Napoleon native Jared Reis, who was a three time Class B state champion and wrestled for four seasons at Oregon State University before returning to North Dakota, will wrestle 157 pounds for the University of Mary this Saturday when #1 ranked St. Could State invades the Mac.

Reis has not competed competitively since the Spring of 2016, when he graduated from  Oregon State with a Major in managerial economics and a minor in business entrepreneurship.  Though Reis still had a year of eligibility remaining, he got out of Oregon and back to North Dakota as quickly as possible.

“I was ready to be done,” Reis noted to NDwrestle. ”  I hadn’t cracked the lineup and making 141 pounds wasn’t a lot of fun. I would travel everywhere with the team and weigh in, but rarely wrestle, and that sucked,” Reis stated bluntly.

Reis recalls having a final at 10:00 AM in Corvallis, OR, and being on the road back to North Dakota before noon that same day.  On top of wrestling becoming a chore, Reis had  also maintained a long distance relationship with his now fiancee, who was going to school at Mary.

So what, exactly, has Jared Reis been up to since returning to his home state a year and a half ago?  Simply put, Reis has been adulting.

“I closed on my house in Lincoln back in August and got engaged the same day,” Reis noted, “I’ve been pouring concrete and in the winters pushing snow.”

Reis has been away from full-time training for nearly two years now, and he is shifting from being at Oregon State and thinking about wrestling 24/7, to being at Mary and looking at wrestling as something he is able to do outside of the work related routine he has gotten used to.

“I have a job, a mortgage, and am engaged, so wrestling is now something that takes a back seat to life.” Reis stated.  “It is a bit liberating being able to practice and compete freely with the understanding that I am doing what I enjoy and it isn’t the main focus of my life.”

The mild amount of snow Bismarck has received this winter is a big part of why Reis is jumping back onto the mat in the first place.  With less snow to push, Reis has had the opportunity to commit to getting back in match condition and joining Mary for the spring semester.  Mary is a natural fit as well because it is ten minutes from Reis’s Lincoln home.

Though Reis is only 23 years old, he is still an elder statesman on a Mary team that boasts very few wrestlers over the age of 21.  Reis is only now acclimating himself to the Mary team dynamic, as this is the first week he has been able to work out with the team every day.

“The team is extremely close and everyone seems to get along,” Reis stated about this Marauder bunch. “Coach Aho is a terrific guy, and if it wasn’t for a guy like him leading the program I probably wouldn’t even have considered wrestling again.”

Reis’s return to the mat will also give family and friends- many who may have never seen him compete while at Oregon State-the opportunity to watch him on the mat.

“For me, competing again isn’t that big of a deal, but a lot of people had been encouraging me to come out and are now excited to watch me compete,” Reis said.

On Saturday, Reis will likely match up with the top Division II 157 in the nation in St. Cloud’s Larry Bomstad.  Bomstad is a senior two-time All American.  The match should be a great measuring stick for Reis, who is focused on one thing in his last semester of college wrestling.

“The goal is to win nationals”, Reis stated.  “I still have a month and a half to keep working, so I have some time on my side.”

Mary head coach Adam Aho believes that goal is achievable given what he has seen up to this point.

“Jared wrestles and trains like a Division I athlete and brings that mentality into the room,”  Aho noted.  “Reis is going to wrestle seven minutes hard and can score from anywhere, so I think he can cause problems for everyone at the weight.”

Aho is also appreciative of what Reis brings to the wrestling room every day.

“Jared brings an alpha male personality to the room,” Aho noted.  “Guys instantly respect him because of how hard he drills and wrestles.  We don’t have to tell Jared what he needs to be prepared for this spring push, he isn’t taking this lightly and the rest of the guys in the room are now learning from a veteran.”