Dineen fights back for second shot at state
Truth be told, nothing really surprises Marquette wrestling coach Tom Dineen when it comes to his son.
Tom Jr., has spent much of his life as an athlete putting in extra time on the mat. And when that wasn’t good enough, he’d put in extra work on top the extra work he was already doing.
“He’s a different kid,” the coach said. “He does things that. …”
Dineen didn’t finish the sentence. Maybe because it’s hard to describe the indescribable or maybe because his son’s passion for the sport already says it all. That enthusiasm helped make the younger Dineen one of the state’s top competitors and this year kept him ready when opportunity unexpectedly knocked.
The WIAA state individual tournament begins at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Kohl Center in Madison, and by even the most optimistic diagnoses, Dineen’s best hope of being there was a spectator. He broke his right foot in the fall, had surgery in December and was told he wouldn’t be able to return to the mat until late March.
At least that’s what everyone thought.
For as good a wrestler as Dineen is, he is an even better healer. About six weeks ahead of schedule, Dineen was cleared to compete. Two weeks later he is set to make his second straight state appearance at 113 pounds (Division 1). Dineen stayed ready.
“I knew I wasn’t going to be done forever,” he said.
“I knew once I got better I’d be able to wrestle again and just jump right back in. I just pushed myself in here. Every day I come down to practice and do what I can.”
That meant extensive time on the bike and doing circuit work in practice. Still, he was limited. He was using crutches until about a month ago and soon thereafter decided on his own to get rid of his walking boot. About a week later, he was cleared for competition.
The regional meet was just three days away.
“(The doctor) told me I was ready to go, so I was like, I can go around throwing people and doing some crazy stuff again,” he said.
Dineen is 5-1 since his return. He cruised through the regional. At the sectional, he was tested.
Dineen defeated Menomonee Falls’ Ethan Pogorzelski, the sixth-ranked wrestler in the class according to wiwrestling.com, in the semifinal, 8-2, before losing by pin in the final to Arrowhead Jack Ganos, who is ranked fourth this week.
At state, Dineen will face secondranked Zeke Smith of Sauk Prairie in the preliminary round.
“I’m not expecting anything. I’m just going out there to wrestle the best I can,” he said. “I’ll just leave it all on the mat.”
Dineen’s comeback has helped Marquette complete its best seasons in recent years.
The Hilltoppers finished in the top five of every tournament they entered. With Dineen in the lineup, Marquette had enough to edge Nicolet by 101⁄2 points and win its first WIAA regional title. At sectional, the team advanced four wrestlers to state, which the elder Dineen aid equals the most for the program in its WIAA history.
The younger Dineen will be joined at state by freshman Liam Hughes at 106, senior Daniel Carter (160) and senior Andrew Salemme (220). Dineen and Salemme are three-year captains.
“My other son (Ryan) could have been five, so we were right there to do things Marquette has never done,” the coach said. “Those two kids more than their individual accomplishments are pretty responsible for bringing the whole program up.”
Last year after Dineen reached the semifinals and finished third, he sat glumly and watched the finalists warm up. He wanted to reach that position. To get there, his father told him, he had to work three times as hard as he did that season.
Fast forward to the summer. The coach saw his son working out in the basement and wondered what was up.
“Four-hundred pushups, 400 sit ups. There were some weights he was doing and all this other stuff,” Dineen said of his son’s daily regiment. “He says, I want to win it.”