Beistel captures 100 wins

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Keera Frye in Sports // 0 Comments

Southmoreland Junior Jake Beistel shakes hands with a wrestler in a Mt. Pleasant singlet in the middle of a wrestling mat in McGuffey High School’s gymnasium. The referee blows his whistle. The wrestling match that would be Beistel’s 100th win had just begun.
“When Jake was little, I couldn’t imagine him getting to 100 wins,” said Beistel’s father Kurt Beistel, “It’s a pretty impressive achievement.”
Rewind to 2007. Ten-year-old Beistel comes home from school with a flyer for Southmoreland Junior Olympic Wrestling wanting to sign up for it.
“His mom (Stacey) said no at first,” said Beistel’s father. “We weren’t sure about letting him try something we didn’t know anything about.”
However, Beistel ended up on a wrestling mat that same year for his first wrestling match ever. He was so nervous that they actually moved his match up so he could calm down. Beistel pinned his opponent, getting his first win and pin in his wrestling career.
Fast forward to Feb. 14, 2015.
Beistel’s family is cheering from the stands as the referee slaps the McGuffey wrestling mat. Pin.
“It was such a good feeling to get my 100th win,” said Beistel, “because I’m that much closer to breaking the (school) record of 137 wins.”
Beistel plans to continue adding to his number of career wins as he moves onto the WPIAL championships on Feb. 20 and 21 at South Fayette.
“I plan to do the same thing I’ve been doing to succeed at the WPIAL championships and in the future,” said Biestel, “I want to do everything I can to be better.”