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July 9-11
July 23-25
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"Fatigue makes cowards of us all." ― George S. Patton Jr.
"Jesus Christ is Life, the Rest is Just Wrestling." – Philippians 1:21- 24
Meet the Team – Jonavan Huggins
Jonavan Huggins is a senior from the south side of Chicago, IL. He graduated in May with a Degree in Business Economics and commissioned as a 2LT in the IL Army National Guard. His parents are Joseph and Pamela Huggins. Jonavan is the youngest of 3 children. He began his athletic career as a gymnast and started wrestling his freshman year of high school. He was a 3-time state qualifier in IL.
As a 17-year-old freshman Jonavan had a rough start in college, especially considering in today’s athletic world many are 18. Moreover, there is a growing number of 19-20-year-old freshman competitors looking to maximize their college career. He went 6 – 11 at 157 but had a great match against Nick Bova of Wabash and came very close to beating a Nationally ranked opponent. As a coach I was excited because he was competitive and exciting to watch. His unique brand of wrestling often put opponents in danger when they felt secure.
Returning to 157 as a Sophomore, Jonavan improved his record to 11-10 and placed 4
th at the MSOE Invite. His fearless ability to scramble kept opponents nervous especially when Jonavan was in bottom position. Jonavan can do things that you just cannot teach.
Junior year saw Jonavan at 157 again, but with one change, he was now the varsity starter. He had a good season finishing with a 20-17 record and placing at several tournaments including a 2
nd place at the CCIW Championships...finished third at the North Central Invite...placed fourth at the Messiah Invitational.
As a senior, Jonavan served as team captain along with Carlos Fuentez and Max Gierke. He grew out of 157 and into 165. Jonavan had his best season with a 21-12 record and finished 2
nd at the Spartan Mat Classic, 2
nd in the CCIW, and 8
th at the Midwest Region. His career did not finish as he wished as is the case with most college wrestlers; however, it was full, exciting, and beneficial to the team. One of my favorite moments was the first round of the Midwest Regional tournament, Jonavan destroyed his opponent from MSOE who had beaten him soundly in the CCIW finals just 2.5 weeks before. Jonavan continued to grow throughout his time at Wheaton.
Some fun facts about Jonavan, He turned down an appointment to West Point to attend Wheaton College, he was 17 after he finished his freshman year of college. He was married between his junior and senior years of college as a 20-year-old. He is a superhero movie connoisseur.
Coach’s Corner – “A Dark Place – Why?”
What is the answer to the opening quote
“Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” by General George Patton? Since becoming fatigued is inevitable are we all doomed to be cowards in the moments when our bodies seem to be closing in or have surpassed our limits? The answer is no, for we can avoid breaking by being the better conditioned athlete and/or learning to get comfortable with fatigue.
Strain is a necessary part of growth. The basics of human physiology can be seen in the weight room and demonstrate that adequate strain promotes body adaptations. When done correctly and depending on how an athlete lift weights, they can get stronger, bigger, or stronger and bigger. When done incorrectly athletes get injured, muscle tissue breaks down, and the athlete gets weaker. So excessive or chronic strain/stress cause a system breakdown or failure.
A basic Biology class in high school will teach that genotype (actual genetic information) and phenotype (observable characteristics) can cause body variations due to environment phenotype plasticity. Scientists have experimented with genetics in twin studies. Without getting too technical, strain activates genes and the body changes. In other words, strain can make us better by activating genes and changing our phenotype.
The coach must provide an environment through periodization of training that ensures the athletes have the proper strain and rest. Periodization of training should incrementally increase the strain an athlete endures until they have been introduced to ‘the dark place.’ The place that makes cowards of us all. Then the coach must use intermittent and variable training to increase the threshold without causing breakdown until the standard of 'comfort in discomfort' is achieved.
In the previous paragraph I mentioned variable training. Variable training is using different workouts to get to the same dark place. The reason being is that the body can adapt quickly and what was once hard has now become easy and the athlete no longer strains. By introducing different workouts to challenge the athlete in different ways the threshold will increase. The athlete can get deeper in the dark place.
Yet, even machines break down: so, rest is important. We cannot live in the dark place, but we can get comfortable in the dark place. In the proper training environment, the more experienced athletes can be an example for the newer athletes i.e. can become a light in the dark place by providing the hope that it is possible and that it will end.
Too little strain and the athletes never get better. Too much strain and the athletes crumble.
God's Word encourages the same. We are encouraged to strain (Philippians 3:13) and to rest (Sabbath) and to be an example (Titus 2:7 or Matt. 5:13,16). Proverbs 30:3 also warns of the dangers of too easy (in having too much we deny God) and too hard (we profane His name). Live a life worthy of the calling of God. Live a life of strain, and rest, and light. Be Christlike.
Wheaton Wrestling Update
The Wheaton wrestlers enjoyed a longer break from wrestling over Christmas this year without the NWCA National Duals on the schedule (cost and team experience were factors.) The first competition after Christmas was the
Spartan Mat Classic. The Thunder placed 2
nd behind #4 ranked Wabash in the 22-team field. Wabash and Wheaton were the only two teams with tournament champions. Tournament placers included Carlos Fuentez who had a decision and four pins to win the tournament for the second time in his career at 125 pounds and improved his record to 21-1. Isaac Odell was the second Thunder athlete to be crowned champion with three pins and a technical fall on the day: Odell is now 24-2. At 165, Jonavan Huggins placed 2
nd losing to returning National Qualifier Hatch of Wabash College. Max Gierke returned to competition and placed 3
rd at 197. Finally, freshman Ethan Harsted finished 5
th at 133.
In our last dual meet of the season, Wheaton traveled to a loud and rowdy and enthusiastic
North Central College at their Senior Celebration. The dual went poorly and only three Wheaton Wrestlers came away with victories and all were too close for comfort: 125 Carlos Fuentez, 165 Jonavan Huggins, and 184 Isaac Odell. The competition started with two exhibition matches which allowed for a teaching moment when the competition was over. Losing is frustrating and losing to a boisterous opposing team can be disheartening and infuriating. I spoke with the team after the dual and mentioned that the right way to channel the emotions is to get better. The best way to silence a loud opponent is to beat them. The proof came from an unlikely source in an exhibition match at 184. Freshman Natan Jara, initially being bullied and taken down by Cardinal Senior Joshua Bouie in the first 2 minutes of the match stormed back in the face of a raucous opposing bench and not only took Bouie down but then pinned him at the 2:37 mark of the match. Silence. Thank you Natan for a never give up attitude.
The next weekend saw Wheaton hosting the ever-anticipated juggernaut of Division III wrestling that is the prestigious
Pete Willson Wheaton Invite. Wheaton finished with two 2
nd place individual performances. At 125, after beating several nationally ranked opponents, Carlos Fuentez lost in the finals to UWW’s Mike Tortorice who handed Fuentez his only two season losses to a DIII opponent. Tortorice was voted the recipient of the George Olsen Outstanding Wrestling Award. Fuentez and Tortorice have both been the number one ranked 125 pounders in 2019. At 184, Isaac Odell improved upon his 2018 4
th place finish with a 2
nd in 2019. Odell lost a high scoring shoot out in Sudden Victory Over Time, 13-11, to undefeated Dylan Roth of Heidelberg. The tournament had two first time moments. This is the first time the PWWI had 38 teams which represents about 40% of DIII Institutions, and Mount Union won the tournament for the first time in program history.
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God bless you and thank you for all you do to support Wheaton Wrestling, spread the Gospel, and sharpen the lives of young men,
Jim Gruenwald
Wheaton Wrestling Coach
2 x Olympian
'Seek Perfection, Settle for Excellence.'
james.gruenwald@wheaton.edu .
