Wells to wrestle down under

Jacob Wells is a junior at Encampment with big aspirations. Wells, who wrestles for the Panther squad, has been invited to go “Down Under” to compete and travel to a totally different continent, halfway around the world.

Auckland, New Zealand is the scheduled destination for the Down Under Sports Tournament this year, and Wells will proudly represent Wyoming and the nation. Wells and the team from the U.S. will also spend two days in Australia and stop in Hawaii on their way back to the States.

“It’s huge for me to be selected by Down Under Sports,” Wells explained. “It’s a huge honor.”

Up until now, Wells has been a two-sport athlete playing football and wrestling. This year Wells also plans to participate in track to help keep himself in shape.

“I thought I might be selected for football but not wrestling,” Wells said. It’s a great feeling they selected me for wrestling.”

Jacob will travel on July 1 through July 12 and needs to raise over $5,000 dollars in order to meet his traveling expenses. Wells is no stranger to fundraising, however. The young grappler is also part of an organization called Family Career and Community Leaders of America. FCCLA is a national and state-wide organization that helps young people hone their skills to become future leaders. Wells has done some fundraising through this organization and is ready to commit to raising the money for his trip. Wells is currently trying to get work at the saw mill in Encampment to make money for his travels but is asking the community to help him out in a number of different ways.

“I’m looking for community businesses to help sponsor me directly through Down Under Sports and any one interested can contact me directly for a sponsorship form,” Wells said.

Jacob has also set up a sweetheart raffle with the prize being dinner for two donated by The Bear Trap Cafe, Saratoga Resort and Spa and Bella’s Bistro. Included in the prize is also a night at the movies for two at The Movies 3 in Rawlins.

Jacob is also selling t-shirts and hoodies from Custom Ink and Wells has shirts for both the Saratoga Panthers and the Encampment Tigers.

Wells is also in the process of putting two more raffles together, one for Mother’s Day in which he is looking for a local spa to donate a massage for the winner, and a Father’s Day raffle with a chance to win a .22 firearm.

Wells is a kid that has a grasp on the things going on around him. Currently wrestling in the heavy weight class, Wells understands that in order to be more successful he needs to trim down and wrestle at 220 lbs. There is a 215 lb. weight class in the Down Under Tournament so he feels that running track, lifting, running through the summer and staying on his diet will help him meet the goal of cutting weight so he can wrestle at the lower weight this summer.

Jacob also has aspirations of attending college after high school. Wells would like to attend Oklahoma University but plans to go to junior college in Powell to help him transition into college life.

Anyone interested in supporting Wells can contact either him or Sally Wells for raffle tickets, sponsorship forms and the t-shirts and hoodies. The Bear Trap Cafe is also selling raffle tickets and the hoodies and t-shirts will be available for purchase at the Encampment school. Wells can be reached at 307-710-5329 and Sally can be reached at 307-329-5329. Supporters are asked to leave a detailed voice mail if Wells or Sally can’t answer.