When walking the hallways of Illini Bluffs, it’s hard not to notice the ever-growing number of boys with bleached blonde hair. Over the past couple of months, six athletes have bleached their hair — each for similar reasons, but none exactly the same.
By the start of the school year, two seniors, 2024 IHSA wrestling state-champion Jackson Carroll and fellow wrestler Wyatt Knowles, had already reached for the bleach. Since then, four more have joined the group.
“I just did it,” Jackson said. “It was at Hunter Robbins’ graduation party. A bunch of us kids decided it would be funny if we did it.”
Jackson wasn’t the only one who went for a lighter look at the graduation party, Wyatt Knowles did too. While Wyatt and Jackson did it for fun, Eric and a group of the cross country boys bleached their hair for a different reason.
“…I had blonde highlights during track season and I just wanted to become completely blonde,” junior Eric Pincock said. “I wanted to make some type of standout.”
Eric has been highly successful in track and cross country throughout his high school career, and this cross country season has been no different, with Eric winning the Farmington XC Invitational and placing third at the Dunlap Invite.
“…our team is finally getting recognized, and I wanted to make some type of standout for the team and now that we’re very capable of going to state and we decided to just get our hair bleached.”
Eric then managed to convince others to join in on the blondeness, talking most of the team into it.
“I bleached my hair just for team bonding,” junior Peter Stoltz said. “Eric had a bright idea about ‘let’s all bleach our hair.’ Just cause so many people were doing it. So, we were like ‘yeah why not.’”
While team bonding was Peter’s reason, Levi had a completely different motivator.
“I was paid to do it,” junior Levi Thomas said. “They said they would give me money to bleach my hair. And, I was really bored with my hair, so I decided I might as well go all the way. So, that’s what happened. And now I’m bleached.”
Levi was paid $20 from Eric and $40 from Peter. But, the boys didn’t stop there.
“Eric and Peter told my mom that I should bleach my hair,” freshman Hendrix Seaman said. “And then my mom’s like ‘oh that’s so fun’ and then I did it.”
Even though the cross country boys bleached their hair for state, they weren’t consciously trying to follow in Jackson and Wyatt’s footsteps, as the wrestlers had also bleached their once before for wrestling the previous school year.
“I didn’t really think of it that way, but I guess so now,” Eric said after being asked if he felt like he was coping Jackson and Wyatt.
Levi and Hendrix had no clue that Jackson and Wyatt bleached their hair. So, they weren’t trying to copy either of them.
Jackson, however, sees it differently.
“I think they’re fans and want to be me.”
Illini Bluffs High School Tiger Times 
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