Jacob Stephen "Jake" Varner (born March 24, 1986) is an American

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat sport ...

. Varner won the gold medal in the 96 kg category at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling ...

. Varner wrestled collegiately for the

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

Cyclones In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

. He was a four-time

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

finalist and two-time NCAA Division I champion (junior and senior). In high school, he was also a two-time

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

wrestling state champion for

Bakersfield High School Bakersfield High School (BHS) is a public four-year high school located in Bakersfield, California, United States. Opened in 1893, Bakersfield High School serves grades ninth through twelfth within the Kern High School District. Notable alumni * ...

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

, where was coached by his uncle Andy, who served as head coach, and his father Steve, who served as an assistant. Varner has been an assistant wrestling coach at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

since 2016. In 2022, Varner was inducted into the

National Wrestling Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. History The museum was awarded to Stillw ...

as a Distinguished Member.Jake Varner
''National Wrestling Hall of Fame''. Retrieved September 18, 2022.

References

External links

*
bio on themat.com
1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Bakersfield, California American male sport wrestlers Iowa State Cyclones wrestlers Wrestlers at the 2011 Pan American Games Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in wrestling Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Wrestling Championships medalists Pan American Games medalists in wrestling Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 20th-century American people 21st-century American people {{US-wrestling-bio-stub

See also

References

External links