By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

SILVERTON, Ore.–   It didn’t hit Silverton wrestler Jacob Moore about this moment Monday morning until he sat down and heard everyone talk about his accomplishments.

Worked in the classroom to get his grades up all while putting in the work to pick up a sport he started six, seven years ago.  Fearful of being behind, he went to work in the sport of wrestling.  And now here he was, in the lobby of the main entrance of Silverton High School, achieving his goal from freshman year of winning 100 matches (and more by the end of his senior season), he’s signed his Letter of Intent to wrestle at Linfield University.

And here’s what’s interesting.  He’ll be part of the inaugural team as the Wildcats are rebooting their wrestling program this upcoming season with Men’s and Women’s wrestling.  An unfathomable moment as Moore sat at the table and put pen to paper.

“It’s pretty cool.  I didn’t feel it until I sat right down and everyone’s talking about what I did.  I’m just really grateful that I get to do this and continue my wrestling career.  I think it’s really cool,” Moore said.  “I loved Linfield and how they’re starting there.  I think it’s really something special that they’re starting.”

Moore, who’s spent his career bouncing between 106 and 126, will be wrestling at 125-pounds.  So the exposure to keeping his weight low will be a plus for the Foxes grappler as he embarks on this next chapter of his career.under first-year Head Coach Chad Hanke.

“My experiences at the lower weight classes are going to help a lot just because I know how to cut weight.  I know what it’s like to wrestle these guys that are bigger or smaller than me and I’m ready for any challenges that are in front of me,” said Moore.  “Getting that taste of victory and what it’s like to accomplish your goals really helps my drive.  It really puts me back in the mat room every day and it gets me really excited to wrestle at the next level,”

In Moore’s final year in a Silverton singlet, he placed District Runner-Up in the Mid-Willamette Conference while finishing third in 5A at the 120-pound class.

And for the kid who picked up the sport a few short years ago, he’s leaving the Foxes program with an hundoburger-plus in the win column and leaving his mark as he did, it’s pretty awesome to see all the hard work pay off points Moore.  Showing that you can do anything if you have the motivation and determination to make it happen when it matters.

“It’s very cool, a hundredth-win was something that I had a goal that I wrote down even before I started High School.  To make goals and have them come to fruition is something pretty special,” Moore said. “Ever since I’ve started, I’ve felt like I started late.  So for starting late, I had a lot more motivation to get as good, and even better, than  some of these kids out there “

Photos By Jeremy McDonald