When Medina Valley High School senior Jacob Allen isn’t stressing about excessive homework, he’s flying off the top rope and working on his submissions holds.

For more than three years, Allen has been training in preparation for his professional wrestling debut. That day has finally come.

“[The training] has been really physical,” Allen said. “People think this stuff is easy. I’ve got a huge bruise on my back right now. I’ve had to make a lot of sacrifices. I had to quit football this year, my senior year, to focus on wrestling. I had to choose something, and this is what I love.”

Allen, also known as “The Jakester,” made his professional debut last November at an event presented by Southern Championship Wrestling. Allen says that his alter-ego, “The Jakester” is not too far off from his regular personality.

Much of pro wrestling centers on the conflict between the heels, or bad guys, and the faces, the good guys. Allen had no doubt what role he would be playing when he took his first step into the ring; that of a face – albeit a “baby” face.

Allen has been training under the tutelage of famed trainer and SCW wrestler Rudy “Boy” Gonzalez at the Texas Wrestling Academy in San Antonio. The academy, co-founded by WWE legend Shawn Michaels, has groomed current WWE wrestlers Lance Cade, Brian Kendrick and Paul Landon.

“Hopefully I can put Castroville on the map one day if I ever get famous in the WWE,” Allen said. “That would be nice. Castroville is a good place, and it needs to be recognized.”

For Allen, pro wrestling is simply in his blood. His father, Don Holding, was himself a pro wrestler with the legendary, but now defunct, WCCW organization. However, Sandra Holding, Allen’s mother, gives herself some credit for Allen’s highflying acrobatics.

“From what I understand, he’s going to be pretty acrobatic off the ropes,” Holding said. “I think that comes from my side, I was in gymnastics.”

 

 

Reprinted by permission: Castroville News Bulletin