Beason’s best to come
Belleville West transfer finds sports at River Forest, and success is finding him
River Forest senior De’Aris Beason couldn’t necessarily have envisioned this.
Qualifying for a wrestling semistate? Starting at linebacker and left tackle?
Not when he began participating in both sports as a sophomore after transferring from Belleville West in Illinois.
“I didn’t really know anyone, and I wanted to meet new people,” Beason said. “I found football and wrestling. Ever since then, I fell in love with them. I love it here.”
The summer after his freshman year, Beason visited his brother, whom he hadn’t seen “for a while,” he said. It went so well that Beason moved to live with his brother.
“Him and his family really invited me in,” Beason said.
As he adjusted at his new school, sports entered the picture. River Forest coach Mark Hidalgo has seen it unfold. Also the wrestling coach, Hidalgo took over the football team this season after having been an assistant.
“He didn’t really play football his first year here, then last year he played,” Hidalgo said. “He wrestled for me last year, and he wrestled for me the year before. But he was trying to find his way around here that first year. He didn’t have rides. But we got a hold of him.”
The 6-foot-1, 210-pound Beason leads the Ingots (2-0) with 18 tackles, four for loss and two sacks entering their game at Wheeler on Friday. They recorded backto-back shutouts against East Chicago Central and Calumet.
“I’m flying to the ball, making my reads, making tackles,” Beason said. “I’m just doing my assignments, staying within the defense. We’re just playing hard and having a good time.”
Beason had 18 tackles last season, when he also got snaps on offense at guard, tackle and tight end. He offered a straightforward assessment of his performance.
“I wasn’t very good last year,” he said.
But Beason has gotten bigger and stronger since last season.
He also mentioned last wrestling season, the first in which he actually competed in a match, as a turning point. He reached the East Chicago Central Semistate at 195 pounds.
“It was fun, especially since I don’t have a ton of experience wrestling,” Beason said. “Just one full year in the room really changed my whole skill set, my