Baylor Shunk looking to make Penns Valley wrestling history this year
As Penns Valley wrestler Baylor Shunk rode the bus to school the other day, he visualized taking the top spot on the podium at the PIAA championships this year.
He had been thinking about his disappointing, last-second loss to Wilson’s Jon Consorti earlier this season, replaying the final minute of that match in his head. But after reliving the match and what he did wrong against the state medalist, Shunk thought about the big picture and how badly he wants to win a state title in his weight class in 2018.
He pictured himself standing on top the podium at the Giant Center in Hershey before thinking about what he needs to do to become Penns Valley’s first state champion in 55 years.
“To be the next one would be awesome,” Shunk said. “I love wrestling for Penns Valley. I love representing Penns Valley, so to win their second-ever state title would mean the world to me.”
Shunk is pushing himself at practice every day with that goal in mind. He’s impressed his coaches with his work ethic and love for the sport from elementary school to junior high to high school. Now, the Rams junior has channeled that passion for wrestling to become one of the state’s top competitors.
He made history last year when he set the program’s single-season wins record with 41 and took seventh at the PIAA championships. With that finish, he added his name to Penns Valley’s banner of PIAA state medalists hanging in the multi-purpose room where the team practices. Another banner hangs next to that one honoring the school’s PIAA state champions. Max Dinges is the only name on the list.
This year, Shunk and his coaches believe he can achieve his goal and join Dinges, who captured his state title in 1963 at 180 pounds.
“He can win a state title. He’s in the hunt. He can do it,” Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker said. “Regardless of what he does get, I know Baylor’s giving everything he has. You won’t be disappointed with whatever the outcome is because he’s going to do his very best.”
That’s been Shunk’s approach since he started wrestling in kindergarten. Brian Royer, who coached Shunk in elementary school, recalls how quickly the young wrestler picked up the sport. He knew how to move on the mat and pushed himself to get better at practice. Mike Wise saw those same traits in Shunk when he first coached him in seventh grade.
“He’s just a really tough kid, and you wish you had 100 of him,” Wise said.
Royer and Wise both marvel at Shunk’s wrestling knowledge. Shunk estimates he thinks about wrestling 16 hours a day — “Whenever I’m not sleeping,” he said — and he tries to absorb everything he can. He thinks about his goals and previous matches on the bus ride to school and during classes. And he still remembers matches from junior high, and he can recall specific scores.
“If you want to know wrestling, I ask him questions,” Wise said.
Added Royer: “He’s an encyclopedia. NCAA, high school — if you want to know who wrestled who 20 years ago.”
His memory allows him to replay past matches in his head like his loss to Consorti at the Anthracite Duals on Jan. 6. Shunk cycles through the final minute of that match. Consorti used a headlock to record a takedown to edge Shunk in the final second of the match. Shunk even remembered seeing Consorti use the same move at the 2016 PIAA championships against Mount Union’s Josh Boozel. The Rams wrestler sat on the mat after the loss, frustrated that he started to relax at the end.
“I felt like I wanted to throw up right there on the mat,” Shunk said. “At that moment, I could have went and jumped in a garbage can. I felt terrible. It was like I had one second to wrestle, and I stopped for one second.”
Since that match, he’s been focused on wrestling the full six minutes at practices. He’s also working to drop to the 106-pound weight class for the postseason. Shunk, who has been wrestling at 113 and owns an 18-3 record this season, said he follows a daily meal plan laid out by his mother.
“The food’s always going to be there,” Shunk said. “The opportunity for a state title’s not going to be.”
So Shunk has sacrificed drinking Galliker’s chocolate milk for the past few months as he works toward his ultimate goal. He tries to avoid thinking about winning that state title. Even when he did imagine achieving his goal on the bus to school, he quickly reminded himself to stay focused on each match and practice along the way.
“I kind of brought myself back down,” Shunk said. “I was like, ‘Listen, we got more work to do. We have to keep striving. Keep pushing yourself if you want that to become a reality.’
“So that’s what I’m going to keep doing.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2018 at 7:55 PM with the headline "Baylor Shunk looking to make Penns Valley wrestling history this year."