Wrestler Jack Clarke a “hard worker”

In wrestling, only the strong succeed. A single wrong move can lead to a career-threatening injury at any time. One athlete, Jack Clarke, had this very thing happen to him but came back to the mat better than ever.

Clarke fell in love with wrestling at a young age, going to tournaments just to watch the older athletes and work out with them. He had tried multiple other sports but none of them clicked with him the way wrestling did. This season, Clarke is working to become an NCS champion and place at the state meet.

He owes much of his motivation and success to all of his teammates and coaches throughout the years and of course his family. “They all give me inspiration to keep going,” said Clarke.

Coach Josh Wheeler speaks very highly of Clarke. “Jack is a hard worker who has battled through injuries and the pandemic to improve at our sport. Jack is competing with the best wrestlers in the state and is looking to take home a state medal,” said Wheeler.

Balancing a highly competitive and active sport with academics and the rest of life is difficult. It’s one of the biggest challenges student athletes have to overcome.

“It just takes lots of discipline and dedication,” Clarke explained. “It can be hard to balance it all at once sometimes. I try to keep things balanced so that I have time for everything.”

“My biggest compliment is that Jack has made great improvements as a student. To see this young man improve on and off the mat is a true honor and we look forward to seeing him compete at the state meet in February,” said Wheeler.

Clarke is returning to the sport this season after healing from a broken ankle that took him out of practice and prevented him from competing during the beginning of the season.

“Getting injured is always a frustrating thing especially because it’s my senior year. It really hurt me to lose time off my season,” Clarke said. “But I’m not going to let it stop me from competing and getting better. As of right now, I feel back to my normal self and have no plan of slowing down.”

After high school, Clarke plans to continue wrestling. “Whether it’s college or international, I will always stay connected with this sport,” he said.