NC State wrestler Jakob Camacho emerged from injury with new mindset

Jakob Camacho had to sit and watch NC State wrestling’s season from the sidelines a year ago. The elite 125-pound wrestler could not be on the mat with his teammates as he was recovering from an ACL injury — and it ate at him. 

The competitor wanted to be in the Pack’s 10-man lineup each night, but he was physically unable to do so. For Camacho, a three-time NCAA qualifier, it was difficult to see his team wrestle without him. 

But as he was on the side, Camacho leaned into the team, a role that he had not been able to do in the individual sport until now. It was his way of being connected to the team still, though he could not don the NC State singlet on the mat. 

“I pretty much just had to start focusing on the team more than I had to dive into myself, which is a hard thing to do,” Camacho said. “With wrestling being an individual sport, it’s sometimes hard and difficult to wrap your head around a team. And I think that’s probably one of the greatest things that’s happened to me — I was able to learn to step outside myself, forget about my issues and focus on the team.”

Camacho’s focus turned from how to make himself better on the mat, to helping the others in and around his weight class — Jarrett Trombley and Kai Orine — as he rehabbed his knee back to full strength. 

Fast forward a year later, and Camacho is back on the mat with the Wolfpack. The Danbury, Conn., native earned his first win of the season via forfeit against Presbyterian before he took his first victory against another opponent via a 19-3 technical fall win over App State’s Chad Bellis. 

While it was his first match for the Pack in more than a year, the redshirt junior had trouble finding a way to articulate what it meant to him.

“It’s really a very cool feeling,” Camacho said. “And it’s hard to put into words how much it means to me to be able to step out on the mat with NC State on my chest.”

Camacho worked his way back into the second-ranked Pack’s elite lineup, and he has yet to drop a match in any of NC State’s seven duals to start the season. He owns a pair of ranked wins and is currently No. 2 in FloWrestling’s rankings at 125.

Wolfpack coach Pat Popolizio called Camacho’s return to the mat “rewarding” to see.

“I think the ultimate goal is to compete and accomplish your goals that you set out,” Popolizio said. “I know how much work he put into his rehab, so when you get a chance to see him compete, there’s a lot behind that. … To his caliber, where he’s in the mix to win it this year, it speaks volumes of his commitment.”

But as Camacho recovered from his injury, he learned more about himself than he had when he was able to wrestle. He uncovered that he can not control everything — whether it is in sports or not. 

At the end of the day, it was the little things that Camacho focused on. 

“The God honest truth is sports are just as unpredictable as life sometimes,” Camacho said. “I think I learned that it’s OK not to be perfect, it’s OK not to have control over everything. I learned that the most important thing is controlling what you can control, and a lot of times it really is just your attitude and it’s just your effort.”

Camacho’s new mindset paid off this season in his first ranked bout against then-No. 3 Matt Ramos of Purdue. The Wolfpack wrestler, who was ranked No. 8 at the time, fell behind 3-0 in the first period after a takedown, but instead of panicking, Camacho’s approach was “‘I’ve been here before and the only thing that matters is the next point,’” he recalled. 

“There was no real stress on me,” Camacho said. “It was more so keep trucking along, one foot in front of the other. At that point it was controlling my emotions, controlling my attitude and perspective inside of that little tiny moment that led to good success, I think.”

Camacho pulled off the upset as he was able to force a 4-4 tie going into the third period. He got the escape he needed to take the lead for the first time in that frame before he nailed a takedown with 45 seconds left to win it, 8-5.

That was quite a way for Camacho to reintroduce himself to the national wrestling landscape, but he has national title aspirations on his mind. While a trophy in Kansas City is the goal, Camacho’s ability being added back to the Pack’s lineup is something that Popolizio does not take for granted.

“It’s an elite guy back in our lineup,” Popolizio said. “You take what he’s able to accomplish and where he’s at competitively, I think it instills a lot of confidence for the other guys. We have a lot of really good guys already in our lineup, and when you throw some more ammo in there, it makes us a dangerous team.”

NC State has a tough schedule once the calendar flips into the new year, including home matches against No. 9 Oklahoma State (Jan. 5) and No. 3 Cornell (Feb. 16), but Camacho will approach it with his new mindset. 

That, coupled with his appreciation of wrestling, has taught Camacho a lot over the past year.

“It gives you a sense of gratitude and presence every time you step on the mat,” Camacho said. “You never know when it’s going to be your last. An ACL surgery really isn’t anything super crazy, but in the short-term and the very small world that I was living in at the time, it seemed like the end of the world, but it’s not.”

He spent last season on the sideline. Camacho could not do anything to help his team at the NCAA tournament in the Pack’s 10th-place finish, but that is sure to change this time around. 

Camacho has found grace from the injury, and at the end of the day, while wrestling is his identity, the Pack’s star is thankful for what he learned through it.

“It grounds me and it helps me realize that this really is just a sport,” Camacho said. “I’m super grateful to be able to do it here at NC State in Raleigh.”