All the right notes

Whether it’s the crescendo of fan cheers following another wrestling victory or the hip hop sounds at a dance or reception, nothing makes East Valley’s Clete Hanson happier than making sweet music.

Wrestling came first, but “music is definitely my passion,” he said.

Hanson, in his fourth year on the Knights’ varsity, will become the school’s all-time wins leader this year and already has qualified for three state tournaments with two top-three places at 171 pounds.

He’s also an entrepreneur, the owner with older brother Matt of a music business called GunDell Productions.

If it sounds like the two enterprises keep him busy, that’s the way Hanson prefers it.

“I have to be doing something. I try to fill up my spare time,” the senior said. “When I have down time I feel like I’m wasting something, even if I take a nap.”

He has worked at wrestling since he was little. Beginning in sixth grade he began changing sprinkler pipes on a neighbor’s alfalfa field. When he discovered he could make money, he developed the flair for business that led to the purchase of equipment and the musical gig, said his father, EV coach Craig.

Clete is also EV’s Associated Student Body president and carries a 3.7 GPA, primarily because of the effort he puts into his studies, said his dad.

“I’ve always had a leadership role in class and kind of jumped into it,” Clete said of his run for president. “I like being involved.”

Clete began wrestling before he turned 4, the natural offshoot of being the son of a coach.

“He would be in the practice room doing stuff, but when he felt it was play time, practice was over,” Craig said. “The practices got more serious as he got older.”

Clete and a fellow Greater Spokane League standout, University’s Brian Owen, became friends traveling the freestyle circuit in the off-season.

“They wrestled together at all the major tournaments,” said Craig, remembering only one time that they didn’t compete together.

Clete won his first state freestyle title in the second grade, has medaled in Western Regional and national school boy tournaments and two years ago participated in China.

But for all the time spent wrestling and all of his success, he isn’t typical among his competitive peers.

“He’s not that intense wrestler you picture training 24 hours a day,” Craig said. “He’s not obsessed with winning. He told his mom, ‘I don’t know why everybody gets worked up about this stuff. I just like to wrestle.’ “

Clete agrees, although winning isn’t unimportant. When he finished second to Aberdeen’s Erich Schmidke as a sophomore, he said it was a disappointment.

“As long as you’re in the wrestling room, you might as well win,” he said.

But it isn’t so much about the competition as the allure of the sport. It’s about goal-setting and the discipline necessary to succeed. Wrestling is more about the person Clete is and the hard work and challenges on which he thrives.

“When you work so hard to accomplish something, there’s no better feeling,” said Clete. “But I’m not one of those guys who wants to win a national title. I draw a lot from how tough wrestling is and I just wanted to be tough.”

Clete qualified for state as a freshman 152-pounder, losing twice.

“He should have been a placer,” Craig said. “We had it all mapped out that he’d finish in seventh place. Then one of the top seeds was upset and dropped into his bracket.”

The next year he finished second and last year found himself in a loaded 3A bracket with two nationally ranked wrestlers who had moved from 4A. One was already a state champion, the other a second-place finisher. Hanson placed third behind them.

“I wanted to win after being second the year before, but that weight couldn’t have been tougher,” he said.

So far he’s unbeaten at 189 pounds, eclipsed 100 victories for his career and has won two early-season tournaments. The first was in Sedro Woolley in overtime over Aberdeen’s Garrett Rutledge and last weekend at the Tri-State in Coeur d’Alene he beat Rutledge in overtime again in the semifinals, then edged Lakeside state champion Reid Chivers 9-8 for the title.

As for the music, Clete said he played trumpet in middle school and bass in the jazz band, but never took it further than that.

Along the way he acquired some turntables, figured there was money to be made and with his brother went into the business of booking dances. It has proved lucrative and they now have a studio at home.

An eclectic athlete with an international bent, Clete said he’s leaning toward continuing his wrestling career while pursuing a business and music degree at Simon Fraser University near Vancouver, British Columbia.

“I’m not one of those guys who can bust out on a piano or knows everything,” he said.

But he would like to learn the instrument along the way and find his niche in the entertainment industry.

He said wrestling there will help him focus on the international style he prefers.

“It’s a great sport and my career has been extremely satisfying,” Clete said. “I wish I had a state title in there somewhere, but I’ve been All-American at national tournaments, competed in big tournaments and traveled to China.”

By keeping busy, Clete Hanson has already packed a lot of experiences into a life just under way.