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SharkBit

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  1. Like
    SharkBit reacted to Y2CJ41 for a article, #MondayMatness with Steve Krah: It’s all about family for Smith/Banks bunch, Plymouth Rockies   
    By STEVE KRAH
    stvkrh905@gmail.com
     
    Family.
     
    It’s a word that appears on T-shirts.
     
    Teams shout it as they break huddles.
     
    It’s a closeness and a bond they’re building as they work together.
     
    Plymouth High School head wrestling coach Travis Smith has taken his blended brood of a wife, four boys and a girl and added the members of the Rockies program.
     
    “We’re like a big family,” says Travis. “I don’t know how many kids stay at my house on a regular basis.
     
    “I’ve raised my sons to be very loyal to each other. We don’t fight and bicker as a family. I discipline as needed. They don’t argue with each other. I don’t allow that.
     
    “Because of the family environment we’ve had the privilege of being involved in together we welcome everybody else.”
     
    It’s a welcoming atmosphere.
     
    “We draw people to us as a family,” says Travis. “That’s why kids want to be around because of security, safety and they know they can trust us.
     
    “We’re going to ride and die with them everyday.”
     
    After a few years as a volunteer under Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Famer Bob Read, Smith took over and 2022-23 is his third season in charge at Plymouth.
     
    Travis is married to Cortney Smith.
     
    “She’s the glue,” says her husband.
     
    Their family includes Gavin Banks (22), Dominic Smith (19), Caydn Smith (16), Wesley Smith (16) and Angel Smith (13).
     
    Gavin Banks (Class of 2018) and Dominic Smith (Class of 2021) are former Plymouth wrestlers, Rockies assistant coaches and Lincoln Junior High head coach and assistant respectively.
     
    Caydn Smith (152 pounds) and Wesley Smith (145) are juniors on the PHS squad.
     
    Angel Smith is an eighth grader who will help launch girls high school wrestling at Plymouth in 2023-24.
     
    Caydn and Wesley appreciate the close atmosphere of Plymouth wrestling.
     
    Says Caydn, “We try to create strong bonds with everybody on the team.”
     
    Says Wesley, “We all motivate each other. Nobody (outside the team) really sees that side and what we have to do to prepare for matches. Having those guys in the room are big supporters.”
     
    Travis Smith started at Valparaiso High School and finished at North Judson-San Pierre Junior/Senior High School, grappling for the Bluejays and graduating in 2001.
     
    “I was mediocre in school,” says Travis. “When I became a grown man and started training for (Mixed Martial Arts) and Jiu-Jitsu I got the opportunity to train with a lot of good wrestlers. That’s how I ended up being able to pass that on.”
     
    The owner of Hybrid Combat Club — an MMA gym in Plymouth that teaches Brazlian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai and houses the Hybrid Wrestling Club — has witnessed a mat progression in his family.
     
    “Gavin was the rough draft,” says Travis of the son he adopted when the boy was very young. “Gavin and Dominic didn’t get the resources that Caydn, Wesley and Angel have.
     
    “(Caydn and Wesley) have been able to piggyback off the mistakes we made coming up together. I didn’t have a lot of experience when I was younger so I had to grow with them as a coach.”
     
    With 85, Banks is in the top 10 on the Rockies all-time career wins list.
     
    “My dad and I watched a lot of YouTube and I wrestled a lot of club matches,” says Gavin of his experience in learning the sport. “A lot of it came from at-home work.”
     
    Gavin assesses his younger brothers.
     
    “Wesley and Caydn are very knowledgeable, technical wrestlers,” says Gavin. “Wesley is more savvy when it comes to wrestling. He’s stingy and hard to score on. Caydn is a strong, athletic kid who can do a lot.”
     
    Gavin says having a large arsenal is helpful, but the successful wrestlers have go-to moves.
     
    “Being great at a few things is much better (than being OK at many),” says Gavin.
     
    Dominic has learned that the fluidity of Jiu-Jitsu moves translate well to wrestling.
     
    A club, junior high and high school wrestler at Plymouth, Dominic had Read as head coach his first three seasons and his dad took over his senior year.
     
    It was his “one-more mentality” that Dominic appreciated about Read.
     
    “Uno Mas. He said it all the time,” says Dominic. “You’ve always got one more.”
     
    He says it was a dream to wrestle for his father.
     
    “He’s a great coach,” says Dominic.
     
    He recalls Gavin as a wrestler.
     
    “The big thing that everybody remembers is how natural he was,” says Dominic. “He was always so calm. He never had a worry in the world. He was always ready. We was never going to quit.
     
    “He was always present in a match.”
     
    Dominic says each brother has wrestled with this own style.
     
    “Caydn’s a very, very nasty wrestler,” says Dominic. “He doesn’t care who you are he’s going to press you. Overall, the kid is just mean.
     
    “Wesley is a very, very technical wrestler. He’s always in good position. He’s always ready for anything coming at him.”
     
    Caydn describes his strengths as a wrestler.
     
    “I can just go,” says Caydn. “My cardio is really solid.”
     
    Caydn subscribes to the idea of less is more.
     
    “Perfect a few moves and stick to those,” says Caydn. “Just find different ways to hit those moves.”
     
    Wesley talks about his stinginess and mat approach.
     
    “I don’t give up a lot of points,” says Wesley. “I don’t give up on my position. Some kids don’t know when to bail and when to fight for position.”
     
    Angel started grappling about the time she started school.
     
    “I was born into wrestling and I was always at tournaments with my brothers so I thought I should try it,” says Angel. “I started when I was very young and I’m glad I did because it progressively did get harder.
     
    “My brothers are very good at teaching a bunch of stuff on my feet. Wesley’s very technical on his feet. A lot of stuff that I do I’ve implemented from Wesley.”
     
    Angel takes the quote “Don’t Quit - if you re already in pain, already hurt — get a reward” and uses it to drive her.
     
    “I’ve always thought of that during very tough matches,” says Angel. “When I’m beat up and I feel broke. Getting a reward after that is the greatest feeling.”
     
    Mishawaka’s 32-team Al Smith Classic which concluded on Dec. 30 saw Plymouth junior Anthony Popi (285) come in second. Wesley Smith placed third at 145 and Caydn Smith lost in the “ticket” round at 152.
     
    In the Northern Lakes Conference meet Saturday, Jan. 14 at Goshen, top Rockies placers were Wesley Smith (36-1) first at 145, Popi (34-2) at 285, Caydn Smith (30-6) second at 160, sophomore Christopher Firebaugh (26-10) third 132, junior Alonzo Chantea (21-8) fourth 113, junior Seth Wright (22-8) fourth 138 and senior Matthew McCrum (22-9) fourth at 182.
     
    The Rockies host the Plymouth Sectional Jan. 28. The IHSAA tournament continues with the Penn Regional Feb. 4 and East Chicago Semistate Feb. 11 and concludes with the State Finals Feb. 17-18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
  2. Like
    SharkBit reacted to Y2CJ41 for a article, #MondayMatness with Steve Krah: Mikey Robles ready to finish strong   
    By STEVE KRAH
    stvkrh905@gmail.com

     
    Sometimes a change of venue is the best thing for a person.
     
    Mikey Robles placed fifth at the Michigan High School Athletic Association State Finals as a Niles High School 103-pound freshman in 2020.
     
    He qualified for the regional stage as a sophomore then had to quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic and saw his season end. His grades began to slip, making him academically ineligible. There were other distractions in his life that caused him to look for a new school.
     
    “It was so I could better my life and move away from all the drama and stuff,” says Robles of his decision to change schools.
     
    The oldest of eight children (four boys and four girls), Robles came to Indiana and Kim Wagley (the grandmother of his girlfriend) became his legal guardian until he turned 18.
     
    “(Wagley) treats him like a son,” says Steven Sandefer, head coach at Mishawaka High School where Robles enrolled after Niles. “She’ll do anything for him. She’s a sweet lady.
     
    “She’s working with us to keep him motivated and on-track and making good decisions. He’s come a long way in the last two years.”
     
    Sandefer, who is in his ninth year as a wrestling coach and sixth leading the Cavemen program, knows what it takes to be successful inside the circle.
     
    “It’s a lot of hard work,” says Sandefer. “You have to have discipline. I say this to my guys weekly: In wrestling and in life you’re going to have to do things you don’t want to do things are not always going to be easy if you want to get where you want to go.

    “It reinforces a lot of those bigger life lessons.”
     
    That message has reached Robles.
     
    “Wrestling has helped me be a better person in life,” says Robles. “Since it does come with discipline you show people a lot more respect and it also helps you stay out of trouble.”
     
    Robles was with the Cavemen in 2021-22 but ineligible to compete.
     
    “My grades have gotten back up to where they are pretty good,” says Robles, who counts History as his favorite subject and sees a future as an electrical engineer.
     
    With then-Niles wrestling head coach Todd Hesson bringing his Vikings to Penn’s Henry Wilk Classic, Robles had competed against Mishawaka in the past.
     
    Before joining the team, Mikey was familiar with Cavemen grapplers Christian Chavez, Chris Peacock, Courtney Rider, Gunnar Sandefur and Isaac Valdez.
     
    The 2022-23 season — Robles’ senior campaign — opens with him No. 12 in the Indiana Mat preseason rankings at 138 pounds for a team that is No. 2 in Class 3A.
     
    “When I’m on the mat I just like to get physical,” says Robles, who is 18 now and got started in the sport at 5. “I just love to wrestle. This is my senior year. I want to go as far as I can and leave everything on the mat.”
     
    Sandefer says he saw “flashes of greatness” from Robles last winter and during the off-season, but is not sure he was yet fully in grappling shape.
     
    “He has a lot of room to grow in his wrestling,” says Sandefer.
     
    Many wrestlers progress from the end of one high school season to another.
     
    “When the season gets here you can see the improvements the kids made in the off-season,” says Sandefer. “They get to showcase their talents.
     
    “That’s the real rewarding part.”
     
    Robles’ regular workout partners are 113-pound senior Peacock and 145-pound junior Brabender and — occasionally — 132-pound junior Zar Walker. The coaches he works with most are Sandefer and assistant Fabian Chavez.
     
    “We don’t screw around,” says Robles of their practice room mentality. “We go in their and try to get better.”
     
    The wrestlers teach each other moves and talk about making them more effective.
     
    “Staying in shape and packing on muscle is good,” says Robles, who stands 5-foot-7 1/2. “But it’s really not how strong you are to go out there and win a match.
     
    “I believe technique beats strength any day of the week.”
     
    Four state qualifiers return for Mishawaka — Walker (who placed sixth at 132 in 2021-22 and is ranked No. 2 at 132 in the preseason), seniors Chavez (No. 4 at 195) and Valdez (No. 8 at 170) and Brabender (No. 6 at 145). There’s also senior Xavier Chavez (No. 6 at 106).
     
    They are are part of a large squad of 47 (45 boys and two girls).
     
    “That’s about 10 more than usual,” says Sandefer. “My first year I had 30 kids so it’s come up.
     
    “All 47 kids have shown they’re committed.”
     
    A physical education teacher at Mishawaka, Sandefer leads athletes and others through weight training classes. Most wrestlers are in these classes, learning power movements like the bench press and squat.
     
    “We do pull movements,” says Sandefer. “If you’re on a guy’s leg you want to be able to pull him in.
    “We also need that leg strength.”
     
    Practices at Mishawaka began Nov. 1. The first boys meet is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 29 at Northern Lakes Conference foe Warsaw.
     
    Among the other competitions for the Cavemen are the Chris Traicoff Memorial Invitational at Calumet New Tech Dec. 10, a dual against crosstown rival Penn Dec. 21 at Mishawaka (Alumni Night), the 32-team Al Smith Classic at Mishawaka Dec. 29-30, the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association 3A State Duals Jan. 7 at Franklin Community, the NLC Championships Jan. 14 at Wawasee, Mishawaka Sectional Jan. 28, Penn Regional Feb. 4, East Chicago Semistate Feb. 11 and IHSAA State Finals Feb. 17-18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

    It’s not all about wrestling for Robles. He played football at Niles as a sophomore and Mishawaka as a senior. He was a middle linebacker for the 10-2 Cavemen in 2022. A shortstop/left fielder in baseball, he intends to try out for that sport in the spring. He stepped away from the diamond after eighth grade to focus on wrestling.
  3. Like
    SharkBit reacted to Y2CJ41 for a article, #MondayMatness: Mishawaka’s LaPlace, Walker keep on making each other better wrestlers   
    By STEVE KRAH
    stvkrh905@gmail.com
     
    A friendship formed at a junior high football practice has led to a pair of successful high school wrestlers.
     
    Jacob LaPlace met Joseph Walker when both were gridders at Mishawaka’s John Young Middle School.
     
    LaPlace, who had been wrestling since age 4, saw mat potential in Walker.
     
    “You’re really athletic, you’ve got to come out for wrestling,” says LaPlace of his invitation to Walker, who was already around 160 pounds. “Since then, we’ve been training together.”
     
    Now in their fourth season as Mishawaka High School teammates, Walker is competing at 182 and LaPlace at 195. LaPlace is 16-0 so far in 2019-20 and 125-22 for his career. Walker is 6-0 and 75-25.
     
    LaPlace placed fourth at the IHSAA State Finals at 138 on 2017 and was a state qualifier at both 145 in 2018 and 182 in 2019.
     
    After being a state qualifier at 152 in 2018, Walker placed sixth at State at 170 in 2019.
     
    Going against Walker everyday in the practice room makes LaPlace better.
     
    Third-year Mishawaka head coach Steve Sandefer has watched iron sharpen iron with LaPlace and Walker.
     
    “They’ve drilled and wrestled live with each other their entire high school careers,” says Sandefer. “The other person is the reason they are as good as they are now.”
     
    “They wouldn’t be where they’re at without each other.”
     
    LaPlace agrees with that sentiment.
     
    “He gives me quick and agile,” says LaPlace of Walker. “He’s got a real explosive double (leg takedown). His strength and defense is really good and that helps my offense.”
     
    “I help him because I’m bigger than him.”
     
    Walker credits LaPlace with getting him started in the sport and is grateful to his first head coach and his current one.
     
    “Jacob’s always been my partner since seventh grade,” says Walker. “I have the speed so I give him different looks. He keeps good position and gives me looks.”
     
    “Adam Sandefur was my first coach and he’s always been on me, directing me. Steve (Sandefer) has also pushed me to become greater.”
     
    Walker, a University of Michigan commit, credits his faith for his success.
     
    “God’s my source of energy and power,” says Walker. Sandefer uses adjectives like hard-nosed, hard-working and super-athletic to describe Walker. He knows that he is also meticulous in his approach to wrestling and its technique, position and adjustments.
     
    “He really takes the time to learn the finer details of wrestling,” says Sandefer of Walker. “He is very detail-oriented. That’s going to benefit him not just on the mat but off the mat.”
     
    Says Walker, “I want to make sure everything is done right so I don’t do a wrongful move and don’t drill it wrong. I want to make sure it’s precise.”
     
    While he has the physical tools, Walker is also a technician.
     
    “Athleticism does help a lot, but I’m making sure my technique is down,” says Walker. “That’s a big factor.”
     
    “With the bigger guys, strength is going to help a lot. But technique is the main source. I have to make sure my technique’s sharp.”
     
    Most days, there’s a Hall of Famer in the room.
     
    “Having Al Smith in there is a big help,” says Walker. “That’s another set of eyes watching us to make sure we’re making moves correctly.”
     
    Walker says he likes to keep his bucket of moves open.
     
    “If one thing doesn’t work, I can hit another thing,” says Walker.
     
    “But all those moves, I have to make sure I sharpen them in the practice room each and every day.”
     
    “A lot of wrestlers have one good move and it’s very hard for people to stop. That’s their move. It’s what they drill. It’s what they do. It’s their bread and butter.”
     
    Walker chose Michigan for college because of the academic and athletic connections.
     
    He plans to study anesthesiology while grappling for the Wolverines.
     
    “(Anesthesiology) fascinates me,” says Walker. “You have to make sure you have the right dosage and all the math behind it and the science. Grades and school comes first. School is very heavy in my life.”
     
    “The wrestling is very heavy in freestyle. They’re going past folkstyle. There’s a lot of international wrestling. That’s what I want to do.”
     
    “I want excel in the sport and be the best I can be.”
     
    Joseph is the son of William and Rhonda Walker has eight siblings, including Salome Walker (on the women’s wrestling team at McKendree University) and Queen Walker (on the women’s track and field team at Bethel University).
     
    LaPlace, the son of Lester and Rae and younger brother of Mariah and an Indiana Tech commit who plans to study business administration, explains his mat style.
     
    “I rely on my defense a lot,” says LaPlace. “I only have a few offensive shots, but I’m really confident in those shots.”
     
    “I’ve always been a defensive-type wrestler. Most of my offense comes outside of a tie.”
     
    LaPlace says he was more offensive as a freshman and sophomore when he competed at 138 and 145.
     
    “Moving up, I figured out that you’ve got to slow down,” says LaPlace.
     
    “You’ve got to wear out the bigger guys before you can start to get on your offense.”
     
    As he grew and got older, LaPlace decided not to cut as much weight.
     
    “I wanted to wrestle what I weigh (as a junior),” says LaPlace. “The same thing this year. I’m walking around at about 188.”
     
    “I feel comfortable wrestling 195 at about 188 or 189. I might not look it, but I’m pretty strong in wrestling positions. I’m confident in my strength.”
     
    Sandefer, who won state titles for Mishawaka at 140 in 2008 and 2009, has become a believer in wrestling at a comfortable weight rather than cutting all the time.
     
    “That’s a mistake a lot of kids make,” says Sandefer. “They come into the wrestling room and think about how much weight do I have to lose rather than getting better”
     
    “We’ve gotten away from pushing kids to cut too much weight.”
     
    Sandefer looks at LaPlace and sees wider shoulders and thicker legs.
     
    “That’s exactly what he needed — not just for our season but going forward in life,” says Sandefer. “It’s really given him an opportunity to focus more on his wrestling more than cutting weight.”
     
    LaPlace, Walker and the rest of the Cavemen are gearing up for the 32-team Al Smith Classic, which is Friday and Saturday, Dec. 27-28.
     
    “The Al Smith is a real eye opener and we train really hard for it,” says LaPlace. “We’re excited for it. We’re going to have a really good run this year as a team.”
     
    Many coaches over the years have described the Mishawaka event as a “meat grinder.”
     
    “That’s exactly what it is,” says LaPlace. “It shows you just what State’s like. You’ve got to make weight two days in a row. There’s really tough competition.
     
    “It’s a tough tournament. It’s fun.”
     
    Mishawaka is coming off of the Henry Wilk Classic at Penn Dec. 21.
     
    After the Al Smith Classic, the Cavemen will take part in the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Class 3A State Duals in Fort Wayne Jan. 4.
     
    Other meets on the horizon are the Northern Indiana Conference Championships at Mishawaka Jan. 18, Mishawaka Sectional Feb. 1, Penn Regional Feb. 8, East Chicago Semistate Feb. 15 and IHSAA State Finals in Indianapolis Feb. 21-22.
     
    It will take mental toughness for the Cavemen to get through the season and Sandefer emphasizes that on a daily basis.
     
    “Today in our society there’s a lot of people who find excuses for their failures and easy ways out with no responsibility or accountability,” says Sandefer. “Be responsible for yourself. If you’re losing matches what are you not doing in the wrestling room? Are you playing around too much? Hold yourself accountable.”
     
    “(It’s about) being mentally tough to push through these tough times. If we’re in a tough practice, everybody else is going through it. It’s not just you. Lift your teammates up. It’s much easier to get through it together.”
     
    As a wrestler, Sandefer put in plenty of time away from practice, putting in miles on the treadmill and stationary bike. That extra work had a carry-over effect.
     
    “It makes it that much tougher to give up,” says Sandefer. “When you’re putting in that kind of quality time and work in the wrestling room, when you step on the mat, you say, ‘I did not put in all this time and all this effort to come out here and lose or just give up in the middle of a match.’”
     
    Sandefer has watched Mishawaka numbers grow from less than 30 to about 45 in his three seasons in charge. The Mishawaka Wrestling Club has more than 60 members.
     
    “We have all the right people in the right places,” says Sandefer. “I couldn’t be doing this without my club coaches, assistant coaches, my family and the group of parents we have who are supportive of Mishawaka wrestling.
     
    “They help us get a lot accomplished. They get everybody pumped up and fired up.”
     
    That includes Jacob LaPlace and Joseph Walker.
  4. Like
    SharkBit reacted to Y2CJ41 for a article, #MondayMatness: From deaf slave to Warsaw wrestler, Linky has taken quite a journey   
    By STEVE KRAH
    stvkrh905@gmail.com
     
    Real adversity meets opportunity.
     
    That’s the story of Jacob Linky.
     
    The wrestling room at Warsaw Community High School is filled with pulsing music and coaches barking instructions as more than three dozen Tigers get after it.
     
    One wrestler — junior Linky — goes through the workout, rehearsing his moves with his workout partner, cranking out pull-ups and running laps around the room.
     
    But without the sounds heard by the others.
     
    Linky lives in a world that is mostly silent.
     
    Without his cochlear implants, Linky can’t hear much of anything.
     
    There was one incident where smoke alarms went off all over the house where Jacob now resides with Nrian and Brenda Linky. It was 3 a.m.
     
    “Jacob slept through the alarm,” says Brian Linky, Jacob’s legal guardian. “I woke him in the morning.”
     
    The young man was not born deaf.
     
    Now 18, Jacob was about 5 and in native Africa — Lake Volta, Ghana, to be exact — when he lost his hearing at the hands of his father.
     
    “We were slaves,” says Jacob, speaking of his early childhood through interpreter Rebecca Black. “We helped my dad in his fishing business.
     
    “I didn’t used to be deaf. My dad hit by head a whole bunch. That’s how I became the way I am.”
     
    His father demanded that young Jacob dive into very deep waters full of dangerous creatures.
     
    “I felt a pop in my ears,” says Jacob. “I was a kid.”
     
    His native language was Twi, but he didn’t hear much that after his hearing was gone.
     
    Growing up the second oldest of seven children, Jacob has a brother who was born to another family, rejected and traded to his father.
     
    It was a life that is difficult to imagine for those in the U.S.
     
    “My mom didn’t do anything wrong,” says Jacob. “She fed me.”
     
    Wanting the best for Jacob, his mother placed him in an orphanage. He eventually came to live in Warsaw when he was adopted by Andy and Dawn Marie Bass and began attending the fifth grade at Jefferson Elementary in Warsaw. He received hearing aids and then implants.
     
    “I’m thankful the Basses adopted me and brought me here,” says Jacob.
     
    “I now live with the Linky family.”
     
    Following grade school, Jacob went on to Edgewood Middle School in Warsaw and was introduced to wrestling.
     
    “I knew nothing (about the sport),” says Jacob. “I played around.”
     
    Drive and athletic prowess allow Jacob to excel on the high school mat.
     
    “At times his feisty side comes out because of that past,” says Warsaw head coach Kris Hueber. “He’s channeled it well and we’ve been able to harness well most of the time.
     
    “He has days where he is cranky and fired up, You know that he’s drawing from stuff that no one else has.”
     
    After missing his freshmen season, Jacob made an impact with the Tigers as a 145-pound sophomore, advancing to the East Chicago Semistate.
     
    “This year, I’d like to go all the way to State,” says Jacob, who spent the summer pumping iron and continues to eat a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables and protein while packing more muscle on a  5-foot-7, 160-pound frame.
     
    “(Jacob) fell in love with the weight room,” says Hueber. “There is not much on him that is not muscular. He’s one of those guys with his energy level he needs to be active. As an athlete, he is a remarkably gifted human being. He’s able to do things no one else in the room can do. Between strength, balance and agility, he is uniquely gifted.”
     
    Ask Jacob what his best quality is as a wrestler and says speed. His quickness and and strength come into play in the practice room with larger practice partners — 170-pound Brandon Estepp, 182-pound junior Mario Cortes and 195-pound senior Brock Hueber.
     
    “I don’t like to wrestle light persons,” says Jacob. “It makes me work hard to wrestle the big guys.”
     
    Warsaw opened the 2019-20 season Saturday with the Warsaw Invitational and Jacob went 5-0 with four pins.
     
    Sign language and lip-reading help him navigate life as a teenager and athlete. When Jacob wrestles, Black circles the mat to maintain eye contact and relay information to him.
     
    “She always looks where my head is,” says Jacob. “She always gets sweaty.”
     
    Who gets sweatier during a match? “Me,” says Jacob, thrusting a thumb at his chest. “I’m a harder worker.”
     
    Black has been around Jacob since he was in eighth grade.
     
    “I feel privileged to be involved in his life,” says Black. “He’s an amazing person. He just is.”
     
    Hueber has come to appreciate that Jacob has the ability to be both competitive and light-hearted.
     
    “He’s ornery still, but in a good way,” says Hueber. “He has not been able to out-grow being a kid. I love that.”
     
    While Jacob’s background and circumstance are different than his Tiger mates, Hueber says he’s “just one of the guys.”
     
    “(They) don’t treat him differently in any way,” says Hueber. “They love being around him because of his charisma and personality. He’s a really great teammate.”
     
    Hueber says working with Jacob has helped others recognize their influence.
     
    “They might be able to goof off for two minutes and snap right back,” says Hueber. “If (Jacob) misses one line of communication, there’s a lot that he’s got to recover from.”
     
    This means that workout partners need to be focused and attentive as well — not just for themselves but to also help Jacob. Hueber notes that Jacob has to concentrate and keep focused on his interpreter in class (his current favorite class in English and he is looking forward to Building Trades in the future) and practice.
     
    “There are probably times when he’s looking for a break,” says Hueber.
     
    “He’s on and he’s full-wired all day. That’s taxing mentally for sure.”
     
    Brian Linky works in payment processing at PayProTec in Warsaw and Brenda Linky is the special needs coordinator for Warsaw Community Schools. The Linkys have two sons who played basketball at Warsaw — Zack (now 28 and living in Calfiornia) and Ben (now 22 and attending Indiana University).
     
    Taking in Jacob means they have a teenager in the house again.
     
    “He’s been nothing but polite,” says Brian Linky. “He’s hard-working around the house (mowing the lawn, making his bed, walking the dog and cooking his own meals). He has friends over. He’s very happy.”
     
    As for the future, Jacob is considering joining the football team next year (he has never played the sport). He turns 19 in May.
     
    A brother, Christian, lives in Virginia and communicates with Jacob and family in Africa through text.
     
    “We’re going to save up so we can visit our parents in Africa,” says Jacob.
     
    Right now, he is doing life as an Indiana teenager and wrestling is a big part of it.
     
    Real adversity meets opportunity.
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