Jacob Kasper after pinning Iowa's Sam Stoll at the NCAAs (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)There's a long, rich history of collegiate wrestling champs who have managed to find success in the squared circle. Brock Lesnar. Kurt Angle. Dan Hodge. Verne Gagne. Dick Hutton. Earl McCready.
We may be about to add Jacob Kasper to that list.
The two-time NCAA All-American heavyweight for Duke University is the subject of a nearly 3,000-word profile by K.C. Joyner and just posted at ESPN.com.
Titled "In Search of its Next Star: How the WWE Recruited Duke Wrestler Jacob Kasper", the article provides an inside look at how WWE seeks out new talent for its rosters ... by focusing on Kasper and one of WWE's primary recruiters, Gerry Brisco, who wrestled for Oklahoma State in the mid-1960s and now focuses on wooing amateur mat stars into pro ring careers.
Jacob Kasper certainly has a lot going for him in his quest to join the WWE. He's the right size: 6'3", 235 pounds. He has impressive amateur wrestling credentials -- a two-time Ohio high school state championships qualifier from Lexington, Ohio (about halfway between Columbus and Cleveland) who, while at Duke, twice earned NCAA All-American honors in 2017 and 2018, and, as a senior, was crowned champ at the prestigious Southern Scuffle and at the 2018 ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) Championships.
What's more, Kasper demonstrates an athleticism that is sometimes missing in collegiate heavyweights. A key element: Kasper hasn't always been a heavyweight. When he was a qualifier for the Ohio high school state championships, he tipped the scales at 170 pounds the first year ... then 182 the next. Kasper spent half of his career at Duke wrestling 184. He's weighed in on the matter on Twitter: "The most exciting (& in large part best) upperweights have been guys that wrestled lighter weights. Consequently they developed all skill sets before becoming heavyweights ..."
Then there are the intangibles that could also propel Jacob Kasper into WWE success. For starters, pro wrestling has been a lifetime passion of Kasper's. The Duke big man and his two brothers conducted pro-style matches at home (sometimes involving jumping off the roof of their home) ... and that quest for the pro spotlight hasn't faded. "I always thought it would be awesome to perform at a WrestleMania in front of 90,000 fans and leave an impression on them that would last for the rest of their lives," Kasper told ESPN.
For Kasper, a WWE career goes beyond fulfilling a lifelong wish; he's got many of the tools that would serve him well in pro wrestling. As K.C. Joyner wrote in his ESPN feature, "Kasper has the personality, athletic ability, willingness to wield a microphone and a number of other factors that make him a special prospect coming out of college."
In a sport where most fans appreciate athletes who "get the job done" with minimal flash, fanfare or drama on the mat -- or in mainstream or social media -- Jacob Kasper stands out from the crowd. Consider his shoes, his t-shirts, even his "colorful" sports jackets and bowties that he is sometimes seen wearing away from competition.
And while Kasper generally comes across as being polite and respectful -- "Just trying to make my parents proud" he tweeted a few days ago -- the Duke heavyweight wasn't afraid of being perceived as the bad guy in the lead-up to his semifinals match at the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships taking on Ohio State's Kyle Snyder, the youngest American Olympic wrestling gold medalist in history. "Kasper called out Snyder by saying he wanted to 'punch him in the mouth' -- in a competitive sense -- and that alone made Kasper take on the heel role in the amateur wrestling community," Joyner wrote in his ESPN profile.
It all has captured the attention of the WWE's Gerry Brisco.
"In my nearly 50 years in the wrestling business, I have seen only a few wrestlers who have such powerful personalities that when they come into a room, everyone there knows that person has arrived," Brisco told ESPN. "Jacob Kasper has that type of personality, and he reminds me in many ways of a young John Cena."
Yep, the same John Cena that has not only found superstardom in the WWE but has now become
a fixture on TV and in movies.
It's not beyond Jacob Kasper's vision to imagine a similar career path to Cena's.
"His drive toward the future also has him thinking of outside-the-box ways he can improve his stock as a WWE recruit," wrote K.C. Joyner for ESPN. "He can already do a standing front flip and back flip, and Kasper is working with a gymnastics trainer to further expand his abilities. On top of all that, Kasper's mental acumen doesn't take a backseat to his physical talents either, with the former premed student touting three-time NCAA Academic All-American honors."
The wrestling-to-rasslin' connection -- a long tradition
There's a long history of amateur wrestling champions who transferred that talent into the pro wrestling ring that goes back nearly a century. The first NCAA heavyweight champ -- Earl McCready of Oklahoma State, college wrestling's first three-time titlewinner (1928-1930) -- enjoyed a long pro career after leaving Stillwater. Other collegiate titlists -- Iowa's Joe Scarpello, Minnesota's Verne Gagne and Oklahoma State's Dick Hutton in the 1950s, Oklahoma's Dan Hodge and Oklahoma State's Jack Brisco (Gerry Brisco's brother) in the 1960s, and Chris Taylor, Iowa State heavyweight, in the 1970s -- were among those NCAA champs who enjoyed successful careers as pro wrestlers.
The tradition continues. Among more recent examples: WWE's Chad Gable (2012 London Olympics Greco-Roman wrestler Chas Betts), as well as Kurt Angle (1996 Olympic gold medalist and two-time NCAA heavyweight champ at Pennsylvania's Clarion University), Brock Lesnar (2000 NCAA heavyweight champ for University of Minnesota), and Jack Swagger (who, as Jake Hager, was an NCAA All-American at University of Oklahoma).
These days, the WWE seems to cast a wider net beyond amateur wrestling in terms of looking for the "next big thing" for its pro wrestling rings. Back in February, the WWE announced nearly 40 individuals would be put through the paces at a training camp in Orlando. At least three had amateur wrestling backgrounds: Juan Adams, former Virginia Military Institute heavyweight, now in MMA; Derrick Mehmen, a medalist at the Iowa high school state wrestling championships, now also in MMA; and David Viera, an Oregon high school state champ who concentrated on football at Oregon State.
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