Travis Jahnke is a senior at Bay Port who just recently completed his final year with the Pirates’ wrestling team, where he was a part of the Fox River Classic Conference championship squad.
Travis will study business at NWTC in Green Bay before transferring to a UW school to finish his degree.
Name: Travis Jahnke
Parents: Todd & Holly
School: Bay Port
Sport: wrestling
Weight class: 170
How do you pronounce your last name? “Jahn-key. Everyone pronounces it ‘Jane-key,’ but that’s not it. Quite a few people say it wrong.”
Do you have any siblings? “I have two older brothers and an older sister. I’m the youngest of us four.”
Do you come from a sports family? “Zac is at UW-Whitewater and played football and basketball. Preston played soccer and I couldn’t tell you what sports my sister played! My dad played football and basketball, and I don’t think my mom played a sport in high school. We’ve always been a sports family.”
Had you ever done any other high school sports? “I played football from my freshman through junior year, but I didn’t go out this past season.”
Do you regret not going out for football your senior year? “I guess a little bit. I don’t think I would have gotten a lot of playing time, so I decided to just concentrate on wrestling. We had a lot of good players on the team at my position.”
How many years had you been involved in wrestling? “I joined in sixth grade.”
What did you like most about wrestling? “The physical contact that you don’t get in many other sports. In basketball you can’t just slam someone to floor like you can in wrestling. It makes you tougher in the future.”
Did you ever get nervous before a match? “I got nervous all the time because it was just you out there on the mat with all eyes watching. There’s no one to blame for a loss but yourself, but when you win it’s all because of the effort you put in.”
Which teammate would you NOT want to wrestle against if they were on the opposing team? “Caleb Hale. He was a technically sound wrestler who was very smooth. It was tough to do anything on him.”
Who was the best wrestler you ever went up against? “My sophomore year I wrestled Patrick Spray from Wisconsin Rapids. He was definitely one of the better wrestlers I ever went against. He was a four-time state qualifier and wrestled for UW-Madison.”
How about a high-school sport you wish you could have done? “I love basketball and play all the time with my brothers, but I just wasn’t the greatest at it.”
Talking about that Pulaski match to end the regular season to win the FRCC title never gets old! “It was insane! I was actually supposed to wrestle the last match with it tied at 24, but there was a change so we sent our freshman Drake Anderson out there. The Pulaski kid was a junior and state ranked. When Drake got down, we were all thinking it was pretty much over, but then he got the head throw and we all went crazy after the pin. It was pretty intense. I couldn’t believe it happened for like a day and a half after. It was hands down the best sports moment of my life. Celebrating with my team was the best.”
What are some of your non-sports related hobbies? “I love to snowboard. We go up to Ski Brule in Michigan and to Granite Peak in Wausau. Hopefully in the future I’ll get to Colorado to tackle those mountains.”
How will Travis Jahnke be remembered at Bay Port High School? “They would say that I was a happy guy to be around and that I didn’t bring the mood down.”
Dogs or cats? “Dogs.”
Tent camping or camper? “Camper.”
Tiny house or tree house? “Tiny house.”
Read the book or watch the movie? “Watch the movie.”
Lie on the beach or ski down the slopes? “That’s a tough one … ski – or should I say snowboard – down the slopes.”
Favorites
Food: Chicken Alfredo with tortellini
Movie: Happy Gilmore
Subject: science
TV show: Impractical Jokers
Cereal: Fruity Pebbles
Note: Suggestions for the senior spotlight can be submitted to Rich via email ([email protected]) or via Twitter (@richpalzewic). All spotlights can be found online at thepress.media. Check out last week’s spotlight on girls’ volleyball player Brianna Clement.