Kane County Chronicle Athlete of the Week: Dyani Torres, Kaneland, wrestling, freshman

Name: Dyani Torres

School: Kaneland

Sport: Wrestling, freshman

Why she was selected: Torres placed third in the 125-pound weight class at the Naperville Central Sectional to qualify for the first-ever IHSA girls state wrestling tournament.

Torres was voted by readers as the Kane County Chronicle Athlete of the Week. Here is her interview with Sports Editor Joshua Welge.

Welge: You qualified for the first-ever girls state wrestling tournament. What are your thoughts when you hear that?

Torres: I don’t really know. I think it’s cool. I’m really happy. I’m only a freshman. The other girls that qualified are all seniors. I guess I’m the oddball.

Welge: What kind of expectations did you have for sectionals last weekend?

Torres: I just wanted to qualify. I was not expecting to do so well. I had a rough week mentally, but my coaches and friends and family came to support me and reminded me of who I have wrestled before. It helped.

Welge: How long have you wrestled and how did you get into the sport?

Torres: I think I was like 10 or 11 years old. I got started at a wrestling camp with the East Aurora Tomcats. I saw my brother start wrestling. I just remember coming to some of his practices and I thought I could totally do this. I started off with club and then I joined the middle school team.

Welge: Did you compete in girls tournaments this season or boys tournaments?

Torres: I competed for both. We have a girls team. I’ve been going to all the girls tournaments. I’ve also been going with the guys when the girls don’t have tournaments, wrestling with the JV, filling in a weight class.

Welge: Making the first girls state tournament, do you feel like a pioneer or a trailblazer?

Torres: A bit of both, yeah. I know a lot of other people look up to me. They are older than me and I’m just like I feel like I should be looking up to them. The roles are reversed.

Welge: What are expectations for state?

Torres: I don’t know. I haven’t really been thinking about it. I’m trying to get focused, looking back on the tournaments, seeing the things that went wrong, trying to improve some things.