'He lets it rip': Athlete of the Week Keegan Sell a whirlwind for Garfield

ATWATER TWP. — For a brief moment, Keegan Sell is relatively still.

The Garfield senior silently stretches out on the burgundy mat closest to the stage at Fred Brookover Gymnasium, as wrestlers wait for finals to begin.

The peace and quiet do not last long.

Sell quickly finds himself jousting with teammates, almost knocking one off his chair at the corner of the mat as the two joke around. There's a little girl, presumably a relative of one of Garfield's wrestlers, playing with the team and Sell jokingly shows her a move.

The flurry of motion doesn't stop when the wrestling resumes.

A returning state champion who is favored in most tournaments he competes in, Sell happily throws caution to the wind as he attacks early and often to secure the Waterloo Classic championship at 215 pounds.

"He lets it rip," G-Men coach Dan Andel said. "He just continued to dominate. He was tough last year and he's even tougher this year."

After Sell won gold, and Garfield earned gold as well by finishing atop the team standings, the Record-Courier Athlete of the Week had one concern — the first round of team pictures was too serious for his liking.

At Sell's urging, the team gathered back around and he opened his mouth wide in a way that would make any dentist proud, sporting a maniacal, goofy grin.

Asked minutes later whether he's felt any pressure as Portage County's lone returning state champion, Sell doesn't bat an eye. Last year, there was pressure as Hunter Andel and Sell fought to become the first state champions in G-Men history. Nothing compares to that.

"[There's] not any more pressure than there's ever been, I'd say," Sell said. "At least I don't feel it. Maybe I should, but it just kind of feels like another year, which I think I like it that way more than if I were to be worried and more nervous than I normally am."

"I don't think he overthinks things," Andel added. "[He] doesn't allow that to be a barrier."

Keegan Sell's choice to play college football

Watch Sell charge at an opposing ball-carrier during the fall and you're impressed. Watch Sell relentlessly shoot at an opponent on the mat and you're equally impressed.

It's hard to figure out Sell's best sport. He recorded 160-plus tackles in each of his final three years of high school football, finishing his career with 588 (89 for loss). He is also a three-time placer at the state wrestling tournament.

Football was Sell's first love, chronologically and emotionally. He started both sports when he was in Kindergarten, meaning football came first by a few months. Sell always saw a future in football, thinking about Friday night lights from the moment he took the field and Saturday afternoons by the time he was in middle school.

"When I was in middle school, that's when I really was like I want to keep playing [in college]," Sell said. "I don't only want six years left."

Sell recently committed to play football at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, following a senior season in which he earned Ohio Division V Defensive Player of the Year honors with 210 tackles (33 for loss) for the 12-1 G-Men.

"It's the biggest team game there is," Sell said. "I mean it takes everyone's 1/11th. One person doesn't do their job and the whole play might not work at all. You build special bonds with people when you're in situations like that."

One last season on the mat for Keegan Sell

Keegan Sell's decision to play football at Grand Valley State means this is likely his final season of wrestling. The senior is ready. While he loves the competitiveness of the mat, Sell said he greatly prefers football practice to wrestling practice.

"Wrestling is unlike anything else," Sell said. "It's really hard. I thought about wrestling in college. I can't do it. It's too much."

As demonstrated at the Waterloo Classic, Sell will attack this final season as he has attacked everything thus far — with gusto.

"Something I've noticed a lot is if you're attacking or at least doing your stuff, it gives the other person either less time or less opportunity to be able to do their moves and that sort of thing," Sell said. "It's come back to bite me. Last year, I lost a couple matches where I was winning. I just got attacked and I got caught in something, but as long as it doesn't happen in sectionals, districts or state, it really doesn't matter."

Perhaps most exciting for Sell, who savors the 1/11th aspect of football so dearly, is how he is becoming one of 14 on the mat for the G-Men. For the first time in Sell's career, Garfield has a full roster with competitive wrestlers at every weight class. Sell is surrounded now by talented young wrestlers, including his younger brother, Logan; Hunter Andel's younger brother, Landon; and Waterloo Classic champions Camron Lewicki, a 106-pound sophomore, and freshman Luke Kauffman, a 113-pound freshman.

"I've been a big team guy," Sell said. "It's good to see a lot of younger guys getting into it with a lot more numbers and stuff like that. It means a lot."

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Athlete of the Week Keegan Sell races around field, mat for Garfield