Tim Hester thinks outside the box.

The Shorewood senior rides a unicycle, drives a truck that’s jacked up four feet off the ground and delivers seven Enterprise newspaper routes every week.

“He’s a goofball,” said teammate Matt Jensen, the Thunderbirds’ other senior co-captain and occasional sparring partner. But “he’s a good guy.”

It’s natural then, that Hester has invented his own wrestling move. Simply known as “the move” to his coaches and teammates, it’s a move that no one else does. No one has figured out how to counteract it as Hester marches toward the state meet Feb. 15-16 at the Tacoma Dome. He placed second last year at 189 pounds.

“He has to be a heavy favorite for the state championship, to repeat to get back into the final,” Shorewood wrestling coach Arnie Moreno said. “But there’s going to be some good wrestlers out there, there’s some wrestlers that are ready. I think Tim’s ready.”

Hester used “the move” to beat Toshinori Tokuyama of the Japanese National Team Jan. 8. He was the only Western Conference wrestler to beat his Japanese opponent at the exhibition meet.

“When you go to wrestle people like that, nobody expects you to win those matches,” Hester said.

Hester, who is ranked No. 1 at 189 pounds in Class 4A by the Washington Wrestling Report, also beat No. 4 Rudy Johanson of Edmonds-Woodway earlier this season using the move.

“He’s got great hips,” said Hester’s club coach, Chad Requa of the Wrestling Rhinos. “That’s what makes that work. He doesn’t ever stop.”

Hester developed the move the summer after his sophomore year at USA Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D. He finished in the top eight in Greco-Roman and freestyle that year. The move was born from Hester’s Greco skills, which utilize the upper body.

Hester sets up the move by tying his opponents’ arms up. He overhooks one arm and underhooks the other, and wraps or snakes his leg around his opponent’s nearest leg. Once Hester’s there, he tries to entice the other wrestler to move in or go for his other leg and then Hester takes down or throws his opponent. He arches and flips on top of the other wrestler, using his opponent’s momentum. From there he can employ a head and arm move and go for a near fall or pin.

“That’s what he did to the Japanese wrestler, it’s what he did to Rudy,” Moreno said. “The Japanese wrestler wouldn’t take a single (leg) on him. Tim has a way of forcing that move when it’s not there.”

“He has probably the best balance that I’ve ever seen,” Moreno said. “Tim’s developed into a very unique wrestler; you may not see somebody wrestle like him. Tim on just his basic sound fundamentals is very, very good. He doesn’t let himself get out of position, his footwork is excellent. But he’s so unique and different that he can do stuff that other kids cannot do just because of his balance and quickness.”

Hester’s attack comes mostly from the upper body, but he’s got a good lower level attack too, Requa said.

If Hester is up against somebody who isn’t falling into the move, he’ll adjust and go to something else, Requa said.

In 2006, Hester’s sophomore year, he became the first Shorewood wrestler to get to state in 20 years. He went 23-3 during the regular season his sophomore year and went on to state where he went 0-2. He had surgery on a knee after the season. He went 23-0 his junior year, lost in the district meet to Johanson, but came back to win regionals and finish second at state. After last year, he had shoulder surgery. So far this season, he’s 22-0.

Hester always looks relaxed before matches, often lounging on his back in quiet contemplation.

“He’s confident in what he does,” Requa said. “He’s comfortable being the guy they’re gunning for.”

Hester and defending state 4A 171-pound champion Casey Finnicum from Mountlake Terrace were supposed to be the top two wrestlers in 4A at 189 pounds this year, but Finnicum elected to have surgery on his ankle and his season ended.

The two wrestled each other in the Lynnwood-based Wrestling Rhinos club when Hester first joined with his mother’s approval in seventh grade.

“Casey for awhile was beating him up pretty good,” said Requa. “Tim used that and learned from that every time.”

Hester played other sports, including soccer and baseball, but wrestling was his favorite.

“Wrestling is kind of like a sport where you put in your own work and don’t rely on anybody else,” said Hester, who serves as a volunteer coach at Einstein Middle School.

Hester heads to Virginia Beach, Va., March 28 for a high school national tournament he qualified for by placing second at state last year.

Hester said he’d like to attend North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene, which is one of the top junior college programs in the country.

“The one thing that stands out about Tim, he’s just a great kid. We’ve always been proud to call him one of our own,” Requa said. “We’re really happy he’s having the success he’s had. I think he really deserves that state championship this year. He’s certainly earned it if he gets it.”