Daily Chronicle 2022 Wrestler of the Year: DeKalb’s Tommy Curran

Tommy Curran could have stayed in his weight class and likely taken an undefeated record into the postseason.

Instead, the DeKalb 145-pounder moved up a class on the final day of the regular season, facing the wrestler who beat him for the 145-pound title last year.

The senior lost the match, but it also kicked off a dominant postseason run that ended with him claiming his first IHSA state championship.

“Even though I lost that one, it made me a better wrestler,” said Curran, the 2022 Daily Chronicle Wrestler of the Year. “I learned a lot from it.”

Curran finished the season 37-1, with the only blemish coming against Conant’s Ethan Stiles at 152 pounds. Stiles went on to claim the 3A title at 152.

Last year, Stiles beat Curran at 145 for the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association state title – the IHSA did not hold a state meet because of COVID-19 mitigations. Curran also was runner-up in 2020 and was fifth in 2019.

“This year it was great to see him get over that hump,” DeKalb coach Sam Hiatt said. “I know it’s been his goal to win a state title. He put in all the work, and he’s been close over the years. This year he turned that corner and was pretty dominant the whole year long.”

After the loss to Stiles, Curran didn’t lose again. Two of his four matches at the state tournament were pins, and his only close match was a 3-1 win for the title against Moline’s Noah Tapia.

Curran said when the opportunity came to face Stiles at a quad in Libertyville, he didn’t hesitate.

“It was a rematch of the finals the previous year, and I wanted that match,” Curran said. “I was like, ‘OK, let’s just go with it and wrestle this kid.’ I did pretty good the whole match, but the last few sequences turned the whole match. But I learned from it and used it throughout the rest of the season.”

Hiatt said Curran’s choice to move up shows the type of wrestler and competitor he is. He said it also shows in his attitude toward the Barbs’ quest for a team state title – a quest that ended with them taking second at the dual state tournament.

“Wrestling is great. It’s an individual and a team sport,” Hiatt said. “As much as the individual meant to him, he wanted that for the team, too. That was really great to see. There are definitely wrestlers out there that see this as an individual sport, and they don’t really care about the team, that kind of attitude. I mean, not on our team, but they’re out there. So it was great for him and all these kids. They wanted to win it for themselves and the program.”

The Barbs lost the title match, their only dual loss of the season, 32-27 to Chicago Mount Carmel.

“Obviously, we all wanted to win the team championship,” Curran said. “The reason our team did so well is because we were so close as a team. We were all brothers, and we all had the same goal in mind. We all had individual goals of placing or winning, but we all had the goal to win it as a team.”

Curran will continue his wrestling career next season at North Carolina State.

“It’s coming up real fast now,” Curran said. “I’m looking at the next big goal, which is to be an NCAA champ. And NC State can really help me do that.”