High school wrestling preview 2020: Success came early and often for Elyria's Jake Evans

If Elyria senior Jake Evans ever needs to put together a home workout in a pinch, carrying around the medals and trophies he's won during his career would certainly be enough to raise his heart rate. On second thought, it might put him on the disabled list. The list of Evans' wrestling accomplishments is long and stretches back more than a decade. Between grade school and junior high, he won five Ohio Athletic Committee (OAC) state championships. "He had a fantastic youth and junior high career, and I think he did a great job transitioning as a freshman," Pioneers coach Erik Burnett said. "He came in as an upper weight as a freshman, which is really tough to do, and he didn't let some of the losses he took his freshman year deflate him. He let them motivate him and he ended up finishing the season out strong." Evans qualified to the Division I state tournament during his freshman season, then placed fourth as a sophomore. He was poised to finish even higher on the podium last season before the coronavirus pandemic led to the cancellation of the state tournament. Evans opened the postseason with five straight first-period pins before back-to-back 7-0 decisions over Perrysburg's Ryan Musgrove and St. Edward's Michael Garcar to win his second straight district championship. "I feel like I was definitely at my top peak and shape," Evans said. "I was ready to roll and get out there and show them what I can do and make some noise." With his actions on the mat … not actual noise. Evans has remained soft-spoken and humble during his high school career, keeping his emotions in check even when he's in the midst of a blockbuster matchup. "He certainly doesn't waste any words. When he's got something to say, it's usually pretty meaningful," Burnett said. "He's even-keel. That's one of the things that makes him the competitor that he is. He doesn't get too up or too down." Evans began wrestling at 6 years old with Erik and his brother Scott at their Burnett Trained Wrestling club in Milan. Evans' older brothers had worked with the Burnetts and he remembered watching them compete in high school — Cody, the eldest, at Fremont Ross and Brock at Oak Harbor. "When I saw my brothers wrestle it just made me want to do better than them," he said. "I think it was pushing me to want to be the best at the sport." "They are just really into it. Mom and Dad are into it and really supportive of what their kids are doing … which is what you need," Burnett said. "That has led to success with everyone in their family, whether it's on the wrestling mat or just in life in general. They've been just totally supportive of what the kids are doing." Evans decided to enroll at Elyria High to continue his tutelage under Burnett and has been on a steady climb over the past three years. The rise up the ladder has included a trio of Greater Cleveland Conference championships, titles at the Maumee Bay Classic and Brecksville Holiday Tournament and multiple placements at the Beast of the East and Walsh Ironman, where Evans became Elyria's second finalist last season. Add in multiple placements in offseason national tournaments and a handful of state and regional freestyle championships, and Evans has climbed up the national rankings — finishing at No. 9 last season and going as high as No. 3 this fall. "Constant progress is what you want as a coach," Burnett said. "The results are for the kids. You see the progress and you see the kid get rewarded with results, it's great. He had two really nice national tournaments last year between the Beast and the Ironman. The way he finished out his season, he was doing his best wrestling and that's always what you want as a coach. So that's always nice to see." It also made the season shutdown even more painful. Instead of heading to Columbus to capture his first high school state title, Evans and his teammates spent weeks waiting to see if the postponed event would be rescheduled before finally getting the news of its cancellation. "I remember (the day the postponement was announced) exactly," Evans said. "We had all our bags packed and everything and we were ready to head off. I remember some of my teammates telling me and then getting a text from Coach Erik to come up to the wrestling room. We all met in the wrestling room and had a long discussion about what was happening and how the tournament was being postponed. We were all pretty bummed out. We all just tried to work through it … try to work with what we've got and not with what we can't control." Evans spent a couple months off the mats — the longest break of his career, he said — before working out on mats in a friend's garage during the summer. He was able to tune up for his senior season with a pair of recent events — the Super 32 Challenge in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and the Elite 8 Duals in Atlanta. "I've just been making sure I get into practice every day and work as hard as I possibly can to make sure I get every second of every minute that I can while I still got it," said Evans, who recently signed to wrestle at Indiana University. "You never know what's going to happen, what they decide, and you just want to make sure you're able to perform at the top level." It's a spot Evans has become familiar with and one he hopes to be at in Columbus in March. "He just wants the opportunity and he's hoping to have that opportunity," Burnett said. "He's doing the right things to stay safe and doing everything in his power to ensure that he'll have that opportunity. That's where it's at right now. He's doing everything he needs to do to make it happen." Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. 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