. ... He’s not putting up with anybody talking and/or slacking and he’s really getting on them if we’re not doing that as seniors.
With so many Kaneland sports doing well, where do you see wrestling falling in?
Cross country had a great year, [boys] soccer had a great year, football’s been hot three years in a row. [Boys] golf, same thing. It’s wrestling’s turn to get out there. In my opinion, it’s a low-profile sport and not a lot of people watch, and with so many programs doing well at the school, if we’re going to raise that up, this is the time to take advantage.
