Tim Zeimet was never by definition a “bad “kid, but he did one heck of a good imitation.
Stealing, boozing, failing in school pretty much defined Zeimet as recently as a year ago.
“But I don’t think I was a really a bad person, just lazy and unmotivated, “said Zeimet, a 17-year-old junior at Pewaukee High School. “I mean I was never disrespectful or talked back, nothing like that.”
When it came to school, Zeimet was in Pewaukee’s “NASA program. “He was taking up space and in a zone of his own.
“Last year at this time, I had seven F’s and a D-minus on my report card, “Zeimet said.
Then, it happened . . . an epiphany of sorts. Zeimet didn’t discover religion, but he did amble upon wrestling.
There are those in the sport who say there isn’t much difference between the two disciplines. Like religion, when it comes to wrestling, you either buy in or you don’t.
Zeimet bought in . . . big time.
Zeimet’s buddy, Johnny Hrabik, who has been involved in Pewaukee’s wrestling program since he was a young boy, asked his underachieving friend if he’d like to tag along with him to wrestling practice one time last year. Zeimet initially scoffed at the notion but tagged along anyhow.
One visit to coach Ed Kurth’s wrestling room dungeon was all it took. Zeimet was in.
“I don’t know what happened, “Zeimet said. “I couldn’t get enough of it. I just loved it.”
Zeimet loved wrestling so much he showed up for Kurth’s tortuous practices every night even though with his grades there was no way he would ever be eligible to compete in a match.
“He never competed in a match, but at least he got a haircut, “Kurth said. “He probably hadn’t had a haircut in years.”
Zeimet had failed so many courses that to this day he is a year behind his classmates in school and won’t graduate until spring of 2007 instead of with his class of 2006.
The good thing is that he will graduate. He not only has become a student, he has become a good student.
“My last progress report, my lowest grade was a C-plus, “Zeimet beams with pride. “The rest are A’s and B’s.”
It wasn’t Hooked on Phonics or any other such gimmick that turned Zeimet around. It was hooked on wrestling.
“Being able to participate in wrestling, to actually be in a match, “Zeimet said. “That was pretty much it. That was what kept me going.
“If it wasn’t wrestling, I don’t think I’d be in school now.”
Zeimet isn’t a great wrestler yet, but he’s working on it. He’s 6-4 at 135 pounds at last look, not bad for someone who had never competed in a real match until he was 17 years old.
“My first goal was to make the varsity and now that I’ve done that, I want to go to state, “Zeimet said. “I don’t know if I’ll make it this year, but if not I’ll get there next year.”
Kurth agrees with his protégé.
“He’s got a shot to make it to state this year, “Kurth said. “I’ve coached wrestling for 16 years, six here at Pewaukee and 10 at (Milwaukee) Pulaski before that and I’ve never seen a kid with his determination before.
“Tim has had a tough life. He has those underdog instincts that make him go harder than other kids.
“I mean I’ve seen kids turn their lives around before, but never anything close to this.”
Zeimet doesn’t play the victim card, but his life has been anything but rosy to this point. His parents were divorced when he was 4 years old, and from that point, he and his two younger brothers have been nomads, wandering the Milwaukee area with their mother Lisa Hoffmann, a medical transcriptionist, always searching for something better.
By Tim’s count, the family has moved 18 times since the divorce.
“We’ve never had a lot of money, that’s always been the thing, “Zeimet said. “We were always trying to beat eviction, you know, move out before we got evicted.
“When my mom would get some money together, we would move out of a bad house and try to get something a little better. Mom always worked two or three jobs, but there never seemed to be enough money.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a shirt or pants that somebody else hasn’t worn first. I get old shoes from my friends. When they get new ones, they give the old ones to me, but I go through shoes in a hurry.”
Zeimet has attended six different schools in Milwaukee, Portage, Delafield, Oconomowoc and now Pewaukee. He admits using the frequent moves and constant transferring to his advantage.
“I was always the new kid in school because we were moving all the time, “he said. “They could never test me or grade me because I was always new. I’d start failing classes and then we would move again.”
The system finally caught up to Zeimet at Pewaukee. Before latching onto wrestling, he appeared destined to be a dropout statistic.
“I never had any reason to take school seriously. I never would do any homework all year, but then I’d try to catch up at the end of the year so I wouldn’t be grounded for the summer, “he said. “I didn’t want to miss out on the skateboarding and everything.”
One of Zeimet’s teachers last year was Kurth, a math instructor at the school.
“Tim’s reputation preceded him into my class, “Kurth said. “He was there and his eyes were open, but he wasn’t there. He was there physically, but he wasn’t there.”
Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Zeimet’s transformation has been the effect it has had on the school. Not content to hoard his success, Zeimet has been eager to share it with those traveling the same dead-end trip.
Zeimet is the founder and president of a club known as “Second Hand, “aimed at the skateboarders, bikers and extreme sports types at the school. There are just three simple rules to membership: no drinking, smoking or using drugs.
Because of Zeimet’s charismatic personality, the club is growing rapidly. According to Kurth, Zeimet has shepherded at least six so-called “stoner “kids into his wrestling program.
“It takes a special kid like Tim, who is popular with different groups of kids at the school, to be able to pull something like this off, “Kurth said. “I don’t know anybody at the school that doesn’t like Tim Zeimet. He has the personality and conviction to pull this off.
“Can you imagine the peer pressure he faced when he told the kids he hung around with that he wasn’t going to drink or smoke anymore? Yet he’s leading kids in here who want to turn their lives around.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. For these kids, refusing to smoke and drink is like the cool thing to do.
“He’s gone from being a parent’s nightmare to a parent’s dream kid.”
Zeimet explains the thrust behind his club in terms of team.
“These kids are mostly skateboarders, bikers and snowboarders, kids that have never been on any teams, “he said. “We make videos and anybody can be in them as long as they don’t do drugs or anything.
“Drugs don’t help anything, but most kids who skateboard and that do drugs. I feel like I’m making my own team. Some of the kids aren’t that good, but we accept them as long as they stay off drugs.
“I want them to feel a part of a team. Just like me on the wrestling team. I feel I am a part of that.”
Zeimet is the first to admit that if he wasn’t a part of Kurth’s team, he probably wouldn’t be in school.
“I probably would have dropped out by now, just be hanging out with my friends, “he said. “I’d probably still be stealing stuff out of cars and drinking.”
Instead, Zeimet is on schedule to graduate in spring 2007. His graduation will be a year late, but to those who watched him sleepwalk through his first years at Pewaukee High, it is nothing short of a miracle.
“I don’t want to screw up what I’ve done so far, “Zeimet said. “When I’m done here, I’ll probably go to Waukesha Tech and do something with computers.
“I’m thinking about being a firefighter some day.”
Whatever he decides to do, he’ll take two things away from Pewaukee High School that he thought he’d never have . . . a diploma and a future.
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