Last Wednesday afternoon, Jake Kallestad got in his pick-up truck and drove for 15 hours.
The Dickinson State wrestler had made up his mind over the Easter holiday that he was going to find a way to compete at the University National Championships in Akron, Ohio.
"I kind of thought, 'What the heck,' " said Kallestad, the NAIA's national runner-up at heavyweight last winter.
Ten days after making his decision and returning to the wrestling room for some training sessions, Kallestad hit the road by himself. It seemed the best, if not only, way for him to reach the tournament.
Kallestad left Dickinson around 2 p.m. Wednesday. He drove more than 900 miles to the outskirts of Chicago before stopping at a truck stop Thursday morning and taking a nap in his pick-up.
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By 5 p.m. Thursday, he had made it to Akron. On Friday evening, Kallestad weighed in and registered to compete in the University Freestyle national tournament at 96 kilograms (211.5 pounds).
On Sunday, after seven matches, Kallestad became the first-ever Blue Hawk to place at the tournament held by USA Wrestling, which uses it as a way to help select future team members for international competition.
Kallestad reached the semifinals before falling to eventual champion Clayton Foster, an Oklahoma State freshman competing for the Gator Wrestling Club. The DSU junior finished 5-2 overall with four decisions and one pin and took fifth place while competing against some of the top wrestlers in the nation in his weight class.
"It just tells you he loves to compete," said DSU coach Thadd O'Donnell, who was a bit taken aback when Kallestad first told him he wanted to wrestle at the tournament.
Nonetheless, it didn't take much convincing for O'Donnell to allow the trip after Kallestad shrewdly weaved it into a conversation the day after he decided he wanted to go.
"He's talking and 10 minutes into the conversation is like, 'Oh yeah and I think I'm going to go out to University Nationals.' " O'Donnell said. "... We knew when he went out there, he's not going to waste his time and just go out there for a trip. He definitely is going to make the trip worth it."
The Belgrade, Mont., native didn't afford himself many frills along the way either. Instead of getting a hotel room, he opted to stay in his tent and sleep in a sleeping bag.
"I've camped out a lot and enjoy sleeping outside. It was kind of nice," Kallestad said. "It was no Holiday Inn Express, that's for sure."
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Because he went by himself, Kallestad had to register by himself while most other wrestlers arrived as members of club teams. He registered under "Team Blue Hawk."
Because Kallestad didn't bring a coach with him, he didn't have help in his corner for most of his matches. However, Harvard assistant coach Pat Owen -- a cousin of DSU senior wrestler Brett Owen -- gave Kallestad support during his final matches.
"He's a really good coach," Kallestad said. "I don't think he's ever seen me wrestle before, but he still was able to help me a lot."
Pat Owen knew Kallestad from his high school days when he wrestled at the Cadet Nationals, which run in conjunction with University Nationals.
"I wanted to make sure he had somebody helped coaching him," Owen said. "Then he told me he had driven out. ... I had brought three guys from my team from Harvard. They thought it was almost a legendary story."
O'Donnell said the story of Kallestad's trip and what he was able to do at the tournament is a bit unbelievable.
Then again, he says, it was Kallestad.
"It fits Jake's personality," O'Donnell said. "He's definitely a competitor."
