ADAMS TWP — Jake Richardson has never grown tired from pursuing his goal.

It's just gotten much closer now.

“The day I knew I was having that surgery was the day I vowed to win a state championship,” the Mars junior 160-pound wrestler said.

The surgery was on a torn labrum Richardson suffered while wrestling in a club tournament last Memorial Day weekend. He was operated on in June and wasn't cleared to resume wrestling activity until November.

He's been attacking the sport ever since.

“His work ethic is intense,” Mars wrestling coach Bob Jox said. “He brings it every single day in the room.

“This kid never lets up. Ever. That is so hard to do in this sport and he does it.”

A former running back in football, Richardson had to give up the gridiron because of his shoulder injury.

He used to run track — the 200 meters, 100-meter hurdles and 4x100 relay — but gave that up last year.

“It's all about wrestling for me now,” Richardson said. “A friend introduced me to the sport in fourth grade. It's been No. 1 with me ever since.

“I want to wrestle at a Division I college. That's down the road.”

What's right in front of him is the PIAA tournament. Richardson (27-3) will face Tyler Wileman (27-5) of Juniata in his first bout Thursday. If he gets past him, he will face Clayton Ulrey (37-1) of Lower Dauphin, who has a bye into that quarterfinal round.

“We've known each other for five or six years now,” Richardson said of Ulrey. “We've been to the Penn State wrestling camp together and I've wrestled him.

“I beat him 5-2 about a year and a half ago. I know I'll have to get past him to get to where I want to go.”

Richardson dominated Ty McGeary of West Allegheny in the WPIAL semifinals — winning a 12-2 decision — after losing to him earlier this season.

“Jake is such a physically strong kid, but his mental approach is his strongest suit on the mat,” Jox said. “He visualizes a match, envisions what's going to happen and sees it through.

“He's an extremely mentally tough kid.”

He was practically forced to develop that trait.

Richardson was off to a 14-1 start his freshman season before being sidelined with a concussion. Three days after being cleared to return to the mat, he was involved in a car accident in which he was knocked unconscious.

“I was a passenger in the car when we hit an icy spot on the road, spun around and hit a tree,” Richardson recalled. “That ended my season.”

He returned to finish 30-5 last year, but only went 2-2 in the WPIAL tourney and fell short of a PIAA berth.

“I wrestled a bad tournament at WPIALs last year,” Richardson admitted. “I vowed to never let that happen again.”

Richardson is 71-9 as a varsity wrestler. He is looking forward to attaining 100 wins “because so few wrestlers in the Mars program have gotten there.”

While a strong mental approach is now one of Richardson's strengths, a lack of mental toughness used to be one of his weaknesses.

“I had a lot of major blow-ups in junior high,” he admitted. “I'd lose and I'd get all ticked off. I lost in a junior high tournament at Norwin in eighth grade and stormed off the mat. It was my last match of the year and I was suspended for my first varsity match as a freshman.

“I've matured a lot since then. So much of this sport is mental. I have to be an adult now. Without being strong mentally, you can't win a championship.”

And that's what Richardson is all about doing.

“My stamina has built up over the last few years,” he said,. “I've worked out with Pitt and Penn State wrestlers through club wrestling. My gas tank used to run out late in matches — not anymore.

“What I'm working on now is getting out from being on the bottom in a match. You can't beat the best wrestlers without being able to do that. I know I'm going to need to execute from down there to win.”