Johnnie Wrestling Alumni, Fans, Friends and Parents,
With five weeks remaining in the 2016-2017 Division III wrestling season, I am excited for the opportunity to share my background with the Saint John’s Wrestling program, my experiences as a first year assistant coach and our program goals for the balance of the season and years to come.
I joined the SJU wrestling family nine years ago in 2008 and have been associated with the program as a student-athlete (2008-12), alumnus/fan (2012-15) and presently as an assistant coach (2016-future) and have been blessed to have had supportive coaches, teammates, parents and alumni that make me continue to want to be involved and give back to the program that has done so much for my life in so many different ways.
This season has been exciting from the very start and I have learned a great volume from the current wrestlers, staff and families. There have been high points during the season where we have had success, and there have been other periods where we have identified areas of improvement, but two things are for certain: the individuals on this year’s team are extremely talented and hardworking student-athletes that give 100% of their attention and efforts to becoming better at their sport through practices, strength and conditioning and competition. More importantly, the individuals on this year’s team are striving to be the best students by focusing on their academics and their role as community members at school. Contributing to the development of these individuals has been an experience that I have valued and will continue to value for years to come.
We have three competitions remaining this season: a home dual versus the University of Mary on Friday, Feb. 10, the NCAA West Regional in Moorhead on Saturday, Feb. 25 and the National Tournament the weekend of March 10 in La Crosse, Wis. The wrestlers have been peaking with their technique, situational intelligence and conditioning and we are expecting successful results for all three events. Thank you to all that have been supporting this year’s team and we hope to see many of you supporting the program through the end of the competition season and during the off-season at alumni and family events.
We would also like thank all individuals that have been a proponent of SJU Wrestling in their respective communities by recommending potential recruits for the wrestling program and for university. We are transitioning back into a period of stability with the program and the staff and are targeting big recruiting goals for the upcoming years. If there are individuals within your communities that are interested and passionate about collegiate wrestling, please pass along their names so we have an opportunity to share with those individuals how special of an experience they could have at Saint John’s University and with our wrestling program.
Thanks,
Chad Henle ‘12
Assistant Coach - Wrestling