Dowagiac’s Aubrey Huston isn’t one for drawing attention to himself.

He quietly works hard and tries to get better each day.

“If I get around people I know I can be kind of loud, but in wrestling I’m not as vocal,” Huston said.

That hard work has paid off as he qualified for Saturday’s Division 3 Individual Regional at Lake Odessa.

Huston finished fourth at last Saturday’s district at Paw Paw.

At the district, Huston (23-20) was seeded No. 7. He faced Paw Paw’s Taylor Dean in the first round and pinned him in 5:53.

He then faced Coloma’s Jerry Collins, who pinned him in 1:56

In the consolation bracket, Huston defeated Bobby Bottom of Delton Kellogg 3-1 and Armondo Cortez of South Haven, and defeated him 10-8.

In the consolation finals, Huston fell to Matt Johnson of Fennville 9-1.

“We knew that if he wrestled well he had a chance to move on,” Dowagiac coach Matt Alward said. “He had to win two overtime matches to advance, including one of those matches against a kid he had lost to earlier in the season.”

“Aubrey is a hard worker. His work ethic and conditioning are the reason he was able to advance,” he said.

Huston said he likes to start slowly and figure out what his opponent likes to do. He also expects to go the distance each match.

“In the first period I kind of wait a while and look for my opening,” he said. “If I am facing a really good wrestler I don’t do much at the start and wait a while before I execute a move. If I am wrestling someone who is not as good I will be more active.

“I try to save myself for the third period because almost all of my matches go six minutes. So conditioning is important.”

Huston is also a member of the Dowagiac soccer team and credits his conditioning to the work he puts in on the pitch.

“In soccer we do a lot of running and we are always in shape,” he said.

At Saturday’s regional, Huston will face Jordon Bennett (41-1) of host Lake Odessa Lakewood in the opening round.

Wrestling at Lake Odessa is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.