When Joe Einterz was on the wrestling team in high school, Jack Banks, then a middle school wrestler, came to watch a match. Within minutes, Einterz sat down next to Banks and started explaining the matches and the decisions the wrestlers were making.
Sharing the things he was passionate about was one of Einterz’s biggest characteristics, Banks said. That moment when they sat together at the wrestling match and many other moments like it are what Banks said he remembers most about Einterz.
On March 15, Einterz, 21, a recent IU student, died unexpectedly. His friends remember him as hardworking, fun-loving and devoted to his friends.
Einterz graduated from Zionsville Community High School and attended IU from 2013 through 2015. He was one of eight siblings.
“He made me and a lot of the other wrestlers feel like we were just more of his younger brothers,” Banks said. “He was always joking around and trying to help us with everything, even trying to give me tips on how to talk to girls.”
In Bloomington, Einterz worked as a barback at Kilroy’s on Kirkwood, Kilroy’s employee Nick Wells, 24, said.
Barbacks take care of stocking the bar and running most of the behind-the-scenes work, and Einterz was one of the best barbacks who worked there, Wells said.
“It seemed like he was naturally gifted at barbacking,” Wells said. “But he was such a socialite, and so he wanted to be a bartender up front.”
Einterz worked hard at Kilroy’s, but always made sure not to take things too seriously, Wells said.
“He never got mad about being at work,” Kilroy’s barback Matt Kuhlenschmidt, 23, said. “He always enjoyed it. He liked to laugh at me because I would get so angry about stuff that happened during work.”
Outside of work, Einterz loved to spend time with his friends from Kilroy’s, Wells said. Hiking was something he liked to do with his friends.
“He was very dedicated to everyone at Kilroy’s,” Kuhlenschmidt said.
Wells and Kuhlenschmidt said one of their favorite memories with Einterz is when they all went paintball shooting together. Wells said he talked Einterz into “running the gauntlet,” or running without a paintball gun through a tunnel of the rest of the participants, who were shooting at him.
“And he did it shirtless,” Wells said. “It seemed so dumb, but he was laughing so much, and it was such a great time.”
Kuhlenschmidt said the thing he continues to remember most about Einterz is his smile.
“He always had the biggest, cheesiest smile on his face,” Kuhlenschmidt said. “I can’t picture him without it.”
That smile and his sense of humor made Einterz fun to be around all the time, Wells said.
Banks said he, too, remembers how Einterz’s jokes made him easy to talk to. Einterz always made sure to treat younger wrestlers like Banks with friendliness and good humor, Banks said.
“We almost felt like younger brothers to him,” Banks said. “Remembering him leaves me with a big smile on my face. And so I think he needs to be remembered for the big, goofy smile that was so often on his.”
