For the Love of Wrestling: A look into how the wrestling season is going for the top two wrestlers, both seniors, at East and how they’ve progressed

Jahir Contreras – 132 Weight Class – 16-1 – Ranked 3rd in 6A

Senior Jahir Contreras is the type of wrestler to be in the wrestling room 15 minutes before practice, listening intently to the coaches and getting straight to work with a serious attitude.

“If you [saw Contreras] and said ‘that guy there is a state champion,’ you wouldn’t believe that because he’s very humble,” Head Wrestling Coach Chip Ufford said. “He doesn’t brag about it [and] doesn’t like talking about it a whole lot. He just goes to work and does what he needs to do to improve his wrestling technique [through] his conditioning. Then that also helps push others around him. He’s not a huge vocal leader. But he leads by example, and that’s pretty powerful as well.”

Going in as fifth seed, Contreras became East’s fourth individual state champion in 2020. Now, he hopes to keep the momentum going and win state again. The taste of victory last year at the state meet after working his way to the final match from the sixth seed has given him motivation to excel — during both practices and meets.

“Last year kind of paved the path to this year,” Contreras said. “It’s made me want to work harder. I want this second state title more than ever, it’s made me hungrier. I’ve been practicing way harder.”

For Contreras, “practicing harder” looks like two-and-a-half-hour practices five days a week. It looks like his intense focus, rarely goofing off or talking during practice. It looks like training in the off-season by lifting weights and wrestling every chance he gets.

“Maybe last year, I was doing 10 to 15 reps [in a workout set],” Contreras said. “This year, I’m doing 20 to 25. I’ve just picked it up. I’m making it up little by little, just trying to get better every day.”

But he doesn’t just get better alone. His partner during practice, senior Brady Fankhauser, helps to point out his form and what he can do to improve. Always helping each other get better in any way they can, they share a strong bond of mutual hardworking attitudes — as well as a practice mat.

“Brady gets better because of Jahir, and Jahir gets better because of Brady when I wrestle them and drill them with each other in practice,” Ufford said. “If they didn’t have each other, I don’t know if they’d be where they’re at right now.”

Brady Fankhauser

When asked his goal for this season, Fankhauser said only two words:

State Champion.

“He’s got the potential,” Ufford said. “It’s a lofty goal, but we’ll see. He’s got the experience.”

Ufford believes that Fankhauser is a worthy candidate for state champion, especially considering the drive he possessed to get his 19-1 season record. This is where Contreras’s and Fankhouser’s progressions differ.

“He hasn’t had Jahir’s experience of success early on — Jahir placed third as a sophomore, and Brady was a state qualifier that did not place,” Ufford said. “Junior year, Jahir was the state champion. Brady was not a state placer as a junior. Brady’s had to show some resilience, some mental toughness, to continue this and to grind and come back to get to where he is right now.”

Fankhauser aims to not only improve himself, but rather everyone who he’s around as well — he’s an athlete who Ufford regards as a “strong leader” with beginning wrestlers. Sophomore and teammate Jack Kessler notes that Fankhauser’s seeing just how much effort Fankhauser puts in each practice has made it easier to learn from him.

“He’s always putting in work,” Kessler said. “He’s always doing extra sprints, extra workouts, stuff like that. And he’s been a great teacher too. When I was a freshman, I wrestled the entire year with just him and he helped to teach me a lot.” 

Fankhauser is no stranger to hard work either. Since middle school his schedule has been full of after school practices, weightlifting sessions, summer wrestling camps, weekend meets and tournaments.

Each day, Fankhauser pushes himself further than the day before — and he does so with the mindset of always keeping his next goal in mind and not dwelling on mistakes or spending too much time celebrating.

“For Brady, he’s had to work very hard for everything that he has,” Ufford said. “He’s just had to work that much harder to get there to be a qualifier.” 

All of this hard work is finally paying off this year. With 19 wins under his belt, Fankhauser is ready for the rest of the season and hopeful for a state championship title. 

“I feel like all the work I’ve put in throughout the years has accumulated and is starting to show this year,” Fankhauser said.