GRUENWALD, Continued from page 32


of Fame rival? “My faith had a lot to do with it. I am


also not wired to quit. When you tell me I can’t do it, I go out there and do it. It was about reading scripture. It was persever- ance, which defines character that leads to hope. It was also because of the sup- port of people who loved me,” he said. Gruenwald believed he could win the


2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. “The Olympic Games were exciting, but


not overwhelming for me. I had to beat such a high-quality wrestler to make the team. Dennis is one of our greatest wrestlers ever. After beating him, I knew I could win it. I had already been beating a lot of good guys overseas. One year, I was ranked eighth in the world, but could- n’t get on the U.S. team. There was no way I would take a back seat. I went to win the Olympics, but I made mistakes and that was on me,” he said. Gruenwald placed sixth at the Sydney Games, which was the start of a five-year run in which he remained the No. 1 man for Team USA. His final record against Hall ended at 7-16, but he won seven of the last nine battles. His best shot for a World medal came


in 2003, when he ran into World and Olympic champion Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria in the semifinals of the Worlds. Gruenwald was in a very close battle this time, one he felt would go his way. “My tank was good. I felt him fading a


bit. I was feeling like I was going to beat one of the best wrestlers out there. Then I got put down, and I made a mistake. He goes to throw me, and I tried to stop him to score on him. I landed on my shoulder. I didn’t finish the match,” he said. The shoulder separation was severe,


and Gruenwald was unable to compete in the bronze-medal bout, finishing fourth. Not only was the medal opportunity gone, but he was only eight months away from the next Olympic Trials. It was his first serious injury, and perhaps his biggest challenge ever. After surgery, doctors said it would take a year to recover. It was, according to Gruenwald, the “most brutal seven months of my life.” He wasn’t cleared to wrestle until a few days before the 2004 U.S. Open. “I had my second best nationals ever. I


only had one point scored upon me. It was about how I am wired, and that the medical people did their job for me. It was about finding an answer. I didn’t have a competition match and only two practice matches before the nationals,” he said. At the 2004 Olympic Trials, Gruenwald defeated training partner Joe Warren in the championship series. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens,


36 USA Wrestler36 USA Wrestler


Greece, Gruenwald won his first bout but was defeated in his second match, plac- ing 10th. All during his career, Gruenwald was a


math teacher at Hillside Baptist School. After the 2000 Olympics, Jim and wife Rachel wanted to raise a family. Over the next 10 years, Gruenwald and his wife Rachel had five children. When an oppor- tunity came up to become the assistant coach for Greco-Roman at the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan, he was ready to take on a new life challenge. He joined head coach Ivan Ivanov, and together they brought the USOEC program to new heights. “In recruiting, we told kids that if they


were not 100% sold on Greco-Roman, don’t bother coming. We found the right kids for that program. We turned it not only into a developmental program, but arguably the best Greco program in the nation. By our fourth year, we had our entire team making it to World Team Trials. Then, some of our guys started making World and Olympic teams. It was an ideal training environment,” he said. His direction changed when an oppor-


tunity came along to coach at Wheaton College, a Div. III team in Illinois. “Some Wheaton alumni remembered


me from Maranatha, and I did a clinic there. They were looking to rebuild the program, which was dying. They wanted a coach who was a Christian and had credentials. People told me I was crazy to go to a Div. III school after working with Olympic-level athletes, especially one that was terrible. That drives me. We have done what we needed to do to build that program,” he said. Gruenwald agreed to go there and also


added the strength and condititional coach position. In his first year, Wheaton couldn’t field a full wrestling team, and he was hired too late to recruit anybody new. “I told the guys, it doesn’t matter what


talent God gives you. Just give me 100% all the time. I also said I wanted a nation- al champion wrestler and a top 10 finish. I kept saying that, year after year. Going into my fifth year, they no longer look at me like I am crazy. We are up to 30 guys in the room, and they want to be part of something special,” said Gruenwald. Gruenwald believes he has a top 20


team which can climb to the top 10, led by a number of All-American candidates. “Every year, working with new athletes,


you develop relationships and see them grow. The highlight of my career happens every single day. It’s coming to practice and investing in them. This year, we have some hammers, and are solid in every weight class. This could be Wheaton’s breakout year,” he said.


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