Jake Silverman is not your average star athlete. He is deceivingly athletic for his incredibly normal 140 pound frame, and in his case, wrestling is the perfect showcase.
In 7th grade Silverman was trying out different sports. He played club baseball and basketball at his middle school. He was playing piano, lessons which he continued for 12 years. Then a friend of a friend introduced him to a club wrestling team. He described himself as “horrible” on the club team, but continued to work.
“I stuck with it…if I see someone that’s better than me at something and I know I can get there, I have to catch up with them,” said Silverman.
Freshman year he checked in at 119 pounds to wrestle, Silverman was on varsity but admits he was “not too good”. Sophomore year Silverman moved up to 132 pounds but again admits he wasn’t at his full potential. This year is a different story.
Still at 132 pounds, Silverman cuts about eight pounds a week down from his natural weight of somewhere around 140. At a recent tournament he called “better than states,” Silverman finished 6th. That would put him as the highest ranked in his respective weight class not only on the wrestling team, but potentially the state of Florida.
Silverman describes the wrestling team as a tight nit family. He says that they all help each other when it comes to not eating for days to compete over the weekend.
Silverman is a serious state contender this year. He is also hoping to help the Warriors top Jesuit for the second time in school history later this year.
Zealand Shannon / Sports Editor
This is a great inspiring story . Jake is a great team player and will be great in collage!