Pousson turns it around, starts cleaning up

Back when he was devilish Dillon, he had a brush with … soap.

But then, what would you expect from a kid who says his mom named him after a soap-opera bad boy?

"I used to be really mean to everybody," Round Lake wrestler Dillon Pousson said. "When I was 6, I used to pick on adults."

And when he spewed foul language, he says his parents made him brush his teeth with … soap.

(I understand such disciplinary actions, as my mom made me wash my mouth out with a bar of soap after I swore one time.)

Once, Pousson said, he was left in "timeout" for two hours because his parents forgot he was in there.

Know what, though?

He stayed put.

"They've made me disciplined," he said of his parents. "Which is good, because you need to be disciplined in wrestling."

Today, it's all good for the former bad boy. A kid who couldn't come across as nicer, who's outgoing and affable, Pousson recently signed a national letter of intent to wrestle for Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, which will compete at the NCAA Division I level next year.

The senior is a two-time North Suburban Conference and regional champion and a three-time sectional qualifier. Pousson qualified for state at 119 pounds last season, going 37-7 with a school-record 24 pins.

You don't achieve that kind of success on the mat without a little discipline.

"He's a good kid, works real hard," said Panthers coach John Jobst, whose successful program boasts current collegiate wrestlers Josh Terrell (Dubuque), Derrick Pousson (Augustana) and Ryan Barnard (Harper).

"He works about seven days a week. He goes to St. Charles (a club) on Sunday, goes to the 'Y' after practice some nights. He's been a four-year starter, he's a team leader this year and really stepping up."

Not that Jobst is surprised. He also coached Dillon's big brothers, Derrick and Dustin, so he knows the kind of tenacity and skill Pousson boys bring to the wrestling room. There's a fourth Pousson brother whose first name starts with the letter D, but if he someday wrestles for the Panthers, it won't be for a long time, as Deon Pousson is only 5.

"They're all different," Jobst said of the three Poussons he's coached. "They all have different personalities and different wrestling styles. Dustin was pretty far out there. Every time I would yell something at him, he would do the exact opposite, so I just stopped yelling at him.

"Derrick got hurt the middle of last season. He wrestled half the season with part of his shoulder hanging out. He bought a brace that was so tight around his chest that he could hardly breathe. He gutted it out, made it to the sectionals and almost made it downstate with one arm, basically."

When Jobst started to talk about Dillon, he got choked up. Jobst held his hand knee-high, explaining that's how tall Dillon was when they first met.

"It's kind of emotional, really," said Jobst, who Dillon says has been like a second father to him. "He was like 8 years old and he said, 'Coach, I want to wear the blue and gold for you.' "

Pousson remembers that day.

"I was a lot younger, though," he clarified. "I was about 3 when I said that. I used to practice upstairs in the wrestling room, where the high school (team) practices, so Coach Jobst got to see me when I was little. I was in love with Round Lake because my mom (Rita) went there. I was a Panther at heart."

And a wrestler, because that's what Poussons do.

Dillon says his mother's two older brothers were wrestlers, and maybe that's where she developed her toughness, which has come in handy raising rough-and-tough boys.

"My mom used to wrestle with me when I was little," Dillon said. "She still does. She tries to, at least. I got a little bit of weight on her. She'll throw some cheap moves in there every once in a while. That way she can keep it close."

Anyone who wrestles Dillon -- no matter what age or gender -- can use all the help he or she can get. He's gone from a 4-foot-11, 98-pound freshman (he was Jobst's starting 103-pounder) to a 5-6½ senior who figures to compete at 130 most of this season. He's grown 3 inches since last wrestling season.

Before he signed with SIUE, Pousson said he was also talking to Cornell, Concordia, Knox and Northern Illinois.

"(SIUE) told me that they would work on my style of wrestling and wouldn't try to change me," Pousson said.

Cougars first-year coach Pat McNamara is thrilled to have successfully recruited a kid who picked up 54 pins in his first three high school seasons. As a club wrestler, Pousson is a former freestyle state champ and Greco state runner-up.

"Dillon is a quality Illinois wrestler that I am excited to get in and start working with," McNamara said on SIUE's Web site. "He is someone that should be able to come in and immediately help out our program."

Pousson's high school coach knows SIUE is getting a kid who's committed to his sport and who'll again proudly wear his school's colors.

"He has a lot of knowledge of the sport," Jobst said. "He knows how to train and how to keep his weight down."

And, how to be an exemplary student-athlete who's respectful to his coaches and his peers.

Those devilish Dillon days are long gone.

"When I was a freshman, I was really quiet," Pousson said. "I didn't talk at all because I was new and I didn't feel I would fit in. Then everyone welcomed me nicely so I became more outgoing and that's how I became who I am now. I try to help out everyone as best as I can. I'm really talkative now. Coach can't shut me up at practice."

Keep talking, Dillon. People want to hear what you have to say.