WEST LIBERTY — Earlier this year, Jeff Abbott converted the old VHS tapes of his wrestling matches to digital and relived some of his favorite memories with his family.
The footage means even more to him today than it did 19 years ago because he can hear his late father Dick Abbott’s voice on the tapes.
“You can hear how excited he was,” Jeff said. “He had one of the first decent camcorders, and he would tape the matches, and we would critique them.”
That dedication is just one reason Abbott capped his high school career at West Liberty-Salem with a victory in the Division III 130-pound state final in 1991. That victory, combined with titles won by Tim and Matt Dernlan, gave West Liberty its first and only state wrestling team title.
Abbott and his wife, Katie, now live in Frankfort, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. Their oldest son Colin, 6, just finished his second year of wrestling, and another other son, Owen, 4, will start in a year or two. Abbott coaches an Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation team called the Vittum Cats.
Like his kids, Abbott got an early start on the mat. When Jeff was in second grade in Garrett, Ind., his dad started the first wrestling club there. In fifth grade, Dick got a job at Navistar in Springfield, and Jeff was enrolled in the Graham school district.
Jeff remained at Graham until his senior year. His workout partners had graduated, and there was some uncertainty about the coaching situation. Jeff was good friends with the Dernlans, so he became a Tiger.
“It was one of the best years of my life,” Abbott said. “We had so much fun.”
Jeff did a cartwheel to celebrate his state semifinal victory, but in the final, he wrestled a good friend, Versailles’ Jeff Moran. He didn’t want to show him up after the 6-4 victory.
“He had beaten me the week before in the district final,” Jeff said. “We were 2-2 on the year. I just remember being totally focused. There were so many times I’d wrestled him. I felt this energy. I knew going into it that I was going to win.”
After high school, Abbott wrestled at Division I Drake University. It dropped wrestling after Abbott’s freshman season. He decided to stay at the school, and that was the end of his wrestling career, though he stayed in the sport as a coach.
“It’s tougher now watching my little guy wrestling,” Abbott said. “I’m not in control. I can do my best to prepare him, but it’s more nerve-wracking from the stands.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0351 or djablonski@coxohio.com.
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