Q&A with Wrestler Dan Yates
1/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 27, 2011
In just his first varsity season, sophomore/freshman Dan Yates (Hesperia, Mich./Hesperia HS) has asserted himself as a national force behind sound skills and an aggressive attitude on the mat. And while wins have not come in every match this season, the U-M rookie has refused to back down whomever his opponent, fully proving his ability to go toe-to-toe with the nation's best.
As the Wolverines continue Big Ten Conference dual action, Yates took some time after practice to discuss his start in wrestling, the improvements he's made over the course of the season and Michigan's wrestling quartet from Hesperia, Mich.
On his improvements over the season ... "So far I've been pretty pleased with how I've progressed throughout the season. I think I started out a little rough in the beginning, not quite where I really needed to be conditioning wise, or where I wasn't in top condition to fight a full seven-minute match. I wasn't hardened in hand-fighting and just hustling g back to the center and all that stuff. But now I feel like I'm a lot more able to go a full seven minutes and really push the pace and get my opponent worn down."
On how he made those improvements ... "In high school I did a lot more hand-fighting stuff like I do now, and I had that freshman year off and I didn't go to as many tournaments. I think I lost some of that competitive edge by taking some time off because in high school I went from tournament to tournament whereas last year I think I only went to four tournaments all year. I got a lot of great practice in but not a whole lot of competitions. I think that now that I've gotten a lot of competitions in, and I've been traveling with the team a lot. I've sharpened the edge and gotten ready to go. Looking back, I wish I would have worked a little harder in practices last year. I saw it more as an adjustment year rather than a year to really seriously compete. I didn't really take it as serious as I could have. I should have taken it as seriously as I'm taking this year. I've really been picking it up. I've been having good practices lately, and I've been having good competitions lately, so I think by the end I will be right where I need to be."
On this year's freshman class ... "Well, our freshmen class this year is really good at getting in and getting extra workouts in. That's one thing I noticed about them. They're not necessarily the most skilled wrestlers in the room, but they are by far the hardest working. They are really mentally tough and love to get in and wrestling, and they seem to really enjoy it. I think that attitude is contagious. When you see someone younger than you working hard, it makes you want to work harder than them. You don't want to get outworked by someone younger than you. It really helps pick up everyone's pace on the team and pushes everyone to go harder."
On being having three other guys from his high school on the team ... "Yeah we definitely enjoy it, and really have fun with it. Some of the guys will joke around with us and call us 'Team Hesperia,' but me and the Zeerips have fun with it because we're a tight-knit group and we come from a small community, so being out in the city we stick together pretty well."
On the wrestling environment in Hesperia, Mich. ... "It's small. I graduated with 68 kids in my high school class. Everyone in Hesperia loves wrestling. Most schools like basketball or football, but Hesperia is all about their wrestling team. We'll go to Goodrich, which is about three hours away from Hesperia, and there'll be three sets of bleachers and Hesperia has their own section -- we'll take up about a third of the stands. It's pretty amazing how much backing and support we have. It's pretty incredible and pretty special how much support we've got and how much backing we've got up in Hesperia."
On his wrestling style ... "I just try to have fun with it out there. I go out and try to not take it too serious because in high school if I would try to take it too serious, I would not perform at my top level. I've been wrestling since I was four so if I go out there and have fun with it and let nature take over then everything just seems to click a lot better that way."
On being feeling somewhat underrated ... "I really like it. In high school [coming from Division 4] I never really got a lot of publicity as far as rankings or anything, but I always enjoyed it. I actually have a thing on my mirror of my car right now and it says 'One of the greatest pleasures in life is doing things that others say you cannot,' and that is one of the main things I love doing. If people tell me I can't beat this kid I love going out there and wrestling and trying to get a chance to go up and wrestle him because I feel like it's the greatest accomplishment -- when someone tells you that you can't do something and you go out there and do it, in a good way."
On what the next step is ... "I'm really not sure. Just get more experience, get to be a hardened veteran like some of the guys on our team. Like Kellen [Russell], he doesn't win every match by a whole lot of points. I feel like I'm still making freshman mistakes where I'm giving up some points here and there. I need to get a few more matches under my belt and I will be a seasoned veteran like Kellen where I can just take my points where I can get them and not give up points, that seems to be working perfect for him. I feel like I just need to learn how to stay on the offense the whole time and not really go into holding the lead."
On his 'Welcome to College Wrestling' moment ... "I come from a high school with a ton of great wrestlers where we could just throw around everyone in the room, me and the Zeerips. But now we get here and every single partner you're with whether it's a walk-on freshman or it's a hardened veteran they all give you everything they've got, every single match. Even in practice they won't just give you an easy point so I think that was really a wake-up call. Just not getting easy points in practice and having to work for every single thing you do."
On how he got started in wrestling ... "I started when I was four. My uncles all wrestled in high school. I don't have any past history of college wrestlers in the family; my dad wrestled in high school for a little bit. My parents just knew it was good for building character. The best thing about my parents is that even though they love the sport, they've never once told me, 'You have to do this, you have to do that,' they just supported me no matter what. So, that made me that much more driven to do it, because I wanted to be there for myself."
