Gleasman lived Olympic dream

If you're a sports fan, you probably remember — or have seen via replay — the highlight of the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta: boxing great Muhammad Ali, with his hand trembling, lifting the torch to light the cauldron, signifying the start of competition.

The moment created an indelible image, and Boonville's Jason Gleasman was there to see it.

Well, soft of.

Gleasman, who competed for the United States in Greco-Roman wrestling at the games, actually skipped the opening ceremonies to avoid any possible distractions. The idea was to treat the Olympic experience — for Gleasman, and many others who came before and after him, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — as if it was nothing more than a normal wrestling tournament; to ignore the hype and pageantry, to focus solely on performance.

Nowthat'sdedication.

But those who knew Gleasman well couldn't have been too surprised by his decision. Since beginning to wrestle at age 5, Gleasman had always shown signs of being special.

Gleasman fell well short of a gold medal in Atlanta, winning his first match before losing the next two to place 12th at 220 pounds. But there was a degree of satisfaction for Gleasman, who, at 21, was the youngest member of the U.S. Greco-Roman team. The two wrestlers who beat Gleasman went on to finish second and fourth, respectively.

"I was right in the heat of the battle," Gleasman told the Times in 1998.

The same could be said for the rest of his wrestling career.

Gleasman is a 1993 graduate of Adirondack, where he won a pair of Section 3 titles at 215 pounds. He capped his senior year with a state crown, the first in Wildcats history. He went 33-0 that season, finishing off the state championship with a 46-second pin.

Overall at Adirondack, he won 150 matches. He was inducted into the Section 3 Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006.

Gleasman also played football at Adirondack, twice earning first-team all-state recognition as an offensive lineman.

Gleasman moved on to Syracuse University, where he collected two Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association titles and was a two-time All-American. As a junior in 1997, he placed seventh in the NCAA tournament. A year later, he finished sixth in the NCAAs.

He went 139-32 overall at Syracuse, ending his college career ranked second on the school's list for all-time wins, trailing Gene Mills (144).

Gleasman also enjoyed success at numerous national and international competitions, both in freestyle and Greco-Roman disciplines. Among the notable accomplishments: two junior national championships, a Cadet world championship and a pair of crowns at the 1995 Espoir nationals, where he won in Greco-Roman and freestyle. Gleasman also captured an Espoir world title in 1993.

Gleasman's bid for a second Olympic appearance ended when he was eliminated in the final round of the 2000 U.S. trials in Dallas.

Gleasman, 33, owns a real estate investment company and resides in Colorado Springs, Colo., with his wife, Kirsten, and their two sons, Gunnar, 1, and Axel James, who was born Thursday.