| Wrestling began for Jacob at the age of seven. We had taken Isaac and Jacob to see their cousin, Alex, wrestle in a middle school dual at Shaw. Isaac was immediately interested and wanted to wrestle. Jacob wanted to watch his older brother wrestle for a year first before deciding, same as he had done in football. The following season, Jacob signed up. He was immediately competitive, winning most of his matches. He picked up moves with ease, enjoyed the fast pace and intensity that came with wrestling. He never appeared to worry about how he was doing, or what the score was as the match went on, he just wrestled. Sometimes very well and other times, not so good. Always with his dad by his side, as his coach and biggest fan. |
| |
| In his youth wrestling years, he enjoyed great success. Mostly, locally and within a three-hour driving distance. We didn’t travel too much, as we had 4 boys wrestling and not the means to provide lots of traveling opportunities. Jacob did wrestle in the youth state finals, (Folkstyle) his first year competing. It was a great match against Dawson Downing of Las Vegas. Jacob narrowly lost that match but went on to win seven consecutive folkstyle state titles from 2008 – 2014. He also earned himself four Nevada state triple crown awards. Wrestling quickly became Jacob’s passion. It became the “family sport”. Our trips became our vacations. We loved watching him wrestle as much as he enjoyed wrestling. |
| |
| Competing outside of Nevada, allowed Jacob to grow and experience loss. In wrestling, there is one winner and one loser, and an entire crowd often focused on one match, your match. Something I’ve always admired about Jacob, is his ability to handle himself on the mat, win or lose. Disappointments come with the sport and that doesn’t stop him. He makes choices and doesn’t second guess them. A perfect example of this is when we were heading to a regional tournament in Idaho. He was a middle schooler at the time. He stepped onto a test scale about 48 hours before weigh-ins, and he was about 5 pounds over the weight class we had registered him for. He said, “Don’t worry, I got this. I’ll wrestle the next weight class up. I’m going to do great, you’ll see.” I was sure he had blown his chances for making the podium, I was wrong. Jacob made the podium in all three styles and earned himself the belt buckle for best overall in his age/weight bracket. Jacob had definitely proved me wrong, and we laugh about this often. We were also fortunate to have the Reno Worlds Tournament in our own backyard. Jacob wrestled in this tournament almost every year. This tournament set the bar for wrestling talent. Jacob made it to the final session and the podium several times, with one of those times resulting in earning a coveted Eagle Award, from a second-place finish. |
| |
| As Jacob entered high school, he was excited to join his brother on the Spanish Springs HS team. The school had a very successful wrestling program under head coach, Joe Imelli. During Jacob’s HS career, he grew tremendously! Regionally, he came out on top all four years, becoming the school’s first four-time regional champion. He had many successes, as well as failures. He became a student of wrestling, studying other wrestlers on the mat, in between his own matches. He followed wrestling through social media and streaming of tournaments. College wrestlers, Olympic wrestlers, HS standouts, up and coming youth studs, It didn’t matter. Jacob was about all-things wrestling! He would lose a match and game plan for the next time he could wrestle that same opponent. He wanted to wrestle and face the best competition; he never looked for the easy path to victory. Some of Jacob’s HS highlights include a state title his Jr. year, and a third place All-American finish his senior year, at the Tournament of Champions (TOC’s). He did this while participating in the Truckee Meadows CC Dual Enrollment Program, earning college credits while in HS. |
| |
| Jacob went on to accept a wrestling scholarship to Iowa Western Community College. Having grown up saying that he didn’t want to move further than a neighboring state to his own, this choice surprised me. It also told me that his number one objective was to grow and learn in his craft. Moving to the Midwest would offer Jacob many opportunities for growth. Jacob took care of business, on and off the mat. He excelled in school, he learned to manage his time, his weight, and his responsibilities. All the while, moving up in the rankings of college wrestling. The end of his freshman season brought that final test, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Tournament. His dad and I, along with his aunt and uncle, were able to fly out for the event. Jacob wrestled to a third-place finish with impressive wins along the way, including those against the first and second seeded wrestlers. This performance earned him the “Moment of the Year” award at the school’s athletic banquet. While the nominees included the football, soccer and volleyball teams, he was the only individual nominated for that award.
|
| |
| After his year at IWCC, Jacob accepted a scholarship offer and moved to Marietta, Georgia to attend Life University. After taking a red shirt his first year there, he is now on his second year and training for the upcoming wrestling season. He is excited to compete this year, as being on the sidelines last season, was tough.
|
| |
| As a mom, I am so proud of this boy of mine! He is determined and focused. He has amazing follow- through and nobody believes in Jacob more than he believes in himself. He says what he thinks, and he’s loyal to those that are loyal and believe in him. Having a wrestling mindset is about more than just being on the mat, it’s about how you approach life. How you maneuver through life’s ups and downs. How you attack your goals. There is no better reward as a parent, than to watch your child succeeding in life and being their own driving force towards achieving their dreams.
|
