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Fundraising campaign under way to help wrestler with expenses for Olympic Trials

Olympic Trials candidate Jake Fisher was coaching in Connecticut when he qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Jake Fisher was an assistant coach at Greens Farms Academy in Westport and the Greco-Roman wrestling coach with South Side Wrestling Club in Bridgeport when he earned a spot in the U.S. Olympic Trials in December 2019.

Fisher finished second at the U.S. Senior Open at 77 kilograms (169.7 pounds) to earn a spot at the Olympic Trials for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan. The COVID-19 pandemic that began sweeping across the planet in 2020 moved these competitions to 2021.

The Olympics are set to be held this summer in Tokyo and the U.S. Olympic Trials are set for April 2-3 in Fort Worth, Texas and Fisher is training for the event.

A Go Fund Me account to help Fisher with his expenses to compete in Texas has been established by Jack Conroy, the head coach at Greens Farms Academy and the head coach of the South Side Wrestling Club.

Conroy will be in Fisher’s corner coaching at the Olympic Trials.

“Food, travel, lodging, tournament entry fees all weigh on many athlete’s minds as they chase the Olympic dream,” Conroy wrote on the fundraising page. “Thank you to everyone who contributed for the U.S. Open.”

“The pursuit of (a spot on) the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team is Fisher’s mission as of today. He is a licensed Doctor of Chiropractic working in and around Denver, fitting training in whenever possible. This fundraising will support Jake and his team in covering the costs associated with Olympic Trials. Every bit helps.”

As of Sunday morning, the campaign has raised $2,000 of the $5,000 goal with 18 donors.

Fisher earned his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from the University of Bridgeport’s School of Chiropractic in 2020. His last year in school, Fisher was a clinical intern in the University of Bridgeport outpatient clinic treating local residents and NCAA Division II athletes from the University of Bridgeport.

Fisher relocated to Colorado last summer to take a job with a chiropractic firm in the Denver area.

Fisher, who grew up in Missouri and wrestled at Northern Michigan, was a member of the U.S. World Team in 2011. He won the U.S. World Team trials twice and spent six years on Team USA (2009-13 and 2014-16). Fisher captured the U.S. Open title in 2010.

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of Connecticut Wrestling Online. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.

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