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The Road to a State Championship

What does it take to be a state champion? Reaching the pinnacle of high school wrestling

is a goal that many have attempted, and few have achieved. For local prep wrestling stand-
outs DJ Daniels of Caro, and Jackson Schenk of Mayville, that journey began at the ages of
4 and 5, respectively. Their journey began as youth wrestlers for the Caro Growlers and May-
ville Matcats. When asked what advice they had to give to current youth wrestlers that aspire
to be state champions like themselves, Daniels said “never quit”. Schenk had encouraging
words for the young Matcats that look up to him, “Don’t look at training as a punishment or a
chore, enjoy it.”
The sacrifices made to reach the top of the podium have been endless. “I have sacrificed my
time with family and friends on countless nights and weekends,” said Daniels. Schenk had
a different view when asked of his sacrifices. “I don’t really count wrestling as a sacrifice, I
enjoy every minute of it.” Both agreed that all the time spent was worth it in the end.

Many people shared their sacrifice along the way and were very influential in their suc-
cess. “I have many great influencers in my life, like my mom, step-dad, and dad, but another
really big source of influence in my life that helped me push myself everyday in practice was
all the previous wrestlers to ever come through Caro before me and looking and seeing their
All-State honors on the wall really made me want to strive to be better than all of them and
I’m still working on that even after claiming my State Title,” said Daniels. Schenk gave credit
to his brother, Dylan Schenk, as his greatest influence. When asked who he would like to
thank for all their help he said: “My coach Mark Cooper, and my brother Dylan Schenk, and
everyone else who helped me along the way.” Daniels had many to thank, “My mother, Ra-
chel Curtis, for everything she has done, my two coaches Green and Fulton, former coaches
Ley and Suranye, practice partner Blain Wood, Mark Curtis my step-father for putting me in
wrestling, former alumni for coming up and working out with me, and I would especially like
to thank coach Brett Green for working with me and pushing me to be better on and off the
mat, without him this year’s state title may not of been mine.”

Author Matt Fields

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