Northwest Herald Athlete of the Week: Prairie Ridge’s Tyler Evans

For the second year in a row, Prairie Ridge’s Tyler Evans was crowned the 120-pound champion at Glenbard West’s Chris Chappell Invite on Jan. 7 in Glen Ellyn.

The Wolves senior defeated Montini’s Kameron Luif in the title bout via pinfall in 3:07. Evans has since won three more matches to bring his season record to 35-3.

Two Wolves won tournament titles at Glenbard West. Jake Lowitzki joined Evans as the champion at 106 pounds. Xander York (152) finished second, Mike Meade (132) and Lorenzo Massart (113) placed third, Walter Pollack (285) took fourth, and John Fallow (220) was sixth to lead the Wolves to fifth place out of 13 teams.

Evans, a Northwest-Herald second-team selection as a junior, has dreams of winning a state title during his final season. Last year, he earned a Class 2A regional championship and placed runner-up at sectionals. He won his first match at state and ended up 2-2.

For his performance, Evans was voted the Northwest Herald Athlete of the Week by readers. Evans answered some questions from sports writer Alex Kantecki about winning the Glenbard West Invite title, his individual growth as a wrestler, goals for the rest of the season and more.

What worked well for you at the Glenbard West Invite?

Evans: Just being confident during my matches and staying calm rather than letting myself overthink the match was the key to my success. I feel I was in good shape because we’ve done lot of conditioning to get us ready for state.

What match did you feel like you were wrestling your best this season?

Evans: My final match [at Glenbard West]. I feel I wrestled my best because I pinned a ranked wrestler and I might see him again at state.

What’s your favorite class?

Evans: My favorite class is best sellers with Mr. Boldwyn because his positive personality made the whole class so much more interesting.

How has your wrestling style or approach changed from freshman year until now?

Evans: As a freshman, I was not as confident as I am now. That was a major change. Confidence is a major key to success because if you overthink a match, you can lose before even walking out.

Who’s the funniest guy on the team?

Evans: The funniest guy on our team would be Lorenzo Massart. He’s a freshmen who always has a positive attitude no matter what happens on the mat.

If you had to pick a different sport, what would you play?

Evans: I would pick football. It’s always been one of my favorite sports to play, but I didn’t have the size for it. I stopped playing because I knew I wouldn’t be able to play in college.

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Evans: I would go to Hawaii or anywhere tropical because I love warm weather and fishing.

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Evans: Not finishing something after starting it.

If you could sit down and have a meal with anyone in the world, who would it be?

Evans: I would have a meal with Spencer Lee or Roman Bravo-Young because I’ve always looked up to them.

What are your goals for the rest of the season?

Evans: I want to win state for my senior year and go down to Fargo and get on the podium. As for the team, I feel everyone needs to work on putting in work outside of practice rather than just in the room.