His mat side presence — at the Leyden Sectional (or any other high school wrestling event), at the IHSA State Finals, at the Midwest Nationals, at the Illinois-Indiana Classic Duals, at the Midlands — may go unnoticed by the casual spectator simply because he’s not the clipboard-toting coach in the corner, but the camera-carrying wrestling enthusiast working quietly behind the scenes to highlight his favorite sport. His name is Jeff Pape and the Illinois wrestling community is fortunate to have his support.

Growing up in the Leyden school district, Jeff first made his wrestling “bones” under the guidance of the notable Conrad family and the Franklin Park Raiders. With his wrestling foundation grounded in the Leyden tradition, Jeff’s transition to the high school program — coached by the legendary Charlie Farina — was ensured. Jeff earned two Varsity letters and capped off his high school career as a state qualifier and a 34-7 record. Upon his graduation in 1990, Jeff enrolled in the University of Illinois where he had planned to continue his wrestling career. Unfortunately, a back injury in his second season essentially ended his active wrestling career.

Following his graduation from Illinois, Jeff returned to his home area and assumed the task of pumping new life into the Franklin Park Raider Wrestling Club. Jeff would go on to run his former wrestling club for nine seasons — a period which witnessed a growth in club membership.

Armed with his Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Illinois — as well as his CPA license — Jeff established Pape Financial Services, Inc. This endeavor created a number of career experiences within the business world. Ultimately, Jeff would utilize these experiences to help him establish a firm foundation for his current vocation: owner of WrestlingGear.com.

Founded in 1998, WrestlingGear.com has given Jeff the opportunity to bring together two areas of special interest to him — the business world and the wrestling community. Originally created as an internet-only website with zero inventory, Jeff has grown this family-owned company into one of the nation’s largest wrestling equipment stores — stocking equipment from all the major manufacturers, such as adidas, ASICS, Brute, Cliff Keen, Matman and Nike. Unwilling to rest on his laurels, Jeff sought and earned his MBA from the prestigious Northwestern Kellogg School of Management.

As Jeff was going about the journeyman-like task of growing his business, he was also extending himself to the wrestling community. His personal experiences as a wrestler, coupled with his many years coaching the Raiders, instilled within him a realization of the values of the sport. Consequently, Jeff has seen fit to extend a “helping hand” to the wrestling community. His efforts have included the following:

•Sponsorship of an annual pre-season wrestling clinic

•Assisting the IWCOA in joining the “computer age” by serving as editor of the IWCOA email newsletter; by computerizing the organization’s voting procedures, thus increasing voting participation; by reducing the IWCOA mailing costs.

•Securing donations of merchandise from vendors such as ASICS, Brute, Cliff Keen, Nike and Matman for individuals and coaches participating in the annual Illinois-Indiana Classic Duals

•Being instrumental in securing sponsorships — for the first time ever —from ASICS, Brute, Cliff Keen, Nike and Matman for the Illinois-Indiana Class Duals.

•Serving as the Webmaster for the Wildcat Wrestling Club as well as the Freestyle and Greco-Roman Wrestling Club associated with Northwestern University. Additionally, Jeff serves as the editor of the Northwestern Wrestling email newsletter promoting NU wrestling news nationwide.

•Instituting a fundraising golf tournament dedicated to raising monies for the Illinois Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as well as for the Smile Train – an organization dedicated to repairing cleft lips and palates.

•Periodically, helping local and national wrestling programs — as was the case in raising the public’s awareness of the dropping of the program at Fresno State.

•And, of course, there are those pictures he takes and displays… literally thousands of them — many of which can be viewed on IllinoisWrestling.com

For Jeff’s dedication and for his many contributions to all levels of wrestling in Illinois, the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association proudly proclaims Jeff Pape as its Man-of-the-Year for 2009