Elkhorn grad sets standard for athletic program
By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
There is no more simple way to put it.
Wrestler Jake Stilling set the standard for Elkhorn Area High School individual achievement in athletics in the calendar year 2013. That is why he is the Elkhorn Independent’s 2013 Athlete of the Year.
The honor is not bestowed at the expense of other Elkhorn Area High School athletes.
Swimmers Kady Ruemmele and Sam Johnson, gymnast Randi Fuller and basketball players Erin Schahczinski and Drew Bryson also received consideration.
Stilling graduated in 2013 and now attends the University of Wisconsin. He wrestles on partial scholarship. He is a redshirt freshman, but wrestles unattached in some meets. His overall record is 9-4.
Prior to his senior year, Stilling already ranked as one of the better wrestlers in Elkhorn history. He advanced to state three times in his first three years.
As a sophomore, he finished fifth at the WIAA Division 1 Individual State Meet at 160 pounds. As a junior, in 2012, he won Elkhorn’s first individual state title in 25 years when he won the Division 1 championship at 170 pounds.
One more season of competition remained.
“I obviously wanted to win state again,” Stilling said. “Me and a couple of the coaches planned that I needed to dominate all year and pin my way through state.”
Stilling successfully defended his Division 1 title at 170 pounds. He finished with a 50-1 record as a senior and a career mark of 181-20. And yes – he pinned every opponent at the state meet as a senior.
“He has his plan,” Elkhorn Area High School wrestling coach Ken Reynolds said. “He’s a determined young man that has a plan in place. His plan was made when he started high school here. He wanted to go with his wrestling career.”
In addition to individual accolades, Stilling helped captain the Elks to a share of the Southern Lakes Conference title last season. The title is one of two won by the Elks during Stilling’s tenure on the team.
As a team, Stilling’s senior class went 59-8 in four years of dual meet competition. He raised the level of expectation for everyone.
“He elevated our wrestling room every day,” Reynolds said. “He expected his team to run hard every day, to wrestle hard every day.”
Reynolds said there were days when he told Stilling to lead a run and do so hard and fast, and force all in the room to try keeping his pace.
“I’d say, ‘They’re going to get mad at you,’ and he’d say, ‘I don’t care. I’ll do it,’” Reynolds said. “And he’d do it and run by me and smile.”
However, it is time to move forward.
“I was successful in high school, but I want to be known for what I accomplish in college, and not what I accomplished in high school,” Stilling said.
Instead of focusing on Burlington and Lake Geneva and Delavan-Darien in the Southern Lakes Conference, Stilling now focuses on Iowa and Nebraska and Minnesota in the Big 10 Conference.
“His wrestling career wasn’t over when his high school career was over,” Reynolds said. “It’s clear that was his goal.”
As a collegiate wrestler, Stilling trains twice daily. He is a redshirt freshman wrestling unattached, meaning he attends the University of Wisconsin but wrestles as his own entity in tournaments and invites.
“It’s a lot harder, I guess,” Stilling said. “Everyone in the room is working as hard as you do, so you’re always trying to push the pace in practice and work as hard as you can for as long as you can.”
Stilling started wrestling in first grade, and left other sports behind in the eighth grade to focus on wrestling. He started wrestling with the Elkhorn Wrestling Club and also wrestled with Ringers Wrestling, which keeps clubs in Milwaukee and Elkhorn.
Stilling’s goals in college are lofty. He wants to be an All-American wrestler, meaning he needs to place in the top eight in his weight at the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championship.
“One day I hope to place first, and I’m working toward that goal and taking the steps I need to accomplish that,” Stilling said.
Reynolds said the Olympics might also be on Stilling’s radar. Stilling’s also successful wrestling in freestyle and Greco-Roman matches.
Post-college, Stilling, a personal finance major, hopes to coach on the collegiate level. He coached a dual meet for the Elks as a senior, with Reynolds’ blessing.
“I want to coach when I’m done with college,” Stilling said. “It was nice seeing what you have to do throughout a dual meet to get the team prepared, and the changes you have to make.”
All-America honors, the Summer Olympics, coaching in college – all are lofty goals for a young man.
Keep one thing in mind. The next time Stilling misses a goal as a wrestler will be the first time Stilling misses a goal as a wrestler.
“He’s done everything else he’s set out to do, so far,” Reynolds said.
