Wrestler Jacob Shelby reaches 100-win milestone
Jacob Shelby and his family members celebrate his 100th win.
Jacob Shelby, a junior at Manchester High School and one of the co-captains of this year’s varsity wrestling team, has reached a coveted milestone for high-school wrestlers–he achieved his 100th career win at a tournament in Bad Axe on Friday night.
“Jacob has been wrestling right here in Manchester since he was six,” says his mother, Jenelle Austin. “He started out in wrestling club and ended up in MYWAY, and finally on the varsity team his freshman year in high school.
“He’s doing very good, and has a record of 27-2 for this season with about another month left,” she said.
Jacob took sixth place in the 119-lb. weight class last year at state wrestling individual championships last year as a sophomore.
“This is what Jacob does; he wrestles and competes year around,” Austin said. “He has traveled all over with other teams, across the eastern side of the United States–wrestling for any team that wants him. When everyone is playing other sports, Jake is wresting. He’s doing it seven days a week; even in middle school, he’d catch a ride back over to the high school and do another two hours with MYWAY.”
That’s a lot of time and dedication to a single sport.
“He had to be dedicated; as a youth wrestler he wasn’t all that good,” Austin says with a laugh. “It didn’t come naturally to him and he’s had to work hard for his successes.”
He has “never missed” a camp at Alma College with former MHS wrestling champion Jeremiah Tobias; and Austin says Jacob’s most influential coaches are right here in Manchester–Dave Bearce, who coordinates the MYWAY program and Steve Vlcek, the long-time Manchester varsity coach.
On Saturday, Jake won numbers 101-105 of his career, now wrestling at the 130-lb. level, at the Super 16 Tournament in Hudson, beating the top-seeded wrestler in the state, from Dundee, in the last five seconds of the match. His mom couldn’t be there to watch, but friends sent her a video when it was over.
“They told me to watch all the way to the end,” she says, “but I’m not gonna lie–I just fast forwarded to the end!”
The Super 16 is considered a tournament of “the best of the best,” including the 16 best wrestlers in each weight bracket. Austin says the wrestlers consider this the toughest tournament of the season–even tougher than State competition–because you’re competing with kids who are from all different divisions, from across the state.
Along with school and wrestling, Jacob also participates in JROTC training each morning in Jackson, where he participates in the elite Raiders team, a competitive JROTC military-style training program. As a captain of the Raiders as well, the Jackson team has competed across the state and would compete at the national level if there was adequate funding.
“He feels a strong draw to the military,” Austin explained. “He sees that as his probable career path.
How did Jacob feel about his 100th win?
“When I asked him, he told me it would’ve been a lot better if Drew (Gebhardt) had gotten it at the same time,” Austin says. “They’ve been wrestling together since they were ittie-bitties.” Gebhardt is in the low 90s to date this year, so also likely to hit his 100th win in his junior season.
Jake said that the “goal” is to wrestle his way to a state championship by his senior year. With the record he’s achieving this early in his career, that certainly seems like an achievable goal!
Congratulations, Jacob Shelby; the latest in a long list of distinctive Manchester High School wrestlers.
Young wrestler Jacob Shelby, with his mentor and coach, Steve Vlcek.
Jacob stands on the podium with his first-place bracket, Friday night at Bad Axe.
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