U.S. Olympian Jesse Thielke begins his countdown to Tokyo 2020
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by Viviane Fracasso, USA Wrestling
Jesse Thielke at the 2016 Olympics. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors
Passion may not even be an adequate enough word to describe Jesse Thielke’s love for the sport of wrestling. After taking on wrestling at the age of 7, he quickly advanced to the top of his age group, capturing titles in folkstyle, Greco-Roman and freestyle.
“When I started wrestling, I instantly fell in love with it. The discipline and the positive aspect of the sport really took over my life,” Thielke said.
In 2007 and 2008, he won back-to-back Cadet National Greco-Roman titles and went on to claim international gold at the 2009 Cadet Pan-American Championships in Managua, Nicaragua. Additionally, Thielke excelled in folkstyle, winning the 2008 USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals and collecting four high school Wisconsin state titles for Germantown High School.
Having competed internationally as early as 2009, Thielke became a Junior World Bronze Medalist by 2012, when he represented the U.S. at the Junior World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand.
“I had never won a single match at Junior Worlds in my previous three trips,” Thielke said. When I won, it had been my second year at 60 kg (132lbs). At that point, I was adjusted to the weight class. I was on top of the age group. The talent was always there, it was just a confidence thing. My first Junior World Team, I was still a Cadet, but by my last Junior World Team I was already competing at the Senior level.”
Unlike some Greco-Roman wrestlers, who specialize in Greco straight out of high school, Thielke committed to wrestling at the collegiate level for Wisconsin. Before starting college, he took a year to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games.
He redshirted his freshmen year in 2012 and competed for the Badgers in the 2013 and 2014 season. Thielke was an NCAA qualifier before making the decision to pursue solely Greco-Roman.
“At the time, I was just as talented in folkstyle as I was at Greco,” Thielke said. “It came down to furthering my education. Wisconsin is an academically great school and it was in-state for me close to my family. They were willing to help me with all my Greco dreams and aspirations. It was a match made in heaven, but in reality, it was very difficult. You can either do one thing really well or two things half-assed. When it comes to college folkstyle and the highest levels of Greco, it’s not impossible to be able to do both, but for me I had to choose one of the two. If I could go back, I would. I felt like I was wasting my time wrestling folkstyle.”
“For the longest time, my decision of switching to Greco full-time was the hardest thing, but when it came down to it, what do I want more? An NCAA title or Olympic gold medal? It didn’t turn out to be such a hard decision after all,” he said.
Upon leaving Wisconsin, Thielke had set his eyes on the 2016 Rio Games. But he had to live with not having advanced his college goals.
“At first it hurt. With anything in life, the feeling of regret is always very painful and worse than loss or any other things that we experience in our sport,” Thielke said. “I felt regret when looking back. Sure, I wish I could have only wrestled Greco but that didn’t happen. As time went on, that feeling quickly faded and I was back on the mat doing what I loved every day. I felt like I had something to prove to myself as well as others. In the end, it only mattered if I could prove it to myself. I still got it, I still have it, I can still wrestle in the country and in the world.”
At the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Thielke got a technical fall over two-time U.S. Olympian, Spenser Mango in the semis and beat former Olympian for Uzbekistan and now U.S. Citizen, Ildar Hafizov in the best-of-three finals. After winning the Trials, he still had to qualify the weight for Rio through the World Olympic Qualifiers.
Failing to medal in Mongolia, Thielke placed second in Turkey to qualify the USA at 59 kg/130lbs for the 2016 Olympic Rio Games.
“When I beat Spenser Mango at the semis of the Olympic Trials, I knew I could do it. I had been training an entire year and I performed. Obviously, it felt absolutely amazing. Ironically, I felt more pressure at the Trials on U.S. soil against those two guys, than having to qualify my weight class. I had a hiccup in Mongolia but made the adjustments for Turkey and it was awesome,” Thielke said.
Despite having suffered a shoulder injury at the end of the 2015, and tearing his labrum, Thielke still managed to finish ninth at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
“I ended up having microscopic surgery. Unfortunately, I didn’t take the time I needed to fully heal,” Thielke recalled. “I just jumped back in because I didn’t want to miss a beat. I didn’t have enough rehab and it ended up taking me over a year to get back to the point where I felt like I could really compete with it. The upside of that is I can now wrestle on my left side. Prior, I was mostly right-side dominant.”
The 2017 season was not what Thielke had expected. He did not make the U.S. National Team after failing to make weight at the U.S Trials.
“His training cycle was not secure at the time,” Manager of Greco-Roman Programs Gary Mayabb said. “It was bad timing. His weight got in trouble. It’s one of those scenarios, where you think you are going to be OK but it catches up to you. This past year has been his recovery year, heavy competing for a long length of time. It weighs anyone down. I think after the Olympics, he struggled a lot with health and injury. Everyone has different paths. This just so happens to be his.”
Thielke continues to train daily in pursuit of his Olympic dreams. He has since moved to Beresford, S.D., to work with Terry Pack and his coaching staff at Legends of Gold Training Center where he also helps coach young athletes in their developmental program.
“I am very passionate about coaching, so when Terry Pack offered me this opportunity, it was hard to turn down. It’s not just a job. I actually train out of there every day. I couldn’t be happier,” Thielke said.
“He is doing very well right now in South Dakota getting back on track.” Mayabb said. “He is invested in his training and in those younger athletes that he helps coach.”
With the new Greco-Roman weight classes, Thielke had decided to compete at 67 kg /147 lbs. His focus is set strictly on gold.
“Every single day there is a countdown to Tokyo. For me that’s what it is all about. I have two and a half years to give 100 percent of myself and my life. Anything less, like I have in the past, will leave you losing in the second round. It will leave you in ninth place. It wasn’t enough then. I want to tech and pin my way to a gold medal in 2020,” he said.
Passion may not even be an adequate enough word to describe Jesse Thielke’s love for the sport of wrestling. After taking on wrestling at the age of 7, he quickly advanced to the top of his age group, capturing titles in folkstyle, Greco-Roman and freestyle.
“When I started wrestling, I instantly fell in love with it. The discipline and the positive aspect of the sport really took over my life,” Thielke said.
In 2007 and 2008, he won back-to-back Cadet National Greco-Roman titles and went on to claim international gold at the 2009 Cadet Pan-American Championships in Managua, Nicaragua. Additionally, Thielke excelled in folkstyle, winning the 2008 USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals and collecting four high school Wisconsin state titles for Germantown High School.
Having competed internationally as early as 2009, Thielke became a Junior World Bronze Medalist by 2012, when he represented the U.S. at the Junior World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand.
“I had never won a single match at Junior Worlds in my previous three trips,” Thielke said. When I won, it had been my second year at 60 kg (132lbs). At that point, I was adjusted to the weight class. I was on top of the age group. The talent was always there, it was just a confidence thing. My first Junior World Team, I was still a Cadet, but by my last Junior World Team I was already competing at the Senior level.”
Unlike some Greco-Roman wrestlers, who specialize in Greco straight out of high school, Thielke committed to wrestling at the collegiate level for Wisconsin. Before starting college, he took a year to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games.
He redshirted his freshmen year in 2012 and competed for the Badgers in the 2013 and 2014 season. Thielke was an NCAA qualifier before making the decision to pursue solely Greco-Roman.
“At the time, I was just as talented in folkstyle as I was at Greco,” Thielke said. “It came down to furthering my education. Wisconsin is an academically great school and it was in-state for me close to my family. They were willing to help me with all my Greco dreams and aspirations. It was a match made in heaven, but in reality, it was very difficult. You can either do one thing really well or two things half-assed. When it comes to college folkstyle and the highest levels of Greco, it’s not impossible to be able to do both, but for me I had to choose one of the two. If I could go back, I would. I felt like I was wasting my time wrestling folkstyle.”
“For the longest time, my decision of switching to Greco full-time was the hardest thing, but when it came down to it, what do I want more? An NCAA title or Olympic gold medal? It didn’t turn out to be such a hard decision after all,” he said.
Upon leaving Wisconsin, Thielke had set his eyes on the 2016 Rio Games. But he had to live with not having advanced his college goals.
“At first it hurt. With anything in life, the feeling of regret is always very painful and worse than loss or any other things that we experience in our sport,” Thielke said. “I felt regret when looking back. Sure, I wish I could have only wrestled Greco but that didn’t happen. As time went on, that feeling quickly faded and I was back on the mat doing what I loved every day. I felt like I had something to prove to myself as well as others. In the end, it only mattered if I could prove it to myself. I still got it, I still have it, I can still wrestle in the country and in the world.”
At the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Thielke got a technical fall over two-time U.S. Olympian, Spenser Mango in the semis and beat former Olympian for Uzbekistan and now U.S. Citizen, Ildar Hafizov in the best-of-three finals. After winning the Trials, he still had to qualify the weight for Rio through the World Olympic Qualifiers.
Failing to medal in Mongolia, Thielke placed second in Turkey to qualify the USA at 59 kg/130lbs for the 2016 Olympic Rio Games.
“When I beat Spenser Mango at the semis of the Olympic Trials, I knew I could do it. I had been training an entire year and I performed. Obviously, it felt absolutely amazing. Ironically, I felt more pressure at the Trials on U.S. soil against those two guys, than having to qualify my weight class. I had a hiccup in Mongolia but made the adjustments for Turkey and it was awesome,” Thielke said.
Despite having suffered a shoulder injury at the end of the 2015, and tearing his labrum, Thielke still managed to finish ninth at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
“I ended up having microscopic surgery. Unfortunately, I didn’t take the time I needed to fully heal,” Thielke recalled. “I just jumped back in because I didn’t want to miss a beat. I didn’t have enough rehab and it ended up taking me over a year to get back to the point where I felt like I could really compete with it. The upside of that is I can now wrestle on my left side. Prior, I was mostly right-side dominant.”
The 2017 season was not what Thielke had expected. He did not make the U.S. National Team after failing to make weight at the U.S Trials.
“His training cycle was not secure at the time,” Manager of Greco-Roman Programs Gary Mayabb said. “It was bad timing. His weight got in trouble. It’s one of those scenarios, where you think you are going to be OK but it catches up to you. This past year has been his recovery year, heavy competing for a long length of time. It weighs anyone down. I think after the Olympics, he struggled a lot with health and injury. Everyone has different paths. This just so happens to be his.”
Thielke continues to train daily in pursuit of his Olympic dreams. He has since moved to Beresford, S.D., to work with Terry Pack and his coaching staff at Legends of Gold Training Center where he also helps coach young athletes in their developmental program.
“I am very passionate about coaching, so when Terry Pack offered me this opportunity, it was hard to turn down. It’s not just a job. I actually train out of there every day. I couldn’t be happier,” Thielke said.
“He is doing very well right now in South Dakota getting back on track.” Mayabb said. “He is invested in his training and in those younger athletes that he helps coach.”
With the new Greco-Roman weight classes, Thielke had decided to compete at 67 kg /147 lbs. His focus is set strictly on gold.
“Every single day there is a countdown to Tokyo. For me that’s what it is all about. I have two and a half years to give 100 percent of myself and my life. Anything less, like I have in the past, will leave you losing in the second round. It will leave you in ninth place. It wasn’t enough then. I want to tech and pin my way to a gold medal in 2020,” he said.
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