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Vance to wrestle at NIACC, plans to get into MMA

Press photo by John Burbridge Already an accomplished wrestler, Dakota Vance is taking boxing and jiu jitsu lessons to better prepare himself to follow his father’s footsteps into the rough and tumble world of mixed martial arts.
Press photo by John Burbridge
Already an accomplished wrestler, Dakota Vance is taking boxing and jiu jitsu lessons to better prepare himself to follow his father’s footsteps into the rough and tumble world of mixed martial arts.
By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — There are second-generation wrestlers.

Dakota Vance plans to become a second-generation mixed martial artist.

“I will definitely be an MMA fighter some day,” the Charles City teenager said.

A lofty if not dangerous commitment for a young man. But when it comes to MMA, Vance knows the ropes … or rather the chain-links that surrounds the octagon.

“I was a little worried for him at times, but I knew he knew what he was doing,” Vance said of his father, Chad Vance, a former MMA fighter who boasted winning records as both an amatuer and professional fighter.

Before his father’s bouts, a Dakota — then a grade-schooler — would often lead the fighter’s entourage on way to the cage while holding the American Fighting Association championship belt Chad earned after going undefeated in four rapid-succession bouts in a single night.

An accomplished high school wrestler, Vance is taking boxing lessons and learning the deft submission-hold science of jiu jitsu to better prepare him for MMA.

“I know I can take someone down,” Vance said, “but I don’t want to be choked out once we get there.”

Though MMA may be in Vance’s future, he still has some unfinished business to attend to when it comes to wrestling.

“I want to be a national champion some day,” said Vance, who has decided to wrestle for Northern Iowa Area Community College this upcoming school season.

“It’s a two-year school, and maybe after I’m done there, I’ll see if I could get with a Division 1 program,” Vance said, “or maybe go right into (MMA).”

This past high school wrestling season while grappling for Rockford as a 170-pound, Vance had 39 wins — 27 of them by fall.

He qualified for the State Wrestling Tournament. Despite having 10 pounds and much of his strength and energy sapped due to the flu, Vance managed to become a podium placer.

“There were times I thought I would never make it to the state tournament,” said Vance, who was a promising wrestler coming up through the Charles City program, but a run-in with a coach prompted his eventual transfer to Rockford.

“I’m just glad I got another chance,” Vance said. “But then I got sick after I qualified.

“There was no way I was going to wuss out, but I knew my matches would have to be short to have a chance of me winning them because I didn’t have the stamina if they went long.”

After losing his opening-round bout, Vance won his next two consolation matches with first-period falls.

After losing a gruelling decision in his subsequent consolation bout, Vance was physically unable to wrestle in the seventh-place match and had to bow out with a forfeit and an eighth-place finish.

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