Entering his third year on the mats for the Cookeville Cavaliers, wrestler Jacob Martin said he has quickly become more than just a competitor, instead emerging as a leader.
Martin first got into wrestling through friends in middle school. Martin said he had some friends that wrestled in middle school and after he thought it was fun, he decided to join. Martin said a lot of those friends have since moved on to football, but Martin ended up quitting football after a couple of years competing in both football and wrestling to instead concentrate on the mats.
“Last year, it was like I was kind of looking up to people,” Martin said. “But this year I feel like I’m kind of filling that role a little bit more since I’m a junior, I feel like maybe being a little more of a leader this year.”
That leadership has not gone unnoticed by his teammates. Martin said his peers often look to him for advice when nerves hit before matches, and he’s embraced the responsibility.
The past few weekends have been particularly significant for Martin, highlighted by a matchup against Brentwood that helped him shake off a mental block.
“At the start of the year, I felt like I wasn’t doing as good as I should have been,” Martin said. “I wasn’t very confident, and now these past few weekends, I’ve gotten some bigger wins and it’s brought my confidence up and I’ve been wrestling better.”
Martin said early-season nerves are natural with a new campaign, and his preparation during the summer helps him manage them.
“During the summer, there’s a few practices a week, I go to those,” Martin said. “[I] go out of town a little bit to different schools like Brentwood or something like that, and just slowly get back into it.”
This season, Martin started at 165 pounds but moved up to 167 pounds after Christmas break. Martin and the Cavaliers will be back in action Tuesday as Cookeville hosts two schools, hoping to build on his recent momentum and continue guiding the Cavaliers both on and off the mat.