Jacob Thomas is ready to leave all on the mat in his senior year of wrestling
FARGO, N.D. (BVM) — Coming off his NDHSAA Class A individual state championship in the 136-pound weight class, Fargo South senior Jacob Thomas has been looking to the walls of the wrestling room for motivation early this season.
“Having my name up on our wall in our room with all the state champions,” Thomas said. “That’s what I look at everyday to keep me motivated.”
It has been a goal of his since he first started wrestling with the Bruins as an eighth grader. Although his love for wrestling can be traced back way before his high school career.
Thomas’ father had been a wrestler in high school and his brother also wrestled when he was a kid, so Thomas was introduced to the sport early. He was four years old when he competed in his first tournament, and once he did, he was hooked.
“After my first tournament is when I really got into it. I started going to these big tournaments all over the country and that’s all I did as a kid,” Thomas said.
By the time he was in eighth grade, he was well prepared for high school wrestling, but Thomas credits his freshman year as the year where he took his wrestling to the next level.
“That year is the year I really started working hard and putting a lot of time into it,” Thomas said.
It paid off as Thomas made it all the way to the state finals in the 106-pound weight class and was a state runner-up. Disappointed that he did not win, Thomas was determined to come back his sophomore year and win it all.
However, a broken collarbone at the beginning of the football season lingered into his wrestling season, and although he still had a tremendous season, he finished fourth at state in the 126-pound weight class.
As a junior, Thomas was determined to finish what he had started his freshman year. He entered the state tournament the top-seeded wrestler at 132-pound weight class, making it back to the state championship where he beat second-seeded Kaden Renner.
“After I won that match, none of it really soaked in for a while,” Thomas said.
The championship wasn’t just for him. It was also for his dad who had always taken second at state as a high schooler to the Steinners.
“He got to experience it with me and that was a great feeling,” Thomas said.
Unfortunately, Thomas has had to wait for a while to wrestle again since his state championship as many of the wrestling tournaments he would have done during the summer were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hiatus only made him work harder so that when he was finally back on the mat, he would be ready.
“This year I was probably even more motivated just because there wasn’t much of an option to get into the room so every opportunity I’ve been there,” Thomas said. “I started way earlier this year.”
It’s that motivation that helped him through the break from winter sports North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum ordered back in early November when there was a surge in COVID cases in North Dakota. Fargo South would not be able to resume its season until the end of November, so Thomas pushed himself and his team to stay ready.
“Stay in shape, stay ready, who knows what’s going to happen this season,” Thomas said.
Fargo South resumed practice on Dec. 1 and its first meet is on Dec. 15. For Thomas, it will be the start of his last campaign to get his name on the wall again, to go down as a back-to-back state champion. And although he is happy to just be on the mat, one thing keeps running through his head.
“I gotta do it this season again,” Thomas said.
