John Connick '12 Recruiting Profile

I am dedicated to continuing my successful academic and wrestling career at the collegiate level. I am 5 feet 5 inches. My wrestling weight is 135-140#. I started wrestling in the fifth grade to get in shape for football, and immediately fell in love with and excelled at wrestling. I love the challenges and discipline that comes with the sport. My success at wrestling continues to grow. I started varsity as a freshman and was named Most Valuable Freshman. By the end of my sophomore year I accumulated a two year record of 49(W)-29(L), and am on pace for 100 career varsity wins. During my sophomore year, among other successful tournament outings, I was Sectional Champion (Austintown Fitch, Ohio Division I Sectional). I was again awarded the Most Valuable Wrestler Award by my coaches. Unfortunately, my sophomore year ended with a very disappointing loss at the Ohio Division I (Mentor) District Tournament. That loss, however, inspired me to get better. In the summer of 2010 I wrestled 50 matches and placed third in the Ohio Freestyle State Tournament, which qualified me for the Ohio Junior National Freestyle Team, and I participated in the National Freestyle Tournament in Fargo, N.D. I am a two year starter and letterman in wrestling, and started and lettered my sophomore year on the Chardon High School Football team, where I play running back and linebacker (also starting my current junior year). If you ask my coaches and my fellow teammates, whether on the wrestling or football teams, they will tell you I am a team leader. I lead by example. I have a deeply ingrained work ethic that I have received from my parents, and I am the first in and last out when it comes to practices and other important preparations for the mat or the football field. By way of example, during the wrestling season, multiple days a week, before school, I get up at 5:30AM and go to my coach's house where I am put through a rigorous core conditioning workout that includes tire flipping, log throwing, cinder block carrying, drilling, etc. -- and all this is done outside in sub-zero weather, and usually in about 12 inches of snow (Chardon, Ohio, on average gets more snow than Anchorage, Alaska). Academics are just as if not more important to me than playing sports. I do embody the Student-Athlete persona. My GPA is currently 3.52 and I regularly make Honor Roll, which requires a minimum 3.5GPA. I am a three-time ALL-PAC (Premier Athletic Conference) Academic Award winner. I am also a member of the National Honor Society. I am interested in studying medicine in college, with the goal of becoming a sports medicine doctor. I have no particular preference for the geographic region where I ultimately attend college. I am open to all options, but I do want to attend a university that will help me attain both my academic and athletic goals, and one that I can immediately contribute to both on the mat, the classroom and community. Thank you for your consideration. -John Connick-