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how they train and carry themselves and the things that they do, that's going to carry over to you. Especially with a guy like Jesse who wants to be at that level. "He'll take notice of the things that are going on, and the details of what he has to do to win. You give him another year of maturity and you put him in that environment — with the travel throughout the world — and he's more exposed, more knowledgeable and more grown up, I want to say.'' Thielke was saying many of the same things about his OTC experience. "Wrestling Greco,'' he said, "and just wrestling those guys that have been wrestling for so long and have been training in that specific style for so long was a really good experience; especially when I went overseas with the team. I met a lot of people and I did a lot of growing up.'' Make no mistake about it: Thielke had serious designs on making the Olympic team for London. But he had trouble making weight (at 121) and took a fourth (at 132). "If I would have made my weight, there was no doubt in my mind, I would have gone,'' he said. That confidence is just part of his makeup. "I've "From the very beginning, I wanted to be in the best in the world, and this is the path that I had to go,'' Thielke said. "There was no way around it. There were no shortcuts, especially in a sport like this.'' watched him in the room,'' Davis said, "and he's got a good attitude.'' What are his expectations for Thielke's freshman season?"It's not my expec- tations,'' Davis said. "It's his expectations and it's our job to get him where he wants to be.'' Thielke was asked the same thing about first- year expectations. "That's a good question,'' he replied. "I'm still not sure whether I'm going to redshirt, but if I wrestle, I'm going to focus on getting better … focus on getting to the national tournament and competing for a title.'' Championships have always been a focal point, dating all the way back to when he was in the sec- ond grade and his dad Jeff Thielke first got him involved in wrestling. "I was re- ally competitive and kids my age couldn't handle that,'' he said. "I got in fights a lot in school when I was little.'' Was that because of his attitude? Or was that because he was small- er than others? "It was mostly at- titude; definitely a size thing, too,'' said Thielke, adding that wrestling was the perfect outlet for his energy. "My dad looked around for other sports, but nothing was high con- tact enough for me.'' Thielke's thirst for contact, a physical wrestling style, is best quenched today in Greco-Roman. But that seed — to be tougher on the mat than your opponent — was 42 » VARSITY SEPTEMBER 20, 2012