State loss propelled McNaughton to NHSCA national title
Sometimes we forget how much we owe Dan Gable.
The legendary wrestler and coach racked up victories, trophies, championships and gold medals by the dozens over his career.
But it was how he dealt with adversity that provided a lesson for us all.
Gable handled a loss — so devastating that everybody who saw it felt worse for him than he did for himself — by turning it to his benefit to make himself tougher and stronger, both as a competitor and as a coach. It energized not just him and everybody with whom he came in contact, but his entire sport as well.
Perhaps no other sport on the face of the earth — American or international, team or individual — has been the recipient of such a powerful lesson in dealing with adversity and coming out on top as a result.
It’s why wrestling has produced great athletes such as Gable … and never-say-die competitors like Nick Ackerman, Earl Jones and Kyle Maynard.
After his dominating victory in the National High School Wrestling Championships recently in Cleveland, Illinois’ Matt Mc
Naughton has a come-back story of his own.After nearly pulling off a double championship in the Junior Nationals last summer at 98 pounds — only a last-second loss to then-Illinois teammate Pat McCaffrey in the freestyle final denying him — McNaughton, finally big enough to be a dominant 103-pounder, quickly assumed the mantle of the nation’s best at the weight according to W.I.N.’s rankings.
Wrestling a tough schedule, the Oak Lawn High wrestler dominated and entered the Class AA state tournament with a 33-0 record; the closest margin of any of those 33 victories was seven points.
Though the Illinois state tournament has eaten more than its share of national-class wrestlers over the years, McNaughton appeared ready to thumb his nose at that jinx, rolling into the semifinals with a pin and a major decision.
There he faced another unbeaten opponent, freshman Josh Kratovil of New Kenox Lincoln-Way Central High. For more than half the match, it appeared Kartovil would be another notch in McNaughton’s belt as the senior built a 5-0 lead. But when Kratovil reversed him to his back — McNaughton fighting off a cradle to avoid being pinned as the period ended — the score was 5-5 and the crowd of some 10,000 spectators at the University of Illinois’ Assembly Hall was beginning to take notice.
The third period saw McNaughton again take command. He escaped early in the period and took Kratovil down again with 50 seconds remaining in regulation. Now ahead 8-5, McNaughton surely had taken Kratovil’s best shot and survived.
Perhaps not.
Kratovil responded with an escape of his own to make it 8-6, then tied the score once again with a takedown in the final 20 seconds; riding McNaughton out and forcing overtime as the crowd roared once again.
They hadn’t seen anything yet.
Both wrestlers went all out in the overtime. Kratovil shot in and nearly scored the takedown. McNaughton threw in the legs, appearing to have rolled through and behind Kratovil to a tightwaist with both of Kratovil’s hands on the mat. Before the referee could award two points, Kratovil had scrambled to a stalemate.
Both officials conferred, awarded no points and the match continued. Now it was McNaughton’s turn to shoot. But with newfound confidence, Kratovil finally scrambled to the winning takedown with eight seconds remaining as the crowd gave both wrestlers a standing ovation.
Kratovil gained a trip to the finals. McNaughton was left to the same fate that had befallen so many wrestlers before him.
But just as Gable used that loss to go on to bigger and better things, McNaughton did the same. He recorded a pair of lopsided victories to finish third. In Cleveland, he picked up a 9-0 major decision and two pins. He finished off Daniel Earley of Columbus (Ohio) St. Francis de Sales High at 3:02 of the final, the only pin of the championship round.
“I’ve played that (semifinal) match over a million times in my mind,” McNaughton said. “I still can’t believe I lost it, either. I never should have put myself in that position. I shouldn’t have lost, but I don’t have anybody to blame but myself. Not the refs, not anybody else.
“I probably think about it at least 10 times a day. Sometimes I’m not doing anything and all of a sudden it just pops into my head, and it’s like, ‘Man, I wanna go run. Man, I wanna go lift. Man, I wanna go practice.’ It all paid off here.”
With his High School Nationals victory, McNaughton has three finishes in national events in the past year alone that exceeded his best state finish in Illinois. It’s a pattern that plays itself out over and over again, year after year.
Once McNaughton grows into the 125-pound weight class — he has the frame for it — he’ll win a lot more matches.
It’s worth noting that two more Illinois All-Americans never placed in the state meet. Dan Ruettiger of New Lenox Providence High, a four-time state qualifier who twice came within a match of placing, finished sixth at 140. He, too, knows something about overcoming adversity.
His uncle, Dan, was the real-life inspiration behind the cult movie “Rudy.” Rick Loera of Park Ridge Maine South High has placed at Fargo and at Cleveland — fifth at 171 — but never came close to placing in two appearances at the Assembly Hall.
This year, team champion New York was every bit Illinois’ equal in such feel-good stories, particularly at the lower weights. But McNaughton, Ruettiger and Loera were just the latest in Illinois’ recent history.
“It’s the upset special of the nation and if you’ve been there you know what I mean,” McNaughton said. “Every year, it’s somebody new. Illinois is one of the most competitive states there is.”
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