Submitted photo Fort Dodge’s Dreshaun Ross stands with his third consecutive Trinity Award.

In a lot of ways, Dreshaun Ross is your typical fourth grader.

He likes different sports, depending on the season. He plays Fortnite. He has fun with his friends and classmates at Cooper Elementary School.

When the Fort Dodge 10-year-old steps on a wrestling mat, though, Ross separates himself from his peers — not just locally or regionally, but on a national basis.

Yet through it all, his unassuming demeanor never wavers.

”That’s what we’re most proud of: the way he handles himself, no matter what he accomplishes,” Dreshaun’s father, Andre, said. ”He’s still just a kid, and he enjoys doing what he’s doing. He doesn’t get a big head about anything; winning or losing doesn’t affect him much either way.”

Dreshaun may not flinch at the result of a match, but his specialty is winning — something he’s been doing at a high level for quite some time. Last weekend, at the Reno World Championships in Reno, Nev., Ross secured his third consecutive Trinity Award — a coveted honor given to a wrestler who wins championships at a given weight in the prestigious Kickoff Classic, Tulsa Nationals and Reno Worlds events.

”It felt pretty good to win (the Trinity Award) again, but it really doesn’t mean that much to me (in the big picture),” Dreshaun said. ”I’m just doing this for fun. I don’t take it too serious. I’m only 10.”

Ross started competing in tournaments at the tender age of three, and it became obvious almost immediately that he was a natural. The gold medals and trophies followed with regularity.

A precocious physical figure already checking in at a chiseled 110 pounds, Ross reeled off four consecutive pins at Reno to once again finish the final leg of the triple crown at his weight in the 10-and-under bracket.

Ross enjoys the journey without focusing too much on the results. He did lose once this season — at USA Folkstyle Nationals in Cedar Falls last month — but Andre said Dreshaun’s reaction afterward was just as satisfying as any of his achievements to date.

”He didn’t dwell on it; he got right back up and took true second,” said Andre, who wrestled at Iowa Central. ”It’s obviously great to win, and don’t get me wrong: he hates losing. But we’ve tried our best to instill a sense of perspective in all our kids, that winning is a fleeting feeling and losing is never the end of the world — especially at this age.”

Andre has used Dreshaun’s older brother, Fort Dodge Senior High junior Drevon Ross, as an example of athletes developing at different ages.

”Drevon never placed at AAU state, and now he’s a two-time state placewinner (for the Dodgers),” Andre said. ”(The youth meets) don’t really mean much in the grand scheme of things. You can be a star at 10 years old, but if you stop working hard and stop developing, a year from now, other athletes catch and pass you and no one necessarily remembers what happened (the season before) anyway.”

Andre and his wife, Fort Dodge Senior High graduate Amy (Echevarria) Ross, try their best to balance family time between tournaments and other activities to help avoid burnout. Drevon, Dreshaun, Alexis and Damarion Ross have all been staples on the youth wrestling scene, but ”we’ve focused a lot more on doing other things and haven’t (entered in) as many weekend tournaments as we could or used to.”

”We let the kids make their own decisions, which often has nothing to do with wrestling,” Andre said. ”Dreshaun really likes playing football. We’re not going to discourage that. We want them to try new things and look beyond (just one sport).”

Dreshaun isn’t the only Ross making waves nationally. Alexis, age 13, just missed out on a Trinity Award of her own after capturing championships at the Kickoff Classic and Tulsa Nationals. She finished second in Reno after being ranked No. 1 all season long in her 12U division. Damarion made the trip and competed as well.

The family’s oldest sister, Alaysha, is a senior state champion cheerleader at FDSH and was on the Homecoming court last fall.

Dreshaun continues to take his achievements and accolades in stride. He said it’s ”cool” to travel the country as a member of Sebolt Wrestling Academy while participating in the sport he loves, and enjoys rooting his older brother and the Dodgers on back in Fort Dodge.

”Winning a team state title (like the 2017-18 FDSH squad) someday would be really cool,” Dreshaun said. ”I’d like to wrestle in college someday and (compete) for national titles.”

For now, Dreshaun knows his family will always be there to keep him grounded — and the mood light.

”Drevon found out just (Tuesday) that the Trinity (Award) record is six in a row,” Andre said. ”So we were messing with (Dreshaun), telling him he’ll have to win it now every year through middle school to (get the national record). We were laughing and saying, ‘you still have a long way to go.”’