From Troubled to Tremendous

Post date: Oct 5, 2016 5:39:43 PM

By: Hannah Murray, Staff Writer

Posted October 5th, 2016

On the morning of September 21st, the Olympic wrestler Jesse Thielke had come to Slinger High School with plans of speaking to students involved in FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). He spoke to them of his life journey and how wrestling had become an outlet. Jesse was a “troubled kid” in the earlier years of his life and had been involved in fights, theft, and was a perpetual liar. His parents went through a nasty divorce when he was a child and caused him to be angry at the world. Heading down a crooked path, he searched for something he could fuel his anger and passion towards something positive. He soon discovered wrestling was that outlet he was looking for. He found success by becoming a 3 time state champion as a Germantown high school student. During and after his high school wrestling career, he had many accomplishments as well as disappointments. He decided that UW Madison was where he wanted to attend college and had become a key wrestler on the Badger wrestling team. Jesse did not perform like he expected and began to feel completely lost in the wrestling aspect of his life. He claimed that this was one of the “hardest” and “lowest” points in his life he had ever experienced but knew that the only way to rise up again was to push through it. Some time after, his perseverance pushed him to become a member of the 2016 US Olympic wrestling team. At the 2016 Olympic games in Rio, Jesse had won the first round, but later lost in the second round to finish off the competition in 9th place. He promised to all the students that this was only the beginning of his career and to “expect even bigger and greater things” from him in the future. The one thing that Jesse wanted the FCA members to remember was that life is going to be a series of peaks and valleys but you have to continue to persevere in order to achieve your dreams.