Senior and wrestler Will Schuessler plans to pursue an education through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) in hopes of becoming an officer in either the Marines or the Navy. His main goal is to be a pilot in the US military, and being on the DGS wrestling team has helped prepare him physically and mentally.

“After high school, I’m looking to go to the Naval Academy… I [also] applied for an NROTC scholarship, which is a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps [scholarship], and I got accepted for that. I have a full ride to Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, but I’m still waiting to hear back from the Naval Academy. [That] would be my number one choice, but I have a solid backup plan in place,” Schuessler said.

Schuessler started wrestling in elementary school when his father put him in the sport. He considers wrestling to be one of his greatest teachers.

“For me as an individual, wrestling was something that gave me the foundation to grow and become my own person. The work you put in behind the scenes is what’s going to show up on the mat; you can say the same thing with flying,” Schuessler said.

Schuessler has been able to apply the lessons he’s learned to his day to day life training for his piloting license. He said that he learned there’s a lot to take away from the sport as he got older.

“Challenging myself with wrestling, flight training, and becoming an officer in the military, all those kinds of things are intertwined and I think they all require the same level of grit. Having wrestling been part of my life before I even stepped in an airport for the first time [has] really benefited me. I think that wrestling plays a big part in the things I’ve done so far,” Schuessler said.

Schuessler knew he wanted to be a pilot the second he stepped onto an airplane for the first time. Since then, he’s worked to check all of the boxes in order to eventually be a military pilot, starting with obtaining his pilot’s license from the local flight school at the DuPage airport.

“I fell in love with the planes… and that’s what got me into the civil air patrol,” Schuessler said. “I wanted to fly, then I realized [a] military aspect of things and everything that comes with it. I started meeting a lot more people that were flying and doing things that I was really interested in and it kind of just took off from there.”

Assistant wrestling coach Sean Raddatz looks forward to continuing watching Schuessler grow as a wrestler and person.

“I think Will does a lot of things right in and outside of the wrestling room… Will actually took the opportunity to go out and pursue other opportunities such as becoming a pilot during [COVID]. Will does things that not a lot of people are willing to go out and do and I think that’s what makes him so unique,” Raddatz said.

Senior Jimmy Nugent said Schuessler is a strong leader on the wrestling team and that he supports others in accomplishing their goals.

“He went to pilot school to get his pilot’s license; it’s something he wanted to do and he did it. It goes to show that when he puts his mind to something, he’s going to get it done and accomplish it. I think that speaks more to his character than anything, [it shows] that he’s a strong leader and strong minded,” Nugent said.