Skiles wrestles way through health issues to the top

Jared Skiles has had to deal with health problems in order to wrestle.

Last weekend the Newport junior became the second of back-to-back state champions who helped the Grizzlies win their first state team trophy.

Newport placed second to four-time champion Warden in the State 1A/B tournament.

Skiles is hypoglycemic, and low blood sugar took him out of the state tournament his freshman year.

“After the first match I went into shock,” he said. “I couldn’t compete further.”

He also has had asthma since age 4, and wrestling would exacerbate the situation.

Skiles has taken steps to alleviate the conditions through diet, breathing exercises and medication.

He was fourth in state last year and this year rewarded former Newport state finalist and new coach Terry Haney, joining Clinton Teeples as the school’s fourth and fifth state titlists.

Haney took over the program in December when Adam France resigned, the second time this decade a Newport wrestling coached stepped down in midseason.

“The transition was pretty easy,” said Skiles of the coaching change. “For me it was easy because he (Haney) and his brother taught me how to wrestle. I’d been watching him since I was 6 years old. Then again, it was tough because Adam taught me a lot, too.”

Skiles, competing at 160 pounds, went his new coach one better in winning state. Haney was unbeaten as a senior in 1995 before losing the 148-pound state final by an 11-10 score.

A reversal in the last 15 seconds lifted Skiles to his title, by the identical 11-10 margin. In his semifinal, Skiles had pulled out a 10-8 victory in overtime.

“I didn’t know I’d gotten an escape (to tie the semifinal match),” Skiles said. “I figured I better give it all I’ve got right there.”

Haney said that in the final seconds of his championship match he figured that Skiles might be doubting himself.

“I tried everything I could to get him focused,” said Haney. “Man, he came out and pulled it off.”