After wrestling since third grade, senior Jacob Smith hopes that this is his year to finally place at state. For the past three years, Smith has qualified for state wrestling. To qualify, one must be in the top four of their weight class at districts out of roughly 14 to 16 teams.

“He’s finally gonna get his name up on that wall,” wrestling head coach Chris Brown said.

Smith was first inspired to begin wrestling after seeing his older brothers wrestle. Being a smaller kid, he saw it as a way of self defense. The ultimate goal in wrestling is to pin the opponent down but if you are unable to do that then scoring the most points will help one win. Points can be scored in a variety of ways; two points for a takedown and three for a five count are some ways to earn them.

“The idea of it is you want to impose your will on the other guy, it’s a battle,” Smith said.

Getting to state wrestling takes more than just showing up to practice everyday. When preparing for the season, Smith tracked every calorie he consumed, ensuring that he will be the proper weight for the class that he will be most dominant in. After regular practice, Smith puts in extra work, does sprints and lifts weights. He began doing this once he entered high school to focus on improving and reaching his goal of placing at state.

“[Jacob] seems more confident in his ability and closer with the guys and coaches and that’s a big part of improving,” wrestling manager Emma Eckhard said.

Wrestling has always been an important part of Smith’s life and his hopes of following in his brother’s footsteps and placing in state may soon become a reality by the end of this wrestling season. Last year, Smith won every tournament and went to state, he is expected to do the same this year and place at state.

“It takes a lot of discipline and to me it’s probably one of the hardest sports that you can do. I’ve always been told that once you’ve wrestled you can do pretty much anything,” Smith said.