It’s not that Hanover Central’s Jayden Bartoszek no longer enjoyed football.
He simply decided he liked wrestling more.
“I just had more passion for this sport,” Bartoszek said. “Football is more about the team. I like that all the blame is on me but all the rewards are on me too.
“Everything is on me with wrestling. You’re out there with one person, and that’s it.”
Bartoszek, a junior who used to be a two-sport athlete, has become a two-time state qualifier instead. He will compete at the state meet in Evansville beginning Friday after placing second in the 215-pound weight class at the East Chicago Semistate on Saturday.
Bartoszek (38-5), who is ranked No. 12 at 215 by IndianaMat, has a chance to move beyond the opening round, which he didn’t do last year. He lost to Columbus East’s Tommy Morrill at 220, a defeat that remains etched in Bartoszek’s mind.
“It’s a match that stung,” Bartoszek said. “I lost to Morrill the first night, and he placed third. It was only 3-0, so it’s not like I got blown out of the water.”
Bartoszek’s easy recall of those details offers a glimpse into his thinking.
“It’s pretty much the thing I look forward to most in life,” he said. “It’s my main reason to wake up every morning. I’m always wanting to go to practice because it’s always an enjoyable experience for me.”
Hanover Central senior Collin Foy had a slightly different way to describe Bartoszek’s passion for wrestling.
“He’s obsessed,” Foy said. “I know some people will have a bad connotation with ‘obsessed,’ but if you’re obsessed with wrestling, it’s a good thing.”
Hanover Central coach Andrew Bradbury also raved about Bartoszek’s seemingly endless reservoir of energy.
“He’s constantly grinding,” Bradbury said. “He really cares about how he wants to develop and where he wants to go. He wants to wrestle at the next level, and the things he’s doing now are going to put him in that category.”
Bartoszek’s long-term goals factored into his short-term decision to give up football. He said he had juggled both sports for his entire childhood. He had even completed all of the summer practices and conditioning programs with Hanover Central’s football team when he opted to quit before the 2022 season started.
Bartoszek lamented the time he lost with his friends in football, but his face lit up when he talked about what he has gained by focusing on one sport.
“I really wanted to take my wrestling to the next level,” he said. “So now I’m wrestling seven days a week in the summer.”
Bartoszek said his improved grappling strength is the biggest development and points to his additional time on the mats as the primary reason for that progress. He also said he believes his overall approach to wrestling has become more well-rounded.
“I used to be straight defense, but I’d never score off of it,” he said. “Now I can score off of my defense. I like it when people are taking shots at me.”
Bartoszek’s love for wrestling isn’t affected by defeats, according to Foy.
“Everyone takes losses in different ways,” Foy said. “Jayden takes more of a calm approach. He learns everything that he should’ve done better or needs to work on to beat whomever he lost to.”
That mentality was evident after the semistate meet on Saturday, when Bartoszek lost to Crown Point senior Will Clark in the final. Clark, a defending state champion, is also a family friend, and Bartoszek relished the opportunity to compete against him.
“He’s probably the toughest guy I’ll face in high school,” Bartoszek said. “Getting that experience against the best is only going to make you better.”
Another stout challenge awaits Bartoszek at the state meet. He will open against Lawrence North senior Brandon Johnson (39-3), who is ranked No. 6 by IndianaMat.
After rattling off scouting reports on every opponent he faced Saturday, Bartoszek said he would have another busy week ahead to get ready for the state meet. He wants to advance to the placement rounds.
“That’s the plan,” he said.
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
