Kendall County MVA Male Athlete of the Week: Nick Stemmet, Yorkville, senior, wrestling

WHY HE WAS SELECTED:

Nick Stemmet won the 195-pound championship at the Dvorak Tournament, going 4-0 with two pins and two major decisions. Stemmet, ranked No. 1 in the state in his weight class, beat third-ranked Josh Labarbara, 10-1, in the finals to improve to 6-0 on the season. His brother, Ben Stemmet, took first at 220 pounds, leading the Foxes to a sixth-place team finish, their best ever.

Stemmet talked to sports editor Joshua Welge about the tournament, his college decision and more. Here is an edited version of the transcript:

Welge: What did winning such a prestigious tournament mean?

Stemmet: I won it my sophomore year, too. It’s pretty cool. The biggest thing for me is how well our team did. There were some questions on how well we would do this year because we lost some people. But to get sixth in that tournament is definitely some validation to how big our program really is. Winning it for the second time was definitely cool, just as cool as the first time. Alongside my brother, winning back-to-back titles, I don’t know if that has ever happened before, which was awesome.

Welge: How significant was it to beat Labarbara the way you did?

Stemmet: The whole week leading up to the tournament he was the one I was gameplanning for. I expected him to be in the finals against me. He’s a respectable wrestler and we actually train together during the offseason. We practice together and we wrestled at state before. I didn’t really open up against him, then and I won, 4-2. I knew by practicing with him I could beat him by a lot more this time. I wrestled a little cautious, but it was still dominant.

Welge: You committed to Stanford earlier this fall. How’d that come together?

Stemmet: To go to Stanford, to wrestle Division I, it’s been a goal of mine for a while. Stanford was in my sights ever since this same time my sophomore year when I won the Dvorak. This is the culmination of all the hard work I put in. I went out to Harvard, and Air Force and Indiana, but Stanford was the combination of all the things I want in a school. I went out the summer before my junior year, took an unofficial my junior year and my official this year. The weather was beautiful, which was pretty great because I hate Illinois weather, and academically it’s pretty prestigious.

Welge: What would it mean for you and your brother to both win state titles this year?

Stemmet: That’s been the goal since we’ve been little. That would be really cool, not only for us but for our family and the community, a pretty cool feat.