Upperman Bees sophomore Jake Stinnett brought home the TSSAA 120-pound state wrestling championship, capping a season of hard work, resilience, and redemption.
Stinnett said this victory was about more than just a title. Returning to the finals for the second year in a row, Stinnett said he remembered the sting of last year’s loss and used it as motivation.
“Physically, we had a lot of practice and a lot of hard practice,” Stinnett said. “I have really good teammates that know what to do and how to get ready for something like this, but mentally it was really just remembering how it felt to get that far and have it all gone and I really did not want that again.”
Facing Jay Hill of Station Camp in the championship match, Stinnett said he drew from lessons learned in past close matches.
“I’ve had a couple of close matches and a couple of close losses that really changed how I’ve been trying things and going about my matches with harder opponents,” Stinnett said. “I would be very safe and conservative and didn’t want to try things [earlier in the year,] but it didn’t work out too good so I decided to leave everything out there.”
Stinnett said the turning point came in the semifinals, where he defeated Carter Hostetler of Spring Hill to secure his path to the finals. Stinnett said all he remembered after his hand was raised was going up in the stands to celebrate with his friends and family, including his head coach and dad, Cameron Stinnett. Jake said his dad gave him advice right before he stepped onto the mat for the final time.
“He walks up to me and tells me, there’s nothing to be nervous about,” Stinnett said. “Everything this kid has been through, you’ve been through and more and that really helped calm me down.”
Stinnett said he now aims to continue improving throughout the rest of his sophomore year, with the goal of winning state championships in each of his remaining two years.