Marist’s Will Denny is certainly not the underdog anymore.
The senior 157-pounder won his first state championship last season. He also made his mark nationally in October, winning the prestigious Super 32 Challenge in North Carolina and vaulting up to No. 1 in the Sports Illustrated national rankings.
Denny, a North Carolina State recruit, is thus embracing a new mindset for the RedHawks.
“It’s definitely very different,” Denny said. “I haven’t really been able to compete with that target on my back the way I have it now. It was definitely fun chasing to make that name for myself, but I’m super excited to see what I can do with the target on my back.
“Hopefully, I get the best from every guy I face now.”
Denny grew up wrestling, but most of his focus was on another sport. That started to change his first year of high school.
“Wrestling has been a part of my life since I was young, but it was nothing special,” he said. “I was a football player and I loved football.
“But ever since freshman year, when I didn’t make the podium at state, I’ve had that hunger. I was like, ‘If I truly want to be good at this, the talking is over and I’ve got to put the work into it.’”
Denny finished fourth as a sophomore before rising to the top last season, going 42-4 and winning the Class 3A state title at 150.
At the Super 32, he was seeded fifth but beat top-seeded Melvin Miller of Pennsylvania in overtime in the championship match. He was named the tournament’s MVP for the upper weights.
“That definitely was a big confidence booster,” Denny said. “I always knew I was a top guy. I went out there, and that was the first time at an event like that where I felt like I was wrestling as myself and not worrying about expectations.
“I saw the outcome, so that was definitely a game changer for me. Now I know when I wrestle my match, no one can wrestle with me.”
Marist’s Will Denny, right, gets tangled up with Sandburg’s Sammie Hayes at 120 pounds in the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional final on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. (Jon Langham / Daily Southtown)
Another key for Denny, as Marist coach Brendan Heffernan sees it, is avoiding complacency.
“When he came back from Super 32, we talked to him a little bit about that mentality,” Heffernan said. “There’s not a whole lot left for him to do to prove himself, but he can’t be satisfied.”
Senior Donavon Allen, who finished third at 138 last season, does not think that will be an issue.
“We see how motivated he is,” Allen said of Denny. “Even after he wins, he’s still hungry. Even after state and Super 32, we all see how hungry he is.
“That brings a lot of motivation to our room and our team.”
Denny is just part of a loaded lineup that will make the RedHawks one of the favorites in Class 3A this season. Seniors Michael Esteban (Michigan State) and Ricky Ericksen were runners-up last season and part of seven state qualifiers who are returning.
“I feel like this is our year to win a team state championship,” Ericksen said. “We have a lot of great wrestlers on this team. It’s just going to take a lot of hard work and discipline and sacrificing for the team.”
In that regard, Denny is ready to lead the way. But as he sees it, it’s all about the ride now.
“Over the summer, I realized I had been on a hamster wheel,” Denny said. “I was chasing a goal, and then when I accomplished it, I was finding another goal. I wanted to think more about having fun with it.
“It’s about staying hungry but also staying happy and enjoying what I’m doing.”
