As the spring winds down and another school year comes to an end,
eighteen-year-old kids all across the country will be graduating from
high school. Most of those kids will be going through the time honored
tradition of the graduation party where they will all be asked the same
set of questions over and over. Where are you going to school? What
kind of job do you have lined up for the summer? All across the nation
party goers are going to hear many of the same types of answers – ‘I’m
going to State College’, or ‘I got a job at the local this or that.’
Not many in the Class of 2008 will be able to answer the way Jake
Deitchler will – this summer he is going to attempt to make the United
States Olympic team.
At first glance an eighteen-year-old with legitimate Olympic
aspirations this year sounds a bit far fetched. It starts to sound even
more outrageous when it is learned Greco Roman wrestling is the sport
of choice for the eighteen year old. When you learn about this
Anoka-Ramsey senior however, you find out the Olympics might not be out
of his reach.
Deitchler, who was recently named Mr. Minnesota in wrestling, has been
focused on his Olympic goal practically since he has been able to walk.
Shortly after Jake was born, his dad – Jason Deitchler, a state
champion heavyweight in his own right, had to hurry off to join his
teammates at Mayville State to compete in a tournament that day.
Early on, the young Deitchler knew he wanted to be a wrestler. As a
young boy he was always around his dad, going to tournaments and just
hanging around the wrestling world. He was and still is a true mat rat.
By age six he was wrestling. His family would move to the Anoka-Ramsey
area where Deitchler would meet Tim Murray, who was working with the
Anoka wrestling program.
“He was intense,” said Deitchler, “and he is the one who really got me hooked on wrestling.”
With Murray’s guidance fueling the passion, Deitchler started to
rapidly improve. As an eighth grader, Deitchler placed 6th at the state
tournament and then did one better his freshman year taking 5th. During
his sophomore year, Deitchler’s wrestling career took off. Todd
Springer, Anoka’s head coach saw in Deitchler, someone who wanted more
than the average high school wrestler. Springer saw that his young
two-time state place winner wanted more out of wrestling than Anoka’s
staff alone could provide. Springer called former Minnesota Gopher and
1996 Olympic Greco Roman silver medallist Brandon Paulson. After
Paulson and Deitchler started to do some one-on-one work, the Anoka
standout started to take his skills to the next level. He started to
look around for training partners. He would work with the wrestlers at
Saint John’s and the University of Minnesota. He was constantly looking
for ways to get better.
He was wrestling multiple styles early on in his career and had to
split up his time between the different styles. He would split his
training up evenly, but when a big tournament would come up, he would
step up the training in that discipline.
Photo: Unseeded Jake Deitchler (top) applied some pressure to #1 seed Mark
Rial in the finals of the U.S. Senior Nationals in April. Rial defeated
Deitchler by decision 5-4, 1-1. Photo Tony Rotundo/Tech-Fall
Aside from the phenomenal success he had at the high school level,
back-to-back-to-back state AAA titles, he was excelling in Greco and
freestyle at the same time. He was placing high and winning national
tournaments in both disciplines. His first title was in Greco and with
Paulson’s help, Deitchler started to gravitate toward the style. Greco
continued to be his focus for two main reasons; he enjoyed it more than
other styles, and it became his best style on a competitive basis.
Making the jump from high school to Olympic hopeful is a huge jump, but
it is a jump Deitchler feels he is ready for. During his junior year he
spent a lot of time at the Olympic training center. In the beginning,
during his Greco training he was getting a baptism by fire.
“I had never been beaten like that before,” said Deitchler when asked
about his early time training with some of the United States best. But
the more he trained with them, the better he got.
“As I got physically more mature, I started to get confident and I know
I am right there with them. I started to learn the little things.”
Deitchler knows he needs to continue to improve if he is going to make
the Olympic team not only this year, but in competitions down the road.
He feels he can improve on all his skills and doesn’t rest on his past
performances.
“Dan Gable said ‘you can never be too good at wrestling’,” said Deitchler. “I am always looking to improve.”
One of the main things he is doing is finding the skill he is best at and building on that skill.
“The best in the world,” said Deitchler, “have one thing that can’t be
stopped. My goal is to find an area that I am so good at that nobody
can stop me.”
He is confident he has found that skill, but believes his true strength on the mat will carry him upwards the quickest.
“When I go into a tournament I want it so bad I will do whatever it
takes to win. I believe I am successful in Greco because I go so hard.
If I lose the first period, big deal, because I know that by the third
period that guy is tired and I can beat him.”
Deitchler used that philosophy when he placed second at the Greco-Roman
Senior Nationals, qualifying him for the Olympic Trials and will also
use it when he competes at the Trials in June.
Deitchler’s age might have made gaining acceptance on the national
scene tough, but he says the older guys he trains with were very
helpful when he was starting out. Now they view him as a competitor.
When he qualified for the Olympic trials, some of the older guys maybe
didn’t take him seriously – this time Deitchler won’t sneak up on
anybody.
Deitchler knows his main competition coming up at the trials will be
2007 World bronze medallist Harry Lester and knows he will be an
underdog.
“Anything can happen,” said Deitchler, the only high school wrestler to
qualify for the trials, “they could have an off day. I know if I am
training hard and I put myself in position and give it all I’ve got,
I’ve got no pressure on me. These guys have a lot of pressure on them.”
It is hard to say if Deitchler feels any pressure. He has been working
for this moment his whole life, but the more intense the competition
becomes, the more he enjoys it. He said he has had the most fun ever in
wrestling this last year. If the trials go as well has Deitchler hopes,
his fun will not be contained to just this year. As he smiles and
shakes hands at his upcoming graduation, he will have a chance to do
what so few of us are able to – fulfill a lifelong dream.
This article was first published in the May issue of The Guillotine Newsmagazine. For subscription information click here. U.S. Olympic Team Trials Coverage
June 13-15, 2008 at Las Vegas, Nevada
