Player Profile: Tyler VanTassel, Keystone

D9Sports.com and EYT Media are doing a series of player profiles on returning high-school athletes this summer. The year in school listed by the athlete is the year the athlete is entering this fall.

TYLER VANTASSEL – JUNIOR – KEYSTONE

Son of: Stewart & Shannon VanTassel

Sports Played: Football and Wrestling

2016-17 Highlights: Tyler finished second in District 9 wrestling at 195 pounds. He finished the year 24-11 with 10 falls. In football, he made 39 tackles and recovered a fumble.

Post-High School Goals: Tyler plans to attend Pitt to be a chiropractor. He’d like to maybe wrestle in college but will wait and see.

Q&A With Tyler VanTassel

D9Sports: What is your favorite sport to participate in?
TV: Wrestling has to be favorite but nothing matches the feeling of suiting up on a Friday night so that’s a tough decision.

D9: What is your favorite memory, moment, game from playing high school sports?
TV: Qualifying for regionals my freshman year in wrestling or the Karns City (football) game my freshman year even though I wasn’t on the team.

D9: Why do you play high school sports?
TV: Mostly to keep my grades and my behavior straight, haha, but also just the love of the game and it’s just what I do.

D9: Is there a high school player on your team or another team that you enjoy watching play? If so, why?
TV: I love watching my brother David Woodie playing. We’re a dynamic duo at linebacker on the field and best friends off the field. The relationship between us on the field is unbreakable.

D9: When not playing sports I would rather (pick one) – Go to work, play video games, shop, hang out with friends, play pickup sports, go the movies
TV: Hang out with friends.

D9: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
TV: I honestly don’t know.

D9: Who has had the most influence on you as a person?
TV: The people who have influenced me the most aside from my parents because obviously they influence d me the most was everyone who told me I couldn’t do it. Ever since I was a kid in wrestling I was told I was never good enough and My last name wasn’t well known. That itself was enough to light a fire, and along with my parents pushing me every day.

D9: What do you like most about growing up in your hometown?
TV: I love the small community. The fact that everyone who lives in town is at the games on Friday night because it’s a small town. Everyone knows each other. I just like the vibe.

D9: What do you wish you could change about growing up in your hometown?
TV: I wish I would have taken elementary school and even junior high more serious. I wasn’t a very well behaved kid or an academic stand out. I’d do anything to change it.

D9: What question do you wish I would have asked you? And what is the answer to it?
TV: I wish you would have asked about our who helped me the most in sports. That answer has to be narrowed down to two distinct people. Coach Tim Curtis. Most people might not know him because he’s not a very popular coach. Coach Curtis is one of three coaches to have a wrestler at regionals every year along with Brookeville and Redbank. For a program that last year put out five wrestlers on varsity no matter the numbers, he always turns first years into quality wrestlers. I cannot thank the man enough for the lessons he’s taught me. Along with that is Coach Dan Reed. Coach Reed came up me my 10th-grade year and talked me into playing football again because I was gonna focus on wrestling. I told him I’d give it a shot because I wasn’t good at it in previous years. He put countless hours into me and spent exceptional time making me a productive starter on the varsity level. However, we had a rough season, all I have to say is don’t count us out this year. That’s enough on that.

D9: Do you or have you had any siblings or other immediate relatives who have played high school sports?
TV: I have a little brother who is coming up and I tell you what. The little kids a stud and I see him going very far if he puts his head to it.