Quest for greatness nurtured by many

With all the popular tales swirling around Jake Deitchler, the young wrestler almost seems like a mythical figure, a modern-day mash-up of Paul Bunyan and Hercules with a slingshot in his pocket for good measure. He won the U.S. Olympic trials with a move he had just learned! Heavyweight teammates feared him! In a single month, he viewed an entire locker full of wrestling videos!

What sounds like breathless hype is actually true. Deitchler, 18, has been called a gem, a superfreak and a prodigy by his coaches. Since he beat Olympic medal favorite Harry Lester at the trials on his way to becoming the youngest member of the U.S. Greco-Roman team since 1976, the legend of the three-time state champ from Anoka has become a national story.

About the only thing that hasn't grown is Deitchler's ego. Though he will wrestle at the Beijing Olympics next Wednesday, he remains a friendly kid from Ramsey who likes to laugh, enjoys teaching younger athletes and once bleached his hair blond for fun, only to dye it black immediately after coach Brandon Paulson scolded him.

Deitchler is nearly 20 years younger than Olympic Greco-Roman teammate T.C. Dantzler. But his discipline, his quick mind, his unquenchable thirst for training and his respect for the sport have made him a popular team member and a contender in the 145.5-pound weight class.

"I want to be one of the best Greco-Roman wrestlers in history," Deitchler said, without a hint of hubris. "I want to make a statement and get a medal. There's no pressure on me, and I'm going to compete hard and have fun.

"A lot of things have changed for me in the past couple of months. It's kind of strange to be a spokesman for wrestling and to have kids my own age ask me for autographs. I'm not just representing myself at the Olympics; I'm representing my country, USA Wrestling, my family, my state, my town. If I keep believing in myself, I can do something great."

'He loves to work hard'

In the basement wrestling room at the University of Minnesota, Deitchler worked out with Paulson the week before he would leave for Beijing. Paulson, a 1996 Olympic silver medalist in the Greco-Roman 114.5-pound class, still wore a sleeve on the knee he tore up while wrestling his student last spring.

He wasn't the first casualty. Todd Springer, Deitchler's coach at Anoka High School, came away from practices with Deitchler with a strained knee and a wound that required seven stitches. "He beat up our assistant coaches, too," Springer said. "It got to the point where no one wanted to wrestle him. I'd put a kid in against him and say, 'Do us all a favor.'"

Deitchler didn't mean to hurt anyone. But his passion for wrestling burns so hot he cannot always contain it. That was what drove Springer to ask Paulson for help with the 14-year-old boy who never wanted to leave the mat.

The well-chronicled story had Paulson returning home from the 2004 Olympic trials, where he lost in triple overtime, to find Springer in his Anoka driveway. The coach told him he had an eighth-grade kid on his team, a real Brandon Paulson type, who could use some extra work.

"He said, 'Yeah, right,'" Springer recalled. "I think we left that conversation with him saying, 'No. Get out of my driveway.'"

It took some time for Paulson to get past the sting of his loss. Deitchler turned out to be the bridge that brought him back to the sport, that transformed him from competitor to coach. Springer kept calling, kept asking, and kept hearing no. So he turned the task over to the one person even more persistent than he was: Jake Deitchler.

Deitchler called Paulson as many as six times a day. Finally, Paulson relented. He started working with Deitchler once a week, then twice, then several times as Deitchler graduated early from Anoka High to prepare for the Olympic trials.

"He loves to work hard," said Paulson, who has been Deitchler's personal coach for about three years. "He has a tremendous passion for wrestling. He has a dedication you don't see in people that age, and he's very coachable, always eager to learn."

Deitchler had been on the mat since he was a baby. He was born when Jason and Racheal Deitchler were attending Mayville State University in North Dakota, the night before one of Jason's wrestling tournaments. A state heavyweight champ at Park Rapids, Jason often brought Jake with him to the wrestling room at Mayville State, where his son mimicked the big guys' moves.

The Deitchlers steered Jake into other sports as well, including football, soccer, skateboarding and dirt biking. One by one, they all dropped off his schedule.

"Wrestling was my passion," Jake said. "My parents wanted me to be well-rounded, and they were afraid I'd get burned out if I did it year-round. But I didn't want to do anything else."

Jake made the Anoka varsity team as a seventh-grader. Within a year, Springer knew he had his hands full.

"I couldn't feed him fast enough," the coach said. "He's the complete package. He has intensity and smarts, and he is such an analyst. There were times in our wrestling room when we just shut down and watched him."

Deitchler's well-grounded family nurtured a humble, responsible boy. Wrestling nurtured a surprisingly disciplined teen willing to commit himself to the sport, ready to do anything that would make him better.

As a freshman, Deitchler lost a tough match at the state tournament. Afterward, Paulson came to Jason Deitchler for a chat. "I asked him, 'Do you believe Jake has what it takes?'" Jason Deitchler recalled. "And Brandon said, 'If he'll listen to me, he'll never lose another match in the state tournament.'"

By the time he was a junior, Jake was beating Paulson in practice. He finished his high school career with three consecutive state titles and won his final 111 matches.

"When Jake does something, he does it with all his heart," Racheal Deitchler said. "He is so focused, so disciplined. Nothing he does surprises me."

Competing against men

Same goes for Springer. Last May, Jake called his coach and told him he should come to Las Vegas for the Olympic trials, because he was going to win.

"There has never been a time when he said he was going to do something and he didn't do it," Springer said. "I looked at my wife and said, 'Get the credit card. We're going to Vegas.'"

Paulson and Deitchler had formed a tight bond during their years together, and Paulson's love for the Greco-Roman style of wrestling had transferred to his student. Deitchler began competing in Greco -- which does not allow holds below the waist -- in ninth grade.

Greco-Roman tends to be an older man's game. It is characterized by upper-body strength, big throws and strategies that require time to master. But Deitchler's uncommon ability to absorb lessons quickly allowed him to score an upset that wrestling insiders dubbed one of the greatest in years.

Lester was heavily favored to earn the only U.S. Olympic berth at 145.5 pounds. Using a headlock he had just learned from Paulson, Deitchler beat him in the semifinals, then trumped Faruk Sahin in the finals with the same tactics: an aggressive, fast-moving style meant to score points and wear down an older opponent.

"I get goosebumps thinking of the trials," Paulson said. "He's still a kid; his body is still maturing. But he's grown up in the past three weeks and learned to compete with men."

The Olympic field at his weight is particularly strong and deep. U.S. coach Steve Fraser, though, said Deitchler's success is no fluke. "He does not step down from anything," said Fraser, an Olympic gold medalist. "All our veterans love him. I love him. If he wrestles like he did at the trials, he could surprise a lot of guys."

It would not surprise anyone who knows him. "Crazy things happen at the Olympics," Deitchler said. "I'm going in there believing I can do it."