D-Pom adds another accomplishment to his impressive list
by Peter Jakey–Managing Editor
March couldn?t have gone better for Devin Pommerenke of Rogers City. The junior heavyweight defended his state title in Auburn Hills early in the month and ended with a high school national championship at FloNationals Sunday in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. D-Pom, the 18th most recruited heavyweight in the nation, according to Win Magazine, took a number-one seed into the tournament and pinned his way through the bracket, just as he did at The Palace.
?I was more nervous than I usually am,? he said. ?I had the number-one seed, so it was mine to lose.? The final victory came against two-time Pennsylvania state runner-up, Jeff Tarley, who might have thought he was at a mixed martial arts event.
?The kid was hitting Devin in the face,? said Wendy Pommerenke, Devin?s mom, who drove down for the finals. Tarley was called for two unsportsmanlike conducts in the short match and gave up a stalling point. Tarley didn?t mince words about want he wanted to do to D-Pom, and in earshot of the official. Devin said, ?check out the score, princess!? It was 3-0 when he ended the match with a second-period fall.
?I told Devin, this was not his day to wrestle the D-Pom,? said Wendy.
POMMERENKE WAS one of four national champs from Team Michigan. The tournament had 32 of the best wrestlers in each weight class, from coast to coast. ?He was pretty dominant,? said Joe Wood, his Team Michigan coach. ?The kid expects to win, it?s as simple as that. He knows how to pin people and he does it well.? It?s Pommerenke?s first national title as a high schooler. He won a national tournament as a seventh-grader. ?I?m pretty impressed,? said dad Rhiny Pommerenke. ?I didn?t expect anything like this. I couldn?t be prouder.?
Rogers City wrestling coach Pat Lamb said his heavyweight is a determined young man, who?s not going to be denied his goals, and is always working to improve. ?He?s probably taken two days off since the state tournament. He doesn?t believe in taking time off.? ?Everybody?s gunning for me,? said D-Pom. ?There is no rest. I have a lot more tournaments coming up.? He will be traveling to national tournaments in Fargo, North Dakota and Salt Lake City, Utah to mention a couple of the big ones and that will keep him traveling through July. ?I love it,? said Devin, when asked what drives him. ?It keeps me going. If I didn?t have wrestling, I wouldn?t have much. I try in school, but I?m no brainiac. I try to be good looking, but I?m no super model. I try to be funny, but I?m not Chris Farley. I get out on the mat, strap?em up and I?m my own person.?
WHAT POMMERENKE has is tremendous focus. ?I think it?s his dedication to what his goals are,? said Lamb. ?He knows wrestling is a means for him to go on to the next level in college and getting an education. Devin said he used to write his goals, now they are bullet points in his head. At the top would be team success for the Hurons next year, a third state title as a senior and to have a college lined up to continue his career. That probably won?t be a problem with schools from Michigan, the Big 10, the Big 12 and schools out east, wooing him. ?His team goals are probably are just as, if not more important than his individual goals,? said Lamb.
Pommerenke may have national and state titles on his resume, but it?s the person, not the title holder, people adore. ?I?m continuously getting compliments,? said Wendy. ?Not just because of his wrestling, but for who Devin is. If you ever see him in a crowd, everybody is laughing.? ?He doesn?t forget a face or a name, and he?s got a very jovial personality,? said Lamb. ?He has a very wide network of friends and acquaintances out there.? And all his friends will agree with one thing, the big fellow has the gift of gab. Just pick a subject:
? WORKING WITH the young wrestlers: ?I really try to get across to the kids that working hard is what will make you a champion. It?s not cool shoes, the best headgear, the best singlet and the coolest moves. That?s not what will make you a champion, hard work will make you a champion.?
? Goals in college: ?I want to go to college to be a student-athlete, not just an athlete. I want to become an English major and study pre-law. Go into politics or be an attorney.?
? Leisure time: ?I don?t have a lot of hobbies. I sleep a lot. I like to hunt. I like to get out in the woods. Pretty soon I?ll be out picking mushrooms. I like to hunt deer and turkey and do some fishing.?
? Being the 18th ranked heavyweight recruit: ?There are some people that are better on paper. I haven?t wrestled them yet. I won?t tal
? Rewriting the record books: ?That?s just a nice side dish that comes along with the meal.? Pommerenke couldn?t ask for better support from family that makes sure he gets to the tournaments, supports him with their cheers, or takes beatings in practice. Someone has to practice against ?the D-Pom,? and that?s usually his brother, freshman Caleb Pommerenke. ?I couldn?t ask for a better workout partner,? said Devin. ?If I?m having a bad day, Caleb is going to be dragged down with me.?
When Devin?s not drilling until his knees are numb, he does what most 17-year-olds are doing: trying to keep up with Algebra 2, or visiting his friend?s houses. It?s easy to lose sight that this levelheaded young man, with explosive power, still has another year of high school left. ?I?ve told him all of his life,? said Wendy, ?don?t let anybody tell you you can?t do something. Write your own book. Write your own story.? That he has, with more chapters to come.