Wrestling is most assuredly one of the hardest sports there is. Taxing on the body and mind alike, it's definitely not for the faint of heart.
It was too much for Kyle Evans, who tried it as a third grader and decided it wasn't for him. But, when his family move from the Kansas City area to Edmond two years later, Evans decided to give the sport another try -- thanks to a few well-placed posters.
"We were looking at houses before we moved down here and I saw some wrestling team posters in a bunch of the kids' rooms," Evans said. "It seemed like wrestling was a big deal down here and I figured it must be a pretty popular. I thought it would be a good way to make friends, so I decided to give it another try."
Good decision.
A slow progression throughout junior high and high school led to a scholarship at Central Oklahoma, where Kyle blossomed into one of school's all-time bests. And now the four-time All-American and two-time national champion is headed to the UCO Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2020.
Evans was a three-time state placer at Edmond North High School, finishing fourth as a sophomore and third as a junior before nabbing a state championship in his final season while earning All-State honors. Good, but not great, so moving on to the college ranks wasn't a given.
"I wasn't sure I even wanted to wrestle in college, but Coach (Ricky) Bollenbach, my high school coach, made a video and sent it out to a bunch of Division II schools," Evans said. "The only ones I heard back from were UCO and Fort Hays State.
"My dad thought I should go to Fort Hays because he wasn't sure I could break into the lineup at UCO since they had just won back-to-back national championships (in 2002 and '03). I was scheduled to take a trip to Fort Hays, but after I visited UCO I committed and cancelled the Fort Hays visit."
Kyle came to UCO in 2003 and redshirted his first year while competing in a few open tournaments to gain experience. He broke into the lineup the following season, beating out a returning All-American to gain the starting spot at 141 pounds.
Evans went on to capture the Midwest Regional title before taking sixth at the Division II national tournament to garner All-America honors, finishing with a 24-13 record.
"We had All-Americans all over the place in the practice room, so I knew if I could just get in the lineup I could place at nationals," Evans said. "And IÂ knew I could do even more after that year because I proved to myself I could be up there with the best guys in the country.
"Placing that year changed my mindset. I started doing a lot of extra stuff. I embraced that everyone practices two hours a day, but was I willing to do the extra work? Whatever the coaches tell you to do, do a little bit more. It made a big difference."
Did it ever.
Evans went an astounding 101-7 this last three years with the Bronchos, making the national finals every season.
He went 30-5 with 11 bonus-point wins as a sophomore, winning another regional title and making it to the national finals before dropping a tough 4-2 decision to the defending champion.
The next season? Only perhaps the best in UCO's storied history. Kyle became the first-ever Central wrestler to go undefeated for an entire season, finishing 39-0 with 18 bonus wins en route to winning a third straight regional title and the national championship.
"When I was getting ready to wrestle someone I thought 'What advantage did they have over me?'" said Evans, who held a 99-4 edge in takedowns that season. "I could think of none. I had better workout partners, better coaches, so what could they do to beat me? And I didn't think they could."
Nobody did during that magical season, when Evans also led the Bronchos to the last of their 15 team titles. Evans was the lone gold medalist, but UCO had seven other top-four placers in pulling out a surprising championship.
"My junior year by far surpasses everything," Kyle said. "it's one of the best experiences of my life. The camaraderie of that team was special. We got to share that national championship together.
"Most of us had been together for a few years. We had finished 11th two years before, the worst UCO had done in a long time, and then clawed our way back to the top. It was special."
Evans was one of the few returners off that title-winning team as a senior in 2007-08, but responded with another dominating season. He went 32-2 – losing only to a pair of Division I standouts – and rolled to his second straight national championship.
"My senior year was weird," Evans said. "Most of my buddies were gone. The guys I was living with weren't wrestling anymore, so they weren't going to practice with me, they weren't cutting weight, they were out doing other stuff.
"The second one was definitely harder. People wrestled me differently. For me it might just be another match, but for them it was THE match, so I had to be ready for that."
It didn't matter. Evans finished his sensational career with a 125-20 record – wrestling every match at 141 -- and a school-record 25 technical falls. A two-time Midwest Regional Wrestler of the Year selection, he ranks 10th in all-time wins and fourth in career winning percentage (.862) at UCO.
Not bad for a guy who wasn't even sure he wanted to wrestle in college. But, then again, he was destined to be a Broncho.
"Every coach I had from the fifth grade on was a UCO guy," Evans said. "Randy Zellner (YMCA), Larry (Tettleton, junior high), Bollenbach (high school), D.J. (David James, UCO). I literally had the same practice from the fifth grade until I was 22. I guess I was born to be a Broncho."
And now he's headed to the UCO Athletic Hall of Fame, destined to be remembered as one of the best in the history of a university that has churned out hundreds of incredible athletes.
"I always saw the names on the wall in the wrestling room of the guys that came before me," said Evans, who was inducted into the Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018. "The All-Americans, the national champions, the Hall of Famers. I heard all the stories about them and I really wanted to be one of those guys, so it's an incredible honor for me to be recognized as one of them."
It wasn't easy, but Kyle Evans definitely made the most of his decision to return to the mat.
