A pair of Bulldogs sank their teeth into a milestone just one day apart of each other.
Olmsted Falls junior Josh Jaeckin (145) earned his 100th career win in a match against St. Edward in the OHSAA team dual regional final on Feb. 1, while the next day, junior Michael Shaw (106) earned his 100th win in a forfeit against Avon Lake.
Perhaps what makes it even sweeter for both of them is that they did it only as juniors. Shaw’s family has a wrestling background, as his uncle used to wrestle but never fully went through with it. So for him, breaking through 100 wins meant a lot to him.
“No one in my family has ever done it before,” Shaw said. “So family-wise, I got a lot of support and was congratulated by a lot of people. I felt good about myself and it was a huge thing. Not many people have a chance to do it and only doing it in my junior season feels a lot better than doing it next year.”
“I really didn’t think I would get it until my senior year,” Jaeckin said. “But my teammates pushed me really hard and I got it done.”
Shaw and Jaeckin have been neck-and-neck with each other in terms of wins throughout the season, and considering they are good friends and neighbors, they had a friendly competition.
Shaw is 32-9 overall this season, while Jaeckin is 35-8.
“We’ve always been really close and up until the Medina or Bill Dies tournament, I was a couple wins ahead of him,” Shaw added. “But then he got more matches because of consolations.”
“I had a little more matches than he did, so that played a part in it,” Jaeckin added.
Shaw was a basketball kid. That was his initial passion until he started wrestling when he was in the second grade when one of his neighbors got him into the sport.
But as soon as he got his feet wet, he fell in love.
“I’ve been wrestling ever since,” he said.
When Jaeckin was young, he had a friend who wrestled, and his friend’s father brought him to practices. Once Jaeckin saw how fun it was, there was no turning back.
Both wrestlers have been on a fast track to success, with Shaw winning a Southwestern Conference title last year and then going to Columbus as a state alternate. As of Feb. 15, he’s the No. 13-ranked wrestler in the state, according to wrestling guru Josh Lowe of Intermatwrestling.com.
Shaw is fully aware of his ranking, but understands it’s not something that guarantees anything.
“I pay attention to it, but I mainly look at it to see where other kids are,” he said. “And I use that to help boost my confidence. If I see I’m ranked lower than a kid, then I want to go out and show that I can beat that kid. I want to place and get on the podium. Last year, I was pretty close and I’m hoping I can get it. And then next year, I’ll try to go even higher.”
Jaeckin is No. 11 in the state, and would love nothing more than to make noise in the postseason.
“I hope I can win the SWC and then get support from my family seeing what I can do in the sectional and districts,” Jaeckin said.
Most wrestlers have a sense of comfort in a certain position — whether it’s on top, bottom or neutral. But for Shaw, he’s comfortable everywhere, and it’s one of the reasons he’s so good.
“If I’m on my feet, I know I can get a takedown,” he said. “If I’m on bottom, I’ll make it out and if I’m on top, I’ll turn you and keep turning you. Once I get going, it’s like a chain reaction and I’ll just keep going.”
The Bulldogs went undefeated in SWC play this year (9-0) and reached their first regional final in the team dual tournament before a loss to St. Edward — despite losing five conference champions from last year, and with the conference tournament looming, a repeat of the title is on their minds.
“A lot of people had their doubts about us, losing those seniors,” Shaw said. “But we went our way through the dual part of the season of the SWC and in the tournament this weekend, teams will try to take it away from us, but I think we’re going to hold our ground and continue to dominate.”
“I look forward to possibly not only winning a SWC title for myself, but for the team also,” Jaeckin followed.
The SWC tournament takes place at Avon Lake on Feb. 18.