Athlete wrests strength from tragedy
Drive to win fueled in part by late brother
Tim Tyers
The Arizona Republic
Mesa Mountain View senior Spencer Jackson was so close to claiming the Class 5A wrestling championship at 135 pounds last year that he could taste it. Then he made a mistake against Barry Goldwater’s Ty Reagan.
“I was beating him until the last 18 seconds, and he took me down, got a near fall and beat me by a point, “said Jackson, who ended the year with a 40-7 record and has moved up to 140 pounds this year. “Yeah, I’ve had the nightmares; can’t go to sleep and all that. But it’s all right. It motivates me.”
It’s merely added motivation because Jackson already has all the motivation he needs with the memory of his brother, Blake.
Blake Jackson died at age 14 after suffering a heart attack while participating in an intramural wrestling match at Mesa’s Poston Junior High after the wrestling season had concluded. Jackson also has an older brother and sister and a younger brother, who attends Poston.
“Blake was born with a bad heart that was undetected, and he just collapsed, “Jackson said. “It was not good times, but it made us a lot stronger family, and other families now look at us when a tragedy like that happens because they saw us go through it. It has provided a lot of my motivation.”
Jackson, who was in the fourth grade, recalls the following season when Poston dedicated the season to Blake and went on to win the city championship, scoring the most points in city history to accomplish the feat.
“I got into the sport while watching them and just kept going from there, “he said.
It’s a good thing, too. His other love was basketball, but he has since stopped playing the sport for an understandable reason.
“I stopped growing and everyone else didn’t, so I figured I’d be better off hovering the ground and wrestling, “he said, laughing.
The fact is that he is “hovering “pretty well. He and teammate Preston Pico (152) each won their respective weight-class titles at the prestigious Las Vegas Invitational over the holiday break, with Spencer defeating Nevada’s defending big-school champion in his finals match.
“I wasn’t surprised I won, “he said of the match. “I was just relieved. I work so hard it wasn’t like it was a shock to me, because he is a human. I knew he couldn’t have worked harder than I have. I have paid my price.”
When one wrestles for Mountain View coach Shawn Rustad, he does pay a price, as Jackson is quick to point out. He proudly states that he believes Rustad is the premier high school wrestling coach in the state, although he entered Mountain View’s program with more than a little trepidation.
“When I was a sophomore he scared me to death, “said Jackson, who figures to end his wrestling career this year unless he lands a college scholarship in the sport. “I used to go watch him coach when I was in junior high, and he’d scream at them, and I’d look at my dad and say, ‘I don’t think I can do that.’ I mean the guys were so good and he was screaming at them, and I’ve always been more of a calm wrestler.
“But I’ve been to a lot of camps with different coaches, and there is no better coach in Arizona. He puts his expectations and demands so high, and we constantly strive to reach them. He has had a lot of faith in this team since my sophomore year. At our banquet in my sophomore year, he brought up all the sophomores and said, ‘This is the team that is going to win me my state championship.’ We’re seniors now, and we haven’t won anything, and he reminds us of that.”
Chances are that is about to change. Mountain View, along with defending champ Gilbert Highland, Mesa and Mesa Red Mountain, are the favorites this year.
Especially with Class 5A Division I and Division II adopting a dual-match format to determine the state championship instead of the individual tournament as in past years, where four or five wrestlers could carry a team to a state title by accumulating bracket advancement points and bonus points for lopsided victories.
“If it had been dual state for the past 10 years, I think Mountain View would have won eight of them, “Jackson said. “We always have the best dual team in the state. He (Rustad) teaches us to pin and we wrestle as a team, and we all carry the burden of each other’s weight classes. I’m excited because we love duals. There are no individuals; it’s all a team thing.
“It’s not like three good wrestlers can carry you a long way in the individual tournament. A dual tournament produces a team result.”
Wrestling Gear
