WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Wheeler’s hard work continues to pay off
Past U.S. Greco- Roman wrestling standout and Olympic bronze medalist now excelling in jiu-jitsu
By Gary Abbott Throughout his unconventional wrestling journey, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Adam Wheeler was considered an underdog at every level. His life is a perfect example that it does
not matter where you start, but where you finish.
During his high school career in Lancaster, Calif., Wheeler did not make a big name for himself on the mat. “I started my freshman year. To be hon-
est, my first two years in high school, I was a horrible wrestler. I lost more match- es than I won. My junior and senior year, I started winning matches. My senior year, my record was 44-3, a really good record. But I was an average wrestler. I never qualified for the state tournament,” said Wheeler. However, his positive experience in
high school wrestling made it possible for him to continue at the next level. “I had a coach in high school who took
me under his wing. My mom was raising us by herself, and he kind of stepped in and was like a father figure to me. He got me wrestling and made me work out off the mat. I had somebody to look up to who helped me stay with it,” said Wheeler. Wheeler’s next move was to join the
U.S. Coast Guard to start his adult life, rather than pursue college wrestling. The fact that he found his way back to the sport was both lucky and a very good
18 USA Wrestler
Adam Wheeler turned in a strong performance to earn a bronze medal in Greco- Roman wrestling at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. John Sachs photo.
decision. “When I was growing up we didn’t have
any money. I messed around in school my first couple of years. My junior and senior year, I was taking college classes four nights a week to make up high school credits to graduate. I was really burned out on school. I saw the opportu- nity to join a military branch and start making money. I got really lucky. I joined the Coast Guard and my first coach on the All-Navy team was Rob Hermann, who was the head Olympic coach and assistant Olympic coach,” said Wheeler. His first Coast Guard assignment was
in Hawaii, serving in law enforcement and search and rescue. He next stop was in San Diego, where Wheeler joined the base wrestling team and trained most of the year. He had a chance to train about three months a year with Coach Hermann
and the All-Navy team in Pensacola, where he started to have some success in Greco-Roman. “I didn’t want to be in the military as a
career. I got seasick pretty bad, so the Coast Guard was not the smartest choice for me. Rob Hermann was also a coach for the Gator Wrestling Club and got to know Jim Ravannack. Once I got out of the Navy, Jim Ravannack said he’d put me on the Gator WC, and Rob Hermann helped connect me with Ivan Ivanov at Northern Michigan. I ended up getting a scholarship to go to school up there. It was a no-brainer to go to college, get it paid for, get to wrestle and try to make an Olympic team,” said Wheeler. He continued to progress under coach
Ivan Ivanov during his three years at Northern Michigan, where he received his
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