Columbus East’s Talon Jessup, in orange, wrestles Switzerland County’s Ethan Rose for the 106-pound sectional title at Jennings County High School in North Vernon, Ind., Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. Jessup defeated Rose to win the title.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Talon Jessup is entering new territory.
The Columbus East sophomore finished runner-up at 106 pounds in Saturday’s Evansville Semistate and will be wrestling in his first state finals tournament on Friday, also in Evansville at the Ford Center.
Jessup learned wrestling through his dad Tanner at around 5 years old. Talon didn’t start competing in wrestling until he was 7. The younger Jessup mentioned his father wanted to get him involved with a sport. Talon has fallen in love with it since.
Talon Jessup
Jessup wasn’t afraid to admit he had little success early on, but we knew that being out there and having the experience would only benefit him long term.
“Winning is all fun when you’re younger, but really, it’s learning how to lose was a huge thing. I go to all these national tournaments and lose and learning from that,” Jessup said. “Learning all these new moves and counter-moves and learning how to go from one thing to the next and not dwell on the past, having a short memory. Those were the biggest things when I was little.”
Before he got to high school, Jessup said one of his favorite things to do was going out to the East wrestling matches and sitting in the stands watching wrestlers he gotten to know over the years such as Graham and Cayden Rooks, both of whom were state champions during their respective high school careers and now are wrestling at Indiana University.
Getting to know former Olympian wrestlers has brought Jessup one more step closer to the wrestler he wants to be.
“They set the path, and I’m walking their path now,” Jessup said. “Obviously, their technique is awesome. Getting to know what wrestling has done for them and how it’s doing the same for me is just huge motivation.”
The eighth-ranked Jessup (35-3) will face 15th-ranked John Bissmeyer (32-11) of Cathedral in the opening round at state on Friday. The winner will meet second-ranked Mason Jones (36-0) of Lake Central or Charlie Fleshman (39-6) of Central Noble in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning.
The biggest thing East coach Chris Cooper saw different from last year to this year is Jessup’s confidence level.
“This year, he fully expects to go out there beat these good wrestlers and compete and make it to the top of the podium any tournament we’re at,” Cooper said. “That confidence is really what jumped out him to the next level.”
The 152-through-285-pound weight classes will begin at 2 p.m. CST/3 p.m. EST Friday at Evansville’s Ford Center. The 106-through-144-pound classes will start at 5:30 p.m. CST/6:30 p.m. EST Friday.
Quarterfinals begin at 9 a.m. CST/10 a.m. EST Saturday and will be followed by semifinals. Third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches will start at 4:30 p.m. CST/5:30 p.m. EST Saturday, and championship matches begin at 7:30 p.m. CST/8:30 p.m. EST Saturday. This year’s state finals is being held in Evansville because of NBA All-Star Weekend activities taking place in and around Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which normally hosts the event.
Jessup was the lone Olympian to qualify for state this year.
“I’ve got to keep the ball rolling,” Jessup said. “Just because we made it doesn’t mean we’re done. We‘ve got to stay hungry.”
