Pick a sport and there’s a good chance that Joran Foss has tried it, and excelled at it.

The recent graduate of Aberdeen Central was a key member of the Golden Eagles football team last fall, and won 36 matches this past winter for the Central wrestling squad that finished runner-up at the state tournament.

He then placed in both the shot put and discus at the state track and field meet this past spring, and is currently a starter for the Aberdeen Smittys baseball team this summer. Oh, and by the way, he played two seasons of basketball while in middle school.

Asked about lessons that he learned from sports that will carry through to the rest of his life, Foss said it comes down to one simple thing.

“Well for football it was do your job. Once you did your job, then worry about the rest of the team,” Foss said. “That O-line, if one person doesn’t do their job, then it all just comes falling down, so that’s kind of what I’ve tried to live by, just do my job.”

It’s safe to say Foss has done his job remarkably well.

Despite not wrestling in middle school, Foss returned to the mat and made his presence felt. He particularly enjoyed duals where the outcome was decided in the final match where he took centerstage.

“It’s kind of nerve-wrecking,” Foss said. “You definitely feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, especially if it’s close.”

While that can be stressful, pulling out a win for the team in that situation is worth the pressure.

“There’s not much like it,” Foss said.

Perhaps the biggest moment in his senior campaign came at a track meet where Foss threw a career-best 54 feet in the shot put, eclipsing his previous best by nearly seven feet.

“I knew I could throw farther. There was a couple of things I had to fix,” Foss said. “I think there was some adrenaline after that last throw, and knowing I already had first so there was nothing to lose.”

Foss also was a part of the Smittys high school team in the spring, but was limited to handful of games because it took place the same time as track and field.

“I kind of prioritized track,” Foss said, “because I have all summer to play baseball.”

Foss pitches, plays first base and also is a designated hitter for the squad.

He said pitching carries a bit more responsibility than being an infielder.

“Pitching, you’ve got the rest of the team on your back,” Foss said, “so you kind of have to perform well.”

He tries to keep mental notes on each hitter and what happened in previous at-bats to help his fielders and also help himself for which pitch to throw and what not to throw.

“When you’re pitching, it’s much easier to keep track of stuff like that,” Foss said. “You’ll just give your players a heads up, he hit it here last time or he hit it up the middle.”

He also has a track record of what might not have worked the first time.

“If they hammer a fastball,” Foss said, “I’m probably not going to throw much more of that.”

Foss has a solid working relationship with his catcher so they know what pitch to throw.

“The catcher has to know which pitch you really like in certain situations,” Foss said. “I’d say me and Talan Dutenhoeffer have a really good connection that way.”

Being a pitcher also benefits Foss as a hitter. He keeps track of what opposing pitchers are throwing so he knows what to look for when he steps into the batter’s box.

“You’ll start to adjust after your first time through and that’s the same with pitching,” Foss said. “You have to mix up your looks with them, because after their first time through the order, they’re going to start to adjust.”

Foss said the mental aspect of sports plays a key role, just sometimes in different ways. In baseball, he has to learn to adjust throughout the course of a game.

“When you walk a couple guys you start to kind of  get a little frustrated, obviously,” Foss said. “You just got to relax and try to make an adjustment, because your team is counting on you.”

Whereas the mental element in a sport like wrestling can often spell the difference between winning and losing.

“Wrestling is obviously a lot of mental stuff,” Foss said, “because it’s mentally hard.”

And when wrestlers are relatively even physically, it can quickly become a war of wills in a tight match.

“(Central wrestling coach Donnie) Boden always preaches this, you’ve got to just be mentally tougher than the other guy,” Foss said. “They’re going to be tired and you’re going to be tired, but you just have to push through.”

While there is a way to physically condition for grueling matches, Foss said the work put in the wrestling room provides a positive impact on the mental side of things as well.

“Practice is really the only place to do it,” Foss said of the mental preparation. “You condition every day and that’s where you have to build that mental toughness.”

Foss and the Smittys are currently trying to build that mental toughness as they struggle amidst a 12-game losing streak.

Foss, who is bound for Augustana to major in strength and conditioning in the fall, said the squad is just a few little things away from turning it around.

“There’s definitely a couple things we have to fix. Everyone’s going to have something to fix,” Foss said. “We’ve got to batten down the hatches.”

Foss, who has shown senior leadership in all of his other sports, is a natural leader for the Smittys as well. He said the best advice he has given to his teammates is to be aggressive when they come up to bat.

“Have an approach at the plate,” Foss said. “You have to sit first pitch fastball because they’re going to throw it, and that might be the last good pitch you can hit. That’s always my approach.”

While their record isn’t what they want it to be, Foss and the Smittys are still enjoying the sport of baseball and that won’t change.

“It’s still really fun. The group of guys that we get to play with are really fun,” Foss said. “They find the joy in whatever’s going on.”

Lead in part by a guy that always does his job.