Gehl making his mark in mixed martial arts

“After high school I’m definitely wanting to bring it to the next stage where hopefully I can become professional and hopefully get to the UFC—that level is the goal,” he says.

What is it that Zach loves about martial arts so much?

“I was originally in team sports like football and that never really clicked with me, but getting into martial arts, it’s an individual sport, so there is no way that someone can lose for you or win for you,” he says. “It’s only you against another opponent, but you have complete control of what happened, so that’s definitely been a huge reason why I’ve decided to take this path, because it’s just one-on-one competition and it’s just something that really jives with me.”

Gehl says, like any other sport, he started small and built up his skill level.

“My first year of competitions was all local tournaments. This is kind of like the story where you start at the bottom, because the first year I didn’t win one match or win any medals. Eventually you start figuring things out and just keep training, and training five days a week, and you kind of just get to a point where you start learning.

“It was tough for me because I’m a really bad dyslexic so that really threw a wrench into learning because it is hard with the co-ordination, but after a year it really helped, and martial arts started clicking and I was able to figure it out, and I’m here now.”

Gehl says he knew right from his first class that he liked the sport.

“Obviously the first class you don’t know what you’re doing but after it I was like ‘you know, this is really great.’ It was something that I need to keep doing. You find what you like to do and you just stick with it.”

Gehl says his biggest accomplishments to date are three world medals. He says some of his latest fights, like the one in Reno recently, were also big accomplishments for him. Even though he didn’t win, his competitor was 10 years older than him, and fighting at a high level, which makes him realize he has the potential to compete.

“Just being able to compete in this level is amazing, and then to win medals at it is even better,” he says.

Gehl says his fight in Reno was the fourth of its type—an invitational fight in the adult bracket. “They call you and put you up against the best guy that they can find,” he says.

What kind of training and time commitment is needed to compete at this level?

“In an entire week, I actually did calculate this, and it was 27 hours a week that I train, and that’s including grappling, striking, mixed martial arts and strength and conditioning training.

“My school has been very accommodating because in the afternoon, after lunch for the last three years, I have correspondence classes on the computer, and I can do that and work around my schedule.