Deitchler began wrestling in first grade in
Coon Rapids,
Minnesota and moved to
Anoka, Minnesota to wrestle in the sixth grade. This eventually lead to meeting his mentor and coach,
Anoka High School alumnus
Brandon Paulson. While at Anoka, Deitchler was a three-time
Minnesota state wrestling champion. He stunned the Greco-Roman wrestling community in the U.S. in 2008, when he won an Olympic berth in the 145.5-pound weight class, becoming the first high school wrestler in 32 years to make the U.S. Olympic team in his sport. In the
Beijing Olympics, Deitchler lost both his matches in the
66 kg weight class, the first to the eventual silver medalist
Kanatbek Begaliev of
Kyrgyzstan and then to
Armen Vardanyan of
Ukraine, who later received the bronze medal. He finished the Olympics in 12th place in his weight class. He then took the entire 2010–2011 season off after experiencing continued concussion symptoms. After starting the 2011–2012 season ranked as high as 8th nationally in the 157-pound weight class, on January 4, 2012 Deitchler announced he was retiring from competitive wrestling due to lingering effects from concussions. After receiving his first concussion when he was seven in a dirt bike accident, Deitchler estimates that he had suffered 10 to 12 concussions over the next 15 years and was advised by his physician to immediately stop wrestling after experiencing headaches and fogginess following his last dual meet match on November 20, 2011. He would continue to help with coaching young wrestlers alongside
Brandon Paulson and former Gophers wrestler Chad Erikson. ==Personal life==