Andover Central’s Gunnar Gentzler eager to create own wrestling legacy

Wrestling has eaten up Gunnar Gentzler’s evenings and weekends since he was introduced to the sport much earlier than he can accurately recall. Either he competed or he watched his older brothers, Jake and Zac.

The routine of going from school at Andover Central to practice, and then spending weekends at out-of-state tournaments is only disrupted by the wrestling camps that are added in the summer.

Wrestling is a Gentzler tradition, a way of life. Like his brothers before him, he hungers for success. He is 9-1 and ranked No. 1 in Class 4A at 120 pounds.

Unlike his brothers, he carries the additional pressure of expectations.

Jake won three titles at 112 and 125 pounds and graduated in 2011. He signed to wrestle at Arizona State and is now at Newman.

Zac was the 29th Kansan to win four titles, capping his career with a title at 120 pounds in 2013. He’s wrestling at Oklahoma State.

“I’d like to be like them,” said Gunnar, a sophomore. “They’re definitely both my role models. They both went (Division I) for wrestling. That’s just insane.

“But I’d like to be my own person. Not just be known for wrestling and for being a Gentzler. Wrestling’s been my whole life. It’s always been a Gentzler thing.”

He didn’t win a title his freshman season, finishing fifth at 113 pounds in Class 5A with a 27-6 record.

“Here’s the deal. Last year he had a bad day at state,” said Dan Gentzler, the trio’s dad. “You kind of have to be a little lucky to win — you can’t be sick and you’ve got to be on, on the day of state. He just had a bad day.

“I don’t want to make it sound bad. There are people who would die to get fifth place. At our house, he felt like he let everyone down. But it’s another day. The sun comes up.”

Gunnar won the Douglass tournament on Dec. 12, beating Pratt’s Brayan Baldarama, who was ranked first at the time, and Wichita South’s Asiel Flores, who is ranked third in Class 6A.

There is a fair amount of trash talk in the Gentzler home, especially if all three sons are together. If Gunnar gets a little too mouthy — Zac said his little brother is the biggest smack talker — that’s when the number of state titles is mentioned.

“It’s a very competitive environment,” said Zac with a laugh. “Sometimes we have to put him in line.… Sometimes when you have older brothers, you try to live up to their accomplishments.

“We tell him to go out and have fun, create your own legacy.”

Andover Central coach Chris Saferite is friends with the Gentzlers, and as he watched Gunnar wrestle in middle school, he envisioned the expectations that could smother Gunnar.

Saferite discussed it with Gunnar before his freshman season.

“I told him, ‘You are Gunnar Gentzler. You’re not Jake Gentzler. You’re not Zac Gentzler. You are yourself,’ ” Saferite said.

“He doesn’t need to try to please anybody. Sure, people are probably going to look at him a little different than others. I told him, though, that he’s held to a higher standard because of the accomplishments that he has had previously. Not his brothers.”

Gunnar has a tendency to focus on losses instead of what he can learn from them.

The Gentzlers are a fun group of guys. Zac led the basketball student section his senior year while wearing his singlet. Yet Gunnar shuttered his own lively personality as he tried to ascend to his brothers’ accomplishments.

He lashed out at Saferite one day at practice, accusing his coach of treating him differently than his teammates.

“I told him I hold each student to a different standard based on what I think I need to hold them to. You have a varsity kid you think can place at state and then you have a kid on (junior varsity) that you hope stays out the next year,” Saferite said. “I do hold him to a higher standard.”

Gunnar is a different sort of wrestler from his brothers.

Jake had a gritty determination that overcame the fact that he wasn’t a brilliant technician.

“His determination to win was crazy good,” Saferite said. “He didn’t want to lose, and he didn’t think he was going to lose.”

Zac’s technical abilities were strong, but he also had a freaky knack for correctly guessing an opponent’s move beforehand.

“Gunnar’s got similarities — he’s real smart like Zac was. He’s not as strong or as gritty as maybe Jake was, but he’s got some of that trait,” Saferite said.

“He has his own style. He keeps things close. And he seems to hit that right move at that right time. It’s kind of cool.”

When Gunnar wrestles, one of his friends will call Zac and show the match on FaceTime. After Gunnar has a chance to cool down, he calls Zac for a critique.

It’s not easy taking pointers from a sibling, but Gunnar soaks it up.

He loves wrestling and yearns to improve.

“Wrestling is a love-hate relationship,” Gunnar said. “I love being on the mat. I hate cutting weight.

“But I definitely have a passion for wrestling, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it so long.”

This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Andover Central’s Gunnar Gentzler eager to create own wrestling legacy."