Jake Morello didn’t know anyone the first time he walked into the Newfane High School wrestling room.
It didn’t matter. They knew him.
His grandfather, Bill Sr., coached for 40 years at Lockport High School. His father, John, won a state championship in 1992, while his uncle, Bill Jr., was a two-time placewinner at states and has coached Lockport since 2018.
Since moving from South Carolina two years ago after John became athletic director at Akron High School, Jake has learned the value of his last name. The motivation to live up to that name is real.
But Jake is also starting to force the wrestling community to learn his first name too.
“It definitely gives me a little bit more motivation,” Jake said. “Motivation does help but obviously discipline is key. But it definitely motivated me a little bit more because it definitely was a sport that he held dearly to his heart. So (it) kinda gave me a little more drive to do better.”
Last season, Morello went 24-9, winning 14 matches via tech fall or fall. His sophomore campaign came to an end in the state tournament, when he lost in the second consolation round.
This season, Morello is aiming for the state podium. He’s off to a 15-4 start, with 11 coming by fall or tech fall. Morello is not only expected to lead the team with his performances, he is also being called upon to lead the squad off the mat as a co-captain.
“He bears the brunt of that and even having those expectations from other kids as well as himself,” Newfane head coach Matt Lingle said. “I think he’s the epitome of what we’re looking for in the legacy, of the basis of the program.”
But Jake’s relationship with the sport could have changed after Bill Sr. died in April of 2025 Instead, it renewed his hunger. It made him want to honor his grandfather every time he stepped onto the mat.
Jake saw his grandfather’s toughness on display every day as he continued to serve as an assistant coach for the Lockport wrestling teams while he was battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
The relationship between grandfather and grandson was special. Bill Sr. would regularly travel to wrestling events and help coach Jake when his grandson was still living in South Carolina. It is something that still means a lot to his grandson and is a memory he cherishes with his grandfather.
“(Bill Sr.) taught me to never give up, especially whenever times get hard, to always have grit with everything you do and make sure you’re putting forth your best effort no matter what it is,” Jake said.
The family has different wrestling styles, but the one thing they had in common was their toughness. It is a toughness that they got from Bill Sr. who instilled an attitude of never giving up in his family. Jake and Bill Jr. wrestled in a similar offensive style whereas John took his team, he was a more calculated wrestler.
The captain’s work ethic will be pushed against some of the state’s top wrestlers. But he’s ready to meet that challenge head-on. He can ask his family for advice but in a one-on-one sport like wrestling, it is up to him to develop into a good leader and have success.
Usually advice comes from something Bill Sr. said or did somewhere along the way. Sometimes it comes from how he carried himself.
“There’s usually another place for you to dig down a little deeper,” John said. “I thought since we moved here my boys had an opportunity to see that first-hand with my boys when (Bill Sr.) went through cancer. He never gave up. That’s something that’s special about the sport of wrestling, a lot of self-discipline that carries over I think into your life.”
Family support doesn’t just come from the elder Morellos. Two of Jake’s teammates are his younger brother, Jonah, and their cousin, Rian Czaja. They are three of six grapplers on this year’s squad with double-digit wins.
Morello’s 15 wins are second-most on the team behind Jonah, a freshman, who has a 16-9 record. While Jake outweighs his brother by 47 pounds, the two are always competing. It does not matter whether they are playing a sport or not, the competitions never stop.
“We’re always competing with everything we do,” Jake said. “Everything is a competition. Whether it be who gets to the car first in the morning or who turns on the heated seats first, whatever it is, it’s always a competition.”