Hanford’s Gosney makes the most of his first year on the mat

Sometimes doing something on a whim pays off.

For Hanford High School senior Colt Gosney, it paid off with a trip to the Class 3A state wrestling tournament, and not as a spectator.

Gosney finished third at 220 pounds at the Region IV tournament last weekend to punch his ticket to the Tacoma Dome.

Action begins Friday. Gosney will open with Adalberto Ramos of Arlington.

“It will be pretty crazy to go over there and see all of that,” Gosney said. “I will go in confident. It will be fun. What makes it fun is you put in so much work and you are seeing it pay off.”

The fun part of Gosney’s trek to Tacoma is that he never stepped on a wrestling mat in his life until practice started in mid-November.

“I’ve seen wrestling matches before, but I didn’t know the rules,” Gosney said. “I didn’t know you had to wrestle for 6 minutes, or how uncomfortable the shoes are until you break them in. I just thought it would be fun to try.”

In the beginning, Falcons coach Dom Duncan didn’t know what to think about the first-time wrestler.

“He really didn’t know anything,” Duncan said. “Now, he has three or four moves he does well, and that’s what we stick with.”

And just because you are the new kid on the mat doesn’t mean Duncan will coddle you.

“We were at a tournament at Liberty in mid-December,” Duncan said. “Colt was up six or seven points with 12 seconds left in the match. He gave up an escape, got taken down and pinned, and lost. I got after him. He took it in. The kid has a ton of heart and now knows how much drive it takes to win. It was like a switch went off.”

Gosney appreciates all his coaches have done for him in such a short time.

“Having coaches as dedicated as these guys are means a lot,” Gosney said. “They worked hard to make sure I had matches. The first couple of weeks I thought, ‘What am I doing?’ Later, when you are on the mat and wrestling for your life, you realize that it pays off.”

Gosney set a couple of goals for himself at the start of the season, and he accomplished both.

“At the start, my goals were to make varsity and go to district,” said Gosney, who was fourth at the district tournament. “At district, I thought if I put my mind to it, I could go to state. I’m pretty surprised by it all. I didn’t think I’d make it this far.”

Gosney’s mom, Jeannie, wasn’t sure at first about her son taking up wrestling, but now she is his biggest fan, along with dad Kurt and older sister Megan.

“At first, my mom was nervous during my matches,” Gosney said. “She said she couldn’t watch. She was going to cover her eyes. As nervous as she is, she is proud of me. Even when I lose, she encourages me. She makes sure I’m encouraged to go out and do it again. I appreciate that.”

Gosney said he has learned many lessons from wrestling, and he’s glad he decided to turn out and stick with the sport the entire season.

“This is an incredible sport,” Gosney said. “It has really helped me in so many ways. I’m focused, I’m in shape, I’m confident, I’m healthy and it helps shape your character. This is the only sport I have really enjoyed. I’ve committed myself to something intense. It has taught me how to win and lose in an appropriate way. It all applies to life, as well.”

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Hanford’s Gosney makes the most of his first year on the mat."