Jacob Schlottke, a two-time Minnesota high school state wrestling champ, Arizona State recruit, and website entrepreneur, died Thursday evening in Albuquerque after an 18-month battle with cancer. He was 27.
A 2002 graduate of Apple Valley High School -- one of the top programs in the nation -- Schlottke qualified for the Minnesota state tournament five times, winning the title twice. He still owns the Minnesota state record for takedowns in a season with 446 his senior year.
Schlottke was awarded a scholarship to wrestle for the ASU Sun Devils, but suffered a career-ending knee injury, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
The injury may have taken Schlottke off the mat, but not completely out of wrestling. About four years ago, he partnered with Shane Jensen to build TheWrestlingTalk.com, an independent amateur wrestling online discussion forum.
Schlottke had been building websites since he was in high school... later developing a business called Pinnacle Internet Marketing in Albuquerque that helped giant organizations such as McDonald's, Twitter and eHarmony maximize their SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and thus, reach more potential customers online, according to Jason Bryant of USA Wrestling.
BusinessWeek magazine named Schlottke of the Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25 in 2006.
"Jacob was a kid that was fun to be around,'' Apple Valley assistant wrestling coach Bill Demaray said. "He was easy going and lighthearted. On the side, he worked on those techy things. That was his hobby. He had high goals and aspirations and worked really hard to accomplish things.''
Funeral arrangements have yet to be made public.
A memorial fund has been established in Jacob Schlottke's honor for his family. It is a PayPal account set up under the email address thewrestlingtalk@gmail.com
Want to know more? Read the obituary in the St. Paul Pioneer Press... Jason Bryant's tribute... and condolence threads at TheGuillotine.com and TheWrestlingTalk.com forums.
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