“Genetic freak,” is how head wrestling coach James Abshier describes senior Jesse Lane. The term, frequently used by both his coaches and his teammates, pays homage to the family of excellent wrestlers Lane comes from, but also to the fact that when Lane wrestles, he makes the sport appear absolutely effortless – as if Lane was born pinning opponents in 15 seconds and less, or placing 3rd in the state, like he did on Feb. 27th.
Yet, in reality, Lane’s early experiences with wrestling were nothing close to effortless. In fact, when he first started wrestling, he barely lasted a season before quitting the sport for years. As the story goes, when he was in the first grade and heard that wrestling was going to be offered to elementary and middle school students, he jumped at the opportunity. Being so young, he was full of excitement when the season started. But once he realized how much dedication and physical demands the sport was going to require, his excitement was quickly snuffed out. When the season ended, he quit and thought he’d never look back. But, fortunately for him—and his future high school wrestling coaches, inspiration struck in the form of his older brother, who graduated class of 2021, Xavier Lane.
Reminiscing about the days when Xavier Lane wrestled for Brentwood brought a smile to Coach Abshier’s face as he recalled the ruthless wrestler. “Xavier made sure that wrestling him was the worst part of everyone’s day,” Abshier said. Xavier was an aggressive and exciting wrestler with an unmatched athleticism. In his high school career, Xavier was a four-time state qualifier and medalled his senior year with 6th place.
“He (Xavier) bullied me when he got back home,” said Jesse, who’s four years younger than Xavier. “He’d try out his wrestling moves on me as I tried to run away. It made me want to see if I could be as good, or even better than him.”
Bullying aside, Jesse was in awe of his older brother, and through Xavier’s influence, his passion and spark were reignited for the sport. Even though Jesse hadn’t wrestled on a team since he was in first grade, when high school rolled around, he decided to give the sport another chance.
Quickly into his first high school season, Jesse realized he didn’t hate the sport like he did when he was little. And the sport certainly didn’t hate him. In his first season, he qualified for state. As a sophomore, he not only qualified for state, he placed sixth – just like his older brother Xavier had his senior year.
Jesse’s family has always been one of his biggest motivators in regard to wrestling; from the fiery sibling rivalry and need to one-up his older brother, to the loving support of his parents. “They push me to be better and give me words of encouragement,” said Lane.
During Jesse’s junior year, he again qualified for state while also hitting the benchmark of 100 career pins, a massive milestone made even more extraordinary since he achieved it with an entire wrestling season left. This season, from his coaches to his friends to his opponents, all eyes have been on Jesse to see where his final season will take him.
“He’s exciting, he’s fast, and he’s always trying something new,” said assistant wrestling coach, Roy Hughes. “The only word I can put to describe watching him is fun.”
For underclassmen, having a superstar like Jesse on the team is, of course, fun to watch, but he also provides a lot of knowledge for the team. “Very skilled, very quick. He [Jesse] has a lot of technique. My weight class is 150, and Jesse is maybe in his 130’s. And he still beats me. It’s an honor to be wrestling this guy who’s twenty times better than me,” said sophomore Bodie Wilson who has frequently been Jesse’s wrestling partner during practices this year.
On January 30th, the wrestling team held their senior night. With his dad, Jesse Lane II, being a wrestling coach as well, and having seen years of senior nights in the past, Jesse was expecting a typical senior night. But instead, unbeknownst to Jesse, his coaches, and dad announced to the crowd that Jesse’s official number of career pins was 150 – which meant that he had broken Brentwood’s standing all-time record for high school career pins – 139 – a record that had been set in 2021 by none other than Xavier Lane.
“It was such a surreal experience,” said Lane. He had no idea he had broken the record, or even that he was hitting 150 pins before it was announced. Nothing could take the smile off of Lane’s face that entire night. He was even awarded a custom singlet with his name and 150 on it, made by his father as a heartfelt gift. “I felt so accomplished. My older brother was my role model going into this. He (Xavier) was so mad, but he wouldn’t want any other person to have broken the record besides me. He was very proud of me,” said Jesse.
And as for the rest of his season? Along with wrapping up his final high school season with a record of 45-7, which cemented his legacy as all-time leader in career wins with 161, on Feb. 27th., Lane placed third in the 126 pound weight class at the MSHSAA Class 1 Championship on Feb. 27th.
Jesse Lane will be missed dearly by all of our Brentwood Eagles, and all hope to see him go on and do wonderful things! Jesse wants to wrestle in college, but he hasn’t applied to any yet, he’s still on the lookout. But a large deciding factor in which college he eventually graces with his raw talent is wrestling. “If they don’t offer it, I won’t go,” said Lake. Wherever Lane ends up, he has all of Brentwood cheering for him.
