With the Arlington Eagles boys wrestling team filled to the brim with talent, it’s not uncommon for the majority of the attention to be placed on the few top wrestlers in contention. But what most people don’t know is that the Eagles have a large talent pool, all the way down to JV.

One such wrestler is Jake Oesch. Being a senior, and being in the toughest weight class, he wrestles the majority of time on JV. But this does not mean he is a bad wrestler by any means.

He has already won two tournaments this year and is hailed by many teammates and coaches alike to be one of the hardest workers they have ever met.

The Eagles are a heavily heralded team, and have high expectations to make a deep run at the state championships this year. What people don’t see, however,  is the determination and work ethic of Jake Oesch.

Oesch trained hard this past summer, and really put work into bettering his abilities. A lot of wrestlers may take a break during summer, or at least slow down their training regimen, but not Oesch.

He said that he did slow down his sophomore season, “but this last summer I trained maybe 3-4 days a week” and still continues to work hard.

“I want to keep going as hard as I can during practice and work out individually on days without practice like Sunday,” said Oesch.

Alongside his training regimen, Oesch also works hard at the local IHOP.

Wrestlers are a tough group, and they all have each others backs. Brandon Hahn, who is out for the season with a shoulder injury, said of Oesch, “It’s cool because the team is doing so well, and they’re such good guys so they’re still my family, but especially Jake because I always see him working hard in practice and I think heworks harder than a lot of other people.”

Not many teams have the depth that Arlington has, which includes top wrestlers such as Boston Jones, Jeremy Nygard, Cooper Mccauslan, and Gavin Rork .

Assistant coach Ben Mendro said that this is one of the reasons Jake hasn’t been able to wrestle much varsity. “Even though he’s been stuck behind some of the most talented wrestlers in the state, Jake is still an extremely hard worker and has a great attitude,” said Mendro.

Last season, Oesch had a true breakout performance at the league tournament. When another wrestler couldn’t compete, Oesch stepped up as a back-up wrestler and came in the clutch for the postseason run by the Eagles.

“Last year he scored a lot of points for us as a back-up wrestler at the league tournament,” said Mendro.