The Nelson family knows a thing or two about high school wrestling.  In fact, the Nelson’s are quite familiar with the Iowa High School State wrestling tournament which gets underway tomorrow in Des Moines.  The four Nelson brothers all wrestled for Central Dallas Minburn and Dallas Center Grimes.  Chris was the first state qualifier for Central Dallas in 1981 and became the first state placewinner at Central Dallas a year later in 1982. Jay qualified for state in both his sophomore and senior years placing second in 1989. Craig placed 3rd for Central Dallas while a fourth brother Joel competed for Dallas Center Grimes.  Now, two of the Nelson brothers will come together this weekend to watch their sons compete for Perry.  Jay’s son Cole is a freshman qualifier at 106 pounds while Jacob, Chris’ son is a first time qualifier at 132.

“Cole actually started wrestling before I did,” smiled Jacob.  “He started in kindergarten while I got going in the second grade.  We always wrestled on the same teams and traveled a ton together with AAU and club wrestling.  Our families are close and we always wrestle with one another when we get together at family gatherings.”

Jacob is at state following a tremendous second half of the season.  The junior missed the first week of the season and used December to get his conditioning and timing down.  He peaked at the right time wrestling some of his best matches in the sectional and district competition.

Cole credits the Mendenhall Invitational in Ames as one of the tournaments he started to turn the corner.  He competed in a stacked weight class and has successfully made the adjustment from junior high wrestling to varsity action.

“It’s just so much more physical,” stated Cole.  “It took a while for me to get used to that element of the sport but I feel once I figured that part of it out, I was good to go.”

Both Nelson’s will have plenty of advice as they get set for their first state experience.  Not only will they reach out to fellow qualifier Kaleb Olejniczak, but both wrestlers indicated they will turn to their dads and listen to their experiences in preparing for the biggest matches of their young careers.

“Yeah, no doubt, I’m going to talk to my dad (Jay) a lot this week,” says Cole.  “I’ve never been there.  He has and I want to know what to expect.”