Virginia Challenge Technique & Training Camp:
Jaworsky instills technique, advice to future wrestling champions

By Jason Bryant
Virginia Challenge

T.J. Jaworsky is regarded as one of the finest collegiate wrestlers ever, but it didn't start with winning right away.

His collegiate record of 110-5 and three NCAA National championships at 134 pounds while competing for the University of North Carolina is impressive enough, but what makes Jaworsky a well-liked and influential camp instructor is more than the technique he brings to the mat, but an all-around appreciation and dedication to the sport and the wrestlers he teaches.

Jaworsky along with fellow three-time NCAA champion Gray Simons, head coach at Old Dominion University, and Virginia Tech All-American Chris Martin are the instructors for the Virginia Challenge Technique and Training camp taking place at Granby High School in Norfolk this week.

“I try to get the point across to the kids that I wasn’t always the three-time NCAA champion.  Everyone takes their lumps and in this sport, every wrestler has lost.  Wrestling is a sport that takes patience, persistence and most of all, dedication,” said Jaworsky.

Looking back at Jaworsky’s resume, any novice would note the four high school state championships at Edmond Memorial High School in Edmond, Oklahoma, a state renowned for its wrestling prowess, and the three NCAA national championships.

Winning or losing, Jaworsky instills in his campers to “not get discouraged.”

While showing eight-year olds the proper technique to get out of the bottom position or working on simple hand position, Jaworsky still makes sure the campers know wrestling is a sport of dedication and will.

“Wrestling parallels life.  The trials and tribulations, the peaks and the valleys.  If you work hard enough, there will be success.  Not just in wrestling but in life.  A wrestler’s character and their integrity also play a role in being a good wrestler,” said Jaworksy.

He also gives much credit in his rise to success from the camps that he now instructs.

“Camps make a great difference.  The cliché about needing more mat time to improve is so true.  The more mat time you get, the better off you are and the better wrestler you become.  Summer mat time and camps are like making up an entire year in a summer, sometimes more,” said Jaworsky.

“I also tell them I was just as nervous when I was seven wrestling a match as I was when I was 23 wrestling for my third national title,” said Jaworsky.

Losing wasn’t a regular part of Jaworsky’s later years on the mat, despite starting wrestling at five years of age, he was “very average” until 7^th grade.

When asked about losing, Jaworsky explained, “I’m distraught and broke up.  In every loss there’s something to learn from.  You never learn from your wins.  You always learn something from when you lose.  You’ve probably made that mistake 20 times, and until you lose, you never notice it. It helps you to go back and re-evaluate.”

This is Jaworsky’s third camp he’s worked this summer.

“This camp is geared for this area, the numbers are good and the kids have been a pleasure to work with.  Also working with knowledgeable wrestlers like Chris Martin and Gray Simons make it fun,” said Jaworsky.

“I really enjoy how the kids are eager to learn.  All have the core basics and that makes it very easy to teach them, even the little guys, which normally requires you to try to keep their attention, but here, their doing great,” said Jaworsky.

“The work that everyone has done and all the volunteers. You can tell this area is the hotbed of wrestling in Virginia, there will be some superstars coming out of here because of the hard work.  These guys (Virginia Challenge) do it because they love wrestling.  Putting in countless hours that no one sees.  They love the sport and make it the greatest sport in America,” said Jaworsky of the camp and staff.

When rising to the next level, Jaworsky also credits the ability to adapt and the knowledge of what's next.

“Some people go to college as three and four-time state champions and expect to cruise.  Wrestling is not a sport where you can slack off and expect to win.  When you go to college to compete, that’s a commitment.  You don’t have to be all-world to wrestle in college, but the dedication is key,” said Jaworsky.

“Take a guy like Pat Santoro from Pittsburgh.  He never won a state title in high school, yet he won two NCAA titles.  Guys like that are still hungry and you don’t have to win state championships to be successful on the next level,” said Jaworsky.

In a time where wrestling programs are falling at the collegiate level for various reasons, but the numbers in youth and high school levels are at an all-time high, Jaworsky offers advice to wrestlers that do want to compete on that next level.

“It’s about time management, goals and who works towards those goals in college.  There’s no mom and dad telling you to get up, eat breakfast, do your homework.  Many wrestlers get caught up in other distractions that college leads to, and it shows through in their performance,” said Jaworsky.

“Grades are the most important thing.  If you can’t make the grades, you don’t wrestle.  To get into a program, it helps to be a state champion, but there are a lot of guys that walk on to programs and end up earning a scholarship because of their hard work and dedication, and look what happens.  The last two-three years of college is paid for,” said Jaworsky.

“It happens all the time,” he added.

Recently he was named the new head coach at Davidson College, a prestigious academic college in southwest North Carolina.  Davidson’s wrestling history isn’t what you’d call “storied” but Jaworsky plans to change that.

“I’m going to develop who have returning this year and really start going all out on recruiting next year, and I’ll also be instructing some camps for the clubs near Davidson for the local programs,” said Jaworsky.

Jason Bryant is the Media Director for the Virginia Challenge Wrestling Inc. and can be reached at datwink@erols.com

pictures are thumbnails
click to enlarge
Virginia Challenge Camp 2001


T.J. Jaworsky (bottom) and Chris Martin (top) demonstrate for the younger campers

Frank Lipoli and Gray Simons talk to the older campers.  Coach Simons also instructs proper tilts.