Doolittle deserved his moment and not simply because of his wrestling talent
Friday morning, only 45 minutes before the van rolled out of Webster City bound for Des Moines and just over six hours before one of the biggest wrestling days of his life was set to begin, where do you suppose Drake Doolittle was?
If you know him, and I mean really know him, the answer won’t be a surprise.
The Webster City senior had the day off from school, no questions asked, and yet there he was, attentive as always in Jess Howard’s Calculus 2 class at 8:15 a.m.
“School is important to me,” Doolittle said about his educational pit stop only minutes after he became the Lynx fifth state champion Saturday night. “If you miss calculus class you might get behind by quite a bit. It’s a hard class and I wanted to keep my grades up.”
I wish I could tell you some sleuth reporting dug up that story. Nope, not the case. Two different people offered up that information unsolicited because it illustrates who Doolittle is as a person.
A great wrestler, no doubt. But he’s so much more than that.
“I mean, how many kids are going to do that?” WCHS head coach Chad Hisler asked. “We got back at 10:30 Thursday night, he went home and got some sleep and we’re leaving Webster City at 9 a.m. He didn’t have to go to school, but that’s who he is. He’s focused on school, he’s focused on wrestling … he’s going to do big things.”
Similar stories flooded my phone through texts and tweets before and after Doolittle disposed of second-ranked Nathaniel Genobana, 9-4, in the Class 2A 120-pound state championship match Saturday night. The support offered up to Doolittle was heavier than I’ve ever experienced and so little of it was solely about wrestling. People were rooting for Drake Doolittle the bright, polite person; wrestling was simply the easiest pathway.
“I’ve had people coming up to me and telling me good luck all throughout the tournament and it just means a lot,” Doolittle said.
The emotions flooded Doolittle has he hopped around inside the tunnel at Wells Fargo Arena following the 175th and final prep victory of his career. The excitement was obvious; the wide smile never left his face as he received high-fives and hugs from teammates and coaches. But you could see the wheels churning, like a This Is Your Life film was flickering away inside his head.
It’s been a journey, one filled with accomplishments and setbacks. He came within one point and one second of winning a state championship two years ago, and the pain was real, just as it was a year ago when he suffered an upset loss in the semifinal round at state.
But those memories can now take a backset. They served their purpose; they were the motivational fuel he used during workouts all winter, and like any good student he learned from his past mistakes.
The legacy Doolittle leaves behind is massive. He doesn’t just own the WCHS wrestling record book, he essentially is the record book. And it was quintessential Drake Doolittle when he began talking about everyone else before he reached his own achievement.
“The amount of time people have spent dedicated to me, getting me to this spot … my family, the coaches, my friends, they’ve been with me the whole time and stood behind me,” he said as the emotions began to take control of his voice. “I couldn’t have done it without all of them.”
A I congratulated Doolittle one last time on becoming the Lynx fifth individual state champion, it suddenly dawned on me that I had probably just watched him compete on a wrestling mat for the final time. Although he hasn’t made a college decision, it would be surprising if he’s not in a singlet somewhere next year. Any college would be lucky to have his talent and leadership inside its program.
But will I get to watch his next step from mat side? Not likely.
That’s when I had my own flash backs and his pre-match routine immediately came to mind. How he paced back and forth while pulling on the straps of his singlet. How he’d always turn away from the center, crouch down and bounce two or three times before he’d sprint back for the start of his match.
And then would come The Show. The relentless attack, the brawler mentality, the idea that his gas tank was bigger than that of his opponent, and it always was.
Doolittle burst onto the scene as a freshman who was intimidated by no one. That was obvious when he beat top-ranked and two-time state champion Justin Portillo of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows in the finals of the North Central Conference tournament, and then acted like it really wasn’t a big deal.
He carried that level-headed demeanor throughout his career, up until the moment his dream was realized Saturday night. And then he let it go.
If anyone deserved that moment to bask in the spotlight, it was Doolittle. His teammates have said that all season. His coaches too. And the entire Webster City community was along for the ride as well.
It couldn’t have happened to a nicer kid.