Destin McCauley has some big plans for the future: College wrestling at the University of Wisconsin, 2012 Olympics, the Junior World Championships. But not all of his plans have to do with sports.
One of them has to do with food.
"I already tell everyone I'm going to be fat when I'm older," Destin said. "I'll be tired from working out so much I'll just eat all the time."
After all the wrestling he'll have done in his life, it'll probably be a nice feeling for him to be able to celebrate by pigging out.
In fact, there's reason to celebrate now. McCauley, a senior from Apple Valley, just capped off what was one of the best high school wrestling careers in the nation. At the 2011 Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament, he won his fifth individual state championship when he beat Rosemount's Adam Jackson in the Class AAA 152-pound title match.
McCauley is the fourth wrestler in Minnesota state history to win five state championships and, along with six team championships, he has racked up a total of 11 state championships. His first state championship title was won as a seventh grader, making him the first seventh grader in Minnesota to land a state wrestling title.
Ever since bursting onto the wrestling scene with that first win, he's only gotten better.
"His dad has been training him since he was five years old," Apple Valley head coach Jim Jackson said. "The one thing he had to deal with when he was a seventh grader was he wasn't used to wrestling a six-minute match because he would pin everybody in the younger age group. So, he had to get in a little better shape. That's one thing we did. We worked on his conditioning, and now he's got everything going for him. He's doing really well."
"I think I've gotten a lot better just by my workout partners, (as well as) going out to Colorado Training Center and wrestling out there," Destin said. "And with the coaches that I have here, they've only got me so much better."
McCauley also has the most victories in state high school history (286), with only seven losses in his entire career. Three of those losses were against the same athlete in the same season, Bloomington Kennedy's Robby Fisher. Destin's most recent loss was almost exactly two years ago, when he was a sophomore, at the 2009 MInnesota State Wrestling Tournament against Fisher during the 135-pound championship match. It was a loss that eliminated the possibility of Destin becoming Minnesota's first six-time state champ.
"That really got to me as a wrestler," Destin said. "I've always told myself 'Do you ever want that feeling again?' Of course I'm always going to say 'no,' so I always push myself a lot more."
It seems that mindset is working out pretty well for him. He hasn't lost a match since.
When it comes to his record-setting career, Destin credits it to brains and technique.
"Personally I think I'm a smart wrestler when I'm out there, I have technique," Destin said. "So when I'm out there I move my feet a lot and use my brains to outsmart people."
His coach says his success is related to how hard he works.
"He's a great athlete and he works extremely hard. Extremely hard," Coach Jackson said. "When you're a great athlete and you work hard, good things are going to happen. He trains all year round. (He's got) just a great attitude and (he is) a great kid."
Whatever it is, he better keep doing what he's doing. His wrestling career appears far from over.
Destin plans to wrestle at the University of Wisconsin after pursuing a spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.
"It was just a feeling," Destin said about choosing Wisconsin over Minnesota. "I didn't feel right at Minnesota. I went to Wisconsin and really liked it there. The coaches were really nice to me. The workout partners there are just unbelievable."
Wisconsin also was the only college supportive of his plans to start school a year later than he normally would have. That year between his graduation and attending Wisconsin might end up leading to one of the best experiences in his life.
Destin trained at the U.S. Olympic Training Center for almost three months after his junior year, and he left quite the impression.
"After coaching Destin McCauley in the summer of 2010, we realized he had the desire and potential to become a World and Olympic Champion, and we are very excited he has decided to build his freestyle foundation at the U.S. Olympic Training Center," Bradon Slay, USA Wrestling Assistant National Freestyle Coach and Freestyle Resident Coach, told USA Wrestling.
Destin hopes to compete in the 2011 and 2012 Junior World Championships for the United States. He also is aiming for a spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling team.
So, after he wraps up what may turn out to be an extremely successful wrestling career, he has plenty of reason to give himself a "Hall Pass" to stuff his face.
