For four years, all Jose Acosta wanted was to win a state title. This season, he won one.
MANITOWOC — For four years, all Jose Acosta wanted was to win a state title.
That’s precisely what the Manitowoc Lincoln senior did this season, earning the crown at 170 pounds in Division 1.
“It felt great knowing all the hard work I put in finally paid off,” Acosta said.
First-year Lincoln coach Tyler Wetenkamp elaborated even more.
Despite all the success the 2017 HTR Wrestler of the Year had, it was his only loss of the season which made the biggest impact.
Acosta finished the year 52-1, but when he lost the 160 pound championship match at On the Water in Oshkosh, he knew something had to change.
Instead of trying to cut weight to get down to 160, Acosta says he just needed to rebuild himself from the ground up to remain at 170.
“I was out of position a lot, I needed to go back to the core and work my way back,” Acosta said.
The senior would get up early two or three times a week and work with his step father and a family friend to do just that.
“There was a lot about the core of what wrestling is that needed to be cleaned up,” Acosta said.
His coach could see the transformation.
“After that loss he just changed his whole mentality about what it is to wrestle,” Wetenkamp said.
With his techniques rebuilt, Acosta went about trying to capture what had been eluding him his whole career.
“It hurt to not represent Lincoln in the (state) finals (last year) and become the wrestler I knew I could be,” Acosta said.
When Acosta did just that, reach the state finals against Nicolet’s Parker Keckeisen, he was determined to not screw it up.
“I had to be smart about the match and not do any funky business,” Acosta said.
Acosta avoided any pitfalls, and secured the narrow 4-2 decision to become Lincoln’s first state champion in a decade.
Alec Becka won the title at 103 pounds in 2007, oddly enough, by an identical 4-2 decision.
With his prep career now come to a close, Acosta looks to what the next chapter brings.
He says been in contact with several Division 1 coaches, which would fulfill another goal he’s had for a long time.
Whatever the future holds, Wetenkamp is certain about one thing.
“To end your career with a state championship, it can’t get much better than that,” Wetenkamp said.