Cheers and Jeers
Sportswriter Steve Tietz will use this blog to try to duly reward the great, praise heartily the hard-working, uncover the unsung, and take to task the spoilsport, the foul-mouth and the crass in the local prep sports scene. He'll try to remember that kids are just kids and that coaches aren't in it for the money. He'll try to gently remind parents that the kids are playing for fun, not for profit and that the officials, though occasionally human and therefore prone to error, are there to ensure fair play and not out to get anyone.
Already a two-time state champ, GT wrestler Thielke keeps raising the bar
Call up the trackwrestling.com site and you'lll find dual meet and tournament results, and little tidbits to keep the hard-core grappling fanatics happy and looking for more.
Like selected recent histories of top wrestlers nationwide such as Germantown's two-time WIAA state champion and multi-time national champ Jesse Thielke.
Already a legend of sorts in area wrestling circles, Thielke has filled a case as high and wide as an enviable home's large picture window with trophies big and small, garish and simple. In the past year, the junior 130-pounder has defeated college-age opponents in open all-comers meets, won Cadet national titles in both the folkstyle and greco-roman traditions and in one two-day tour of dominance won four regional tournament titles in high school, open and junior categories in both freestyle and greco-roman fashion (The Purple Pummel event)
And just for good measure, he has won his first five high school tournaments this winter for a solid Germantown team, working with a new coach (former Warhawk state placewinner Casey Gabrielson), and fortfying his almost clinical technical dominance and already formidable mental toughness.
In short, it seems that he has picked up the intensity just a little bit since that epic, attention-getting loss to Arrowhead's Jake Sueflohn in the WIAA sectionals last February. Thielke avenged the loss the next week in the state 125-pound championship match and has won 16 other tournaments on varying levels since then.
"It's been going very well," Thielke said after a recent Germantown dual meet win over Nicolet, in which he dispatched a good opponent in just 1:14 en route to running his record to 30-0 for the season. "Ever since I made that decision in summer to change my perception. My goal right now is to go out there and completely dominate. Give everything I've got until its done."
So it would seem. He still does the classic superior wrestler trick of not wasting energy trying to pin an opponent everytime. He takes him down, lets him go and takes him down again and again until he wins by technical fall. But there are more pins involved in the process this year, less patience to give up a point to an opponent.
And there should be. Gone is the skinny 112-pounder of two years ago who used his vast technical skill and exceptional experience to overwhelm opponents. Oh those qualities are still evident in abundance, but now they're matched up with a youth growing into a man's body. The back, the chest and shoulders are more chiseled and deeper with muscle mass.
That strength allows him to control his opponents more easily and he doesn't have to struggle as hard to get to where he wants: a quick technical fall or a quicker pin. It leads to swift, technically-efficient matches that are a coaches' dream or nightmare, depending upon your perspective.
For example in the recent 65-team Oshkosh on the Water Tournament, he won five matches, three by pin and two by technical fall. His final three matches, against wrestlers all of whom had one loss or less going in, were decided by two technical falls and a pin.
As a result, he's seen a few more forfeits this winter than he has in past years. Gabrielson comprehends this concept and even respects it as coaches don't want to risk injury when their grappler is overmatched.
"Kids don’t want to wrestle him or coaches bump their kids around for strategic reasons," Gabrielson said. "I understand, smart on their part. ...I (just) wish he could have had five matches though, not three and two forfeits (in a given tournament)."
And even when he is picking up nothing but forfeits, Thielke has won "wrestler of the tournament" in almost every high school event he has competed in this winter. Sueflohn has been doing the same at 135 pounds, having beaten four-nationally ranked opponents this season. It is not known what weight class either will wind up at when the state tournament series rolls around or if they want to match up again like they did last season.
No matter, Thielke just wrestles whomever is in front of him as he hurtles towards his third state championship. He's also appreciative of Gabrielson's efforts this winter.
"I can't really tell you how this match or that match went, I just try to go out there and do the best I can," Thielke said. "...and Coach Casey has been a big help. He's done so much for this program already."
And Gabrielson knows what kind of athlete he's working with.
"I've had a few coaches come up to me and say, “Wow, he is good and he has my vote for wrestler of the tournament,'” said Gabrielson. "I just respond 'He is.'"
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