Stanley-Boyd fourth grade student wrestler Jacob Haas (center) poses with his parents, Chad and Debbie Haas at the WWF Kids State Wrestling Championships held March 22 through March 24 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Haas, who has wrestled since kindergarten, represented Stanley-Boyd at the wrestling tournament on Friday.
“Proud,” is how Debbie Haas described feeling watching Jacob wrestle on Friday. “It’s an experience, that’s for sure.” She mentioned how surreal it was to be in the facility and see the wrestlers walk through the arena for the grand march. “You can see every wrestler. You got the little kids and the big kids, just the different sizes. Getting all the kids together in one location is crazy.” Debbie shared that when Jacob competed in Madison, they received “overwhelming support” from the community and said that Jacob’s wrestling coach, Monte McManus was a large part of that support, taking the time to travel all the way to Madison to coach Jacob at State.
When asked how he felt wrestling at the State competition in Madison, Jacob answered that with the loud noise and the large amount of people in attendance he felt “really nervous.” He added that he didn’t win but had a great learning experience and is excited to go again, “hopefully next year,” but with more Stanley-Boyd wrestlers participating. His advice for anyone that is interested in joining the Stanley-Boyd wrestling program, “Practice hard. Don’t give up and if you have questions just go up to your coach and ask him.”
