As a freshman at Hamilton High School, Knowles was content sitting in a folding chair inside the wrestling room, watching his older brother grind through practice.
He had no plans to wrestle. No singlet. No expectations.
Hamilton coach Tony Santos remembers the moment clearly.
“He was sitting right there in that chair,” said Santos, now in his fourth year at the helm. “Little chubby kid. Didn’t want to wrestle. I told him, ‘Just come around. Help your brother. Be a partner.’
“A week later, I told him, ‘You’re wrestling right now.’ The look on his face? Shock.”
Four years later, Knowles is 31-1 at 113 pounds, ranked among the best in Ohio, with 17 pins and a singular focus — standing on the state podium.
The growth has been steady and deliberate.
As a freshman at 106 pounds, Knowles went 13-22 with three pins — most of his early wins coming by forfeit. As a sophomore, he jumped to 27-11 with 11 pins. By his junior year, he had transformed himself into a Greater Miami Conference champion, finishing 39-8 with 23 pins and narrowly missing a state berth.
Now, as a senior, he has taken another leap. His 31 wins include 17 pins, and most of his victories haven’t even been close. He eclipsed the 100-career wins mark earlier this season.
“That’s not a fluke,” Santos said. “Pretty much tech fall or pin. The only loss was to a Harrison kid. And then he turned around and beat him up at Fairfield. That’s when it really clicked mentally.”
Knowles agrees the shift has been as much mental as physical.
“My mindset has just been give it all on the mat,” Knowles said. “This is my last year wrestling in high school. I shouldn’t have any fear of losing. Just go out there, have fun, leave it out there.
“My goal is to be a state placer. I belong on that podium.”
The fire burns deeper than personal ambition.
Knowles’ older brother, Julius, made state twice but fell short both times. Jayden was in the stands — and in the tunnel — watching every second.
“I went down there with him,” Jayden recalled. “I was like, I belong down there too. I need to be down there. It sucked watching him lose in the blood rounds. I wanted him to win so bad. That makes me want it even more.”
Santos believes those moments shaped him.
“He learned from his brother,” Santos said. “But he always told us, ‘I’m going down my own path.’ And he has.”
That path has required sacrifice.
Knowles starts his days at 5 a.m., walking on the treadmill to burn calories before school. He eats light — fruit, a turkey sandwich, a banana with peanut butter — careful not to overdo it before practice.
After practice, he lifts. Then he rests and does it all again the next day.
“You can’t eat McDonald’s before practice,” Knowles said with a grin. “There’s times my mom brings home pizza. But if I want to make weight and not struggle at the end of the week, I’ve got to stay disciplined.”
After three seasons at 106 pounds, he moved up to 113 this winter, adding muscle in the offseason. Cutting back to 106, Santos said, would have been “uncomfortable” and unnecessary.
“He walks around at 118 or 119,” Santos said. “Once he works out, he’s on weight. He’s put on muscle the right way.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Santos calls him “one in a million.”
“He does everything right,” the coach said. “Good grades — 3.0 student. Respectful. Pushes his teammates. I don’t have to tell him to work harder. Since his sophomore year, he’s been going to extra practices, wrestling clubs, offseason tournaments.
“If you want to be the best, you’ve got to do more than average. He does more.”
The consistency hasn’t wavered, even when motivation dips.
“There are times where I dread coming in,” Knowles admitted. “But consistency is key. If I stay consistent all season, I can achieve whatever I want.”
Hamilton has produced a handful of two-time GMC champions. Knowles is chasing that distinction this weekend, another checkpoint on the way to Columbus.
But the focus remains narrow.
“One week at a time,” Santos said. “He’s mentally there now. After districts last year, when he realized how close he was, something flipped.”
“There’s no doubt,” Knowles added. “There are hard guys in my weight class. But I belong on that podium.”
Other area wrestlers to watch as the postseason nears (statistics and information taken from conference websites):
106: Mason freshman Mohammad Alqaraja (22-14, nine pins), Lakota East sophomore Mekhi Eady (21-14, 10 pins), Lakota West freshman Shax Davronov (20-10, 11 pins).
113: Lakota East junior Cohen Braden (20-10, 12 pins).
120: Lakota East sophomore Mackson Calvin (20-16, 13 pins), Edgewood freshman Easton Ballinger (23-7, 14 pins).
126: Lakota West sophomore Jake Coughlin (27-7, seven pins), Hamilton senior Tanner Maggard (25-6, 13 pins).
132: Lakota East senior Kevin Huang (27-9, seven pins), Lakota West senior Kaiden Mullins (22-8, seven pins), Edgewood senior Rodney Lipps Jr. (20-14, nine pins)
138: Lakota West sophomore Jaskaran Ghuman (28-11, eight pins), Mason junior Jack Brock (20-5, 12 pins), Hamilton junior Rante Wagner (20-10, four pins), Franklin freshman Aldin Short (23-5, 15 pins).
144: Lakota West junior Cole Lewis (26-14, 16 pins), Mason junior Aaron Sung (23-11, 13 pins).
150: Lakota West junior Wes Allen (29-9, 14 pins), Mason junior Jaxson Castner (20-12, eight pins), Lebanon junior Eli Guerra (26-7, 12 pins).
157: Fairfield freshman Kaden Carter (26-6, 12 pins), Edgewood senior Casey Brown (23-10, six pins), Lebanon junior Matthew Nelson (20-10, nine pins).
165: Lakota East junior Brady Dillon (29-7, 16 pins), Edgewood junior Carter Canaan (29-8, 23 pins), Talawanda senior Colton Back (24-9, 15 pins).
175: Mason sophomore Cole Hugenberg (21-10, eight pins), Talawanda senior Will Tanner (24-7, 19 pins), Lebanon senior Jackson Martin (24-7, 14 pins).
190: Lakota West senior Cameron Fiasco (29-4, 19 pins).
215: Mason senior Bryan Oh (26-10, 17 pins), Fairfield senior Jose Gonzalez (22-6, 15 pins).
285: Lakota East sophomore Cameron Wells (21-10, 19 pins).
About the Author