By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
Geneseo High School wrestler Malaki Jackson reached 100 wins at a tournament held in Hinsdale and he commented, “It was a very tough tournament, but I had an ordinary match and I try to treat all my matches the same and not let the anxiety get to me.”
Jackson, the son of Andre Jackson and Leticia Rivera, is a senior at GHS. He wrestles in the 144-lb weight class.
The standout mat man has qualified to wrestle at State in all of his high school years, and said, “I have not accomplished what I wanted to and it’s been rough, but it has been a great experience in my life having been able to qualify for the last three years and soon for the fourth time.”
He began wrestling when he was a student at Geneseo Middle School and joined the Blue Line Training Academy. He qualified for the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation when he was in eighth grade, and added that was when he “really started to take wrestling seriously.”
“I am the only person in my family who has been involved in wrestling so it’s interesting how my family got into wrestling with me,” he explained and added, “it’s hard to explain to them what wrestling is like when they have no experience or knowledge of the sport, but they love watching me and supporting me.”
When asked about his opinion of wrestling being an individual sport, Jackson said, “I believe teammates can support each other and motivate them, but from my own experience, an athlete really has to want to wrestle…It’s a hard sport.”
“Wrestling means a lot of hard work, and wrestling is something I fall in love with at times, but there are other times when I don’t enjoy it,” he shared. “My coaches like Jon Murray and Jesse Montez have really helped me through my wrestling career and thorough high school and it’s been pretty fun.”
He shared his advice for younger wrestlers – “Just stick with it and you’ll understand in the long run.”
SOME FUN QUESTIONS JACKSON ANSWERED:
-FAVORITE WRESTLING MEMORY ----”Qualifying for State in my freshman year. I never actually believed I would have made it that far at the beginning of that season.”
-FAVORITE FOOD – “Has to be steak and lobster or some fried rice – honestly anything.”
-What are you most looking forward to after this wrestling season? – “I really look forward to drinking water and eating lots of delicious food from anywhere. You don’t get that privilege when you are cutting weight and living by the scales every day of the season.”
