File photo by Travis Rosenau Sibley East’s Dayne Morton won a Class A State Championship this year and he was named the 2017-18 All-Journal Wrestler of the Year.

ARLINGTON — For Dayne Morton, losing never sits well with him.

It drove him to improve, pushed him to excel and led him to a state championship at 120 pounds this year. Morton’s hard work, dedication and spectacular showing at state makes him the 2017-2018 All-Journal Wrestler of the Year.

Morton was the state runner-up a year ago at 113 pounds, and he never let second place be good enough for him. He continued putting in work over the summer and came back stronger than ever.

Morton said that he hated losing and that he had a photo of last year’s loss in the first-place match at state as his phone’s screensaver to help motivate him. Morton being his own biggest critic certainly has paid off for him so far.

“I always put in a lot over the summer, I wrestle all year round and I don’t take any breaks,” Morton said. “So it didn’t change much because I always work that much, but this year it just ended up working. I just kept concentrating on working and getting better on the mat, top and bottom, because feet’s always been where I’ve been best and it still is. But I feel like that’s one position that’s improved a lot.”

This year was Morton’s last shot at taking home a first-place medal at state, but the senior said that he tried to not let those thoughts creep into his mind.

“Knowing it was my last chance, I tried not to think about that part of it and just enjoy the process,” Morton said. “Because if I do think about it, it just adds more pressure, which doesn’t help performance-wise.”

Morton went 44-3 on the year and finished his career with a 117-9 record, 47 pins and 572 team points.

Sibley East coach Chad Johnson said that Morton was more determined than ever after last year’s second-place finish.

“He has always believed he was going to win a state title,” Johnson said. “And he sacrificed a lot and worked a lot to achieve his goal. I don’t know many wrestlers that are as determined to be successful at anything as Dayne is to wrestling.”

Johnson also said he wasn’t surprised by Morton’s big win at state this year because Morton excelled with his takedowns, placed high the past two years and always put in a lot of preparation.

“I can’t say I’m really surprised he won the title,” Johnson said. “He’s placed very high the past two years. And last year after taking second, you could tell he wasn’t content. It is really hard to explain, but if you saw the number of hours he puts into wrestling, you wouldn’t be surprised he won the title either.”

Morton’s younger brother Drayden wrestles for Sibley East at 106 pounds and also made state this year as an eighth-grader. Morton said that Drayden was a big help for him over the years ever since they were young.

“I love coaching him and he loves coaching me,” Morton said of Drayden. “We both hate it more when the other loses. We work out together a bunch in our grandpa’s shop and just do a bunch of wrestling and scrambling together and constantly try to make the other better.”

Dayne Morton will next wrestle for Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota. And although last year’s finish at state isn’t forgotten, this year’s win certainly helps him cope with it.

“It’s a relief to just finally get one [first-place medal at state] and it’s something that was a goal/expectation for me this year,” Morton said.

2017-2018 All-Journal Wrestling Team

106 – Drayden Morton, eighth grade, Sibley East

113 – Derek Steele, fr., Sibley East

120 – Dayne Morton, sr., Sibley East

126 – No selection

132 – Cole Ranweiler, fr., New Ulm Area

138 – Sean Howk, jr., New Ulm Area

145 – Hunter Ranweiler, sr., New Ulm Area

152 – Tanner Stark, sr., New Ulm Area

152 – Tommy Wentzlaff, sr., Sibley East

160 – Jared Schroepfer, jr., Wabasso/Red Rock Central

170 – Nick Altermatt, sr., Wabasso/Red Rock Central

182 – Thomas Batcher, sr., Sibley East

195 – Andrew Schauer, sr., Sibley East

220 – Kaleb Haase, so., Redwood River Valley

Hwt – Chad Maddock, so., Redwood River Valley

Honorable Mentions

138 – Lincoln Carpenter, so., Sibley East

145 – Tayte Harazin, jr., Redwood River Valley

160 – Logan Tesch, sr., Sibley East

220 – Isaac Schmiesing, sr., Wabasso/RRC