Polo brothers want to leave their mark in wrestling

At Polo High School, one’s legacy as a wrestler is as plain as black and white.

Actually, it’s in blue and red.

On the walls of the wrestling room are the names of Marcos through the years who have qualified for the state tournament. It’s a long list, and those names are colored blue.

Wrestlers who have earned medals at the state tournament have their names in red. That is a significantly smaller group of athletes.

On an adjacent wall, the elite are recognized. That space is reserved for state champions. They have glass-encased pictures, brackets, and, for two of the wrestlers, town signs that were displayed on the outskirts of town for a year.

So far, the members of that exclusive club are Dan Hartman (1982 state champion), Cort Lawton (2006), and Jake Peterson (2010).

Ethan Cain, a Polo junior, yearns for a piece of that action. He was a state qualifier as a sophomore, but did not come home with any hardware.

“My name is stuck in blue, because I didn’t place,” Ethan said. “That kind of drives me. And then there’s a spot open on the state champion wall. I can picture myself being there.”

Jacob Cain, Ethan’s older brother and a Polo senior, is still searching for his first state appearance. He, too, would like to leave his mark in the Marcos’ wrestling room.

“I think that’s part of being a wrestler,” Jacob said. “They want to be decorated as one of the best in their program, and that’s what I’m striving to do this year.”

Foot and elbow injuries torpedoed Jacob’s freshman and sophwomore wrestling seasons, but he was healthy for most of his junior season. He qualified for the Byron Sectional, and advanced to the 195-pound semifinals.

There, he ran into Riverdale’s Terry White, and it was not a pleasant experience. White, 25-0 at the time and the eventual state runner-up, slammed Jacob in the first period, and Jacob landed awkwardly on his right knee.

A failed shot early in the second period ended up with a hobbled Jacob on his back, and that was that.

“When he took me down, that’s when I kind of stopped,” Cain said. “I couldn’t deal with the pain anymore.”

In the wrestleback round, Jacob dropped a 4-3 decision to Oregon’s Tyler Blume, leaving him one step shy of qualifying for state.

“I have a constant reminder on my wall in my room,” Jacob said. “There is a newspaper article that says I was one match away and one point away from making it to state.”

To improve, Jacob is working on his mental approach to bouts. He’s trying to be smarter about when to take his shots, and not put himself in position to be taken down as much. Polo coach Justin Zigler has seen improvement in that area.

“This year, he’s definitely got that thought process down where he’s wrestling his match,” Zigler said, “and not wrestling his opponent’s match.”

Zigler is also important in Ethan Cain’s development as a wrestler. When asked where his strength lies, Ethan cited his work on his feet and ability to take opponents down. When asked about weakness, it’s was wrestling on the bottom.

Zigler, who out-weighs the 170-pound Ethan by about 50 pounds and was a former standout grappler at Erie-Prophetstown, helps in that area during practice.

“With me having the extra weight and still being semi-fast,” Zigler said, “if he can get out from me, he can get out from most anyone.”

“It makes the guys that I wrestle seem smaller,” Ethan said, of tangling with his coach.

Like his brother, Ethan had a less-than-satisfying postseason this past winter. He did place third at the Byron Sectional to earn a state tournament berth, but at Champaign, went 2-2 to finish one spot out of the medal round.

In his last match, he was leading Dakota’s Jared Packer before getting tossed and pinned in 2 minutes, 46 seconds.

“I was so close to getting a medal,” Ethan said.

Advancing to state and doing some damage is on Ethan’s radar. He has a list of goals in his room at home that includes 42 wins this season, to equal the school record set by Lawton in the 2005-06 season; 30 pins; and a state championship.

A long-range goal is Lawton’s career win record of 147. Ethan had 75 so far, early in his junior season.

“I just need to wrestle a little smarter when I’m out there,” Ethan said. “I have the skills to get there.”

Cain also has big plans for football next fall. The junior-dominated Marcos won eight games this past season, but were handled 49-12 by Stark County in the second round of the 1A playoffs.

“The Stark County game, it was embarrassing, to be honest,” Ethan said. “We’ll be able to use that for motivation next year.”