Jordan Atienza Perseveres, Remains Committed

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. --Flexibility was always a cornerstone of Jordan Atienza's athleticism. Now a senior on the Central Michigan wrestling team, he has wrestled in any of four weight classes, from 165 pounds up to 197, in his collegiate career.

That flexibility was certainly a factor in Atienza having won 223 matches, among the most by a prep wrestler in Michigan, at Franklin High School in suburban Detroit's Livonia. He twice made it all the way to the championship match of the Division I state finals, winning once.

It was a test of that flexibility that could have cost him his career a year ago, when he was wrestling Derek Hillman of Eastern Michigan in a semifinal match in the 197-pound class at the Mid-American Conference Championships at CMU's McGuirk Arena.

Atienza took a shot on Hillman, trying to gain leverage or, in wrestling parlance, "turn the corner." Hillman had a firm grip on Atienza's right wrist and held it wide, putting an immense amount of pressure on his right shoulder.

The result? A dislocated shoulder, a torn labrum, and partial tears to both the pectoral muscle and the biceps. Two careers worth of injuries in a split second.

It meant the end of the tournament for Atienza, but not the end of his junior year on the mat. Surgery was required, but he was bound and determined to wrestle, for the first time, at the NCAA Championships. He delayed surgery until after the NCAAs.

"I wanted to prove something to myself and I had earned it," Atienza says. "I earned the opportunity to be there."

And Atienza has earned the opportunity to be here, the lone senior on the Chippewa roster, serving as a leader and a mentor to his teammates.

And, perhaps, an inspiration.

IN THE BLOOD
Jordan Atienza took to wrestling while in the third grade as a way to break up the boredom in the winter months after the end of the football season.

Wrestling, as is so often the case, was in his DNA. His dad, Armand, was a wrestler in high school and his uncle, Audie, was a two-time state high school champion in Ohio and is now the head coach at Solon (Ohio) High School. Both of Atienza's brothers are heavily involved in the sport. Nathan wrestles for Michigan State and the youngest, Owen, is a junior on the wrestling team at Stevenson High School in Livonia.

Athleticism was a family trait with which Atienza was blessed, and he leaned on that athleticism – the combination of flexibility, strength and speed -- in high school.

When he got to college, Atienza, like the vast majority do, realized there was a steep hill to climb.

"In high school, you just kind of throw the kitchen sink at them, just go out there and go hard and usually things just go in your favor," he says. "In college there was a bit of an adjustment period where I realized I couldn't just bully everybody.

"In college, you have to be more tactical. I realized I had to have more of a strategy, a game plan for every match and stick to it. Preparing and strategizing was the biggest change for me."

But not the biggest challenge.

A SETBACK
Atienza did indeed go to the NCAA Championships last March. He took to the mat with his shoulder encased in a constricting brace and, not surprisingly, lost two matches and was eliminated.

Certainly, there are college wrestlers for whom a trip to the NCAA, and finishing in the top eight in their weight class to earn All-America status, is almost a matter of course.

For the vast majority, Atienza included, that is not the case. Most work their entire careers with the goal to make it to the sport's biggest stage. Atienza wasn't going to let something as minoras a dislocated shoulder, a torn labrum, and partial muscle tears derail that dream, ruin his first opportunity to step on the mat with the best of the best.

He had surgery a week after returning from the championships. The surgery kept him from the wrestling room for months, and he endured the mental struggles that come with such a setback.

"I was just upset for a long time after (surgery)," he said. "When you're so used to being active (and) being the senior team leader and not being able to work out and help your teammates, it was really hard for me. I was just mad all of the time. I wasn't mad at any one person or myself or anything. I was just angry about not being able to do things."

When Atienza was finally able to begin training, it was in the shoulder brace.

"I hated wearing the sling," he said. "It was hot; it was itchy; it was sweaty."

He wore the brace for the Chippewas' first three competitions this season and then liberated himself from it.

MOVING FORWARD
In eschewing the brace, Atienza knew the risk of re-injuring his shoulder. It's his shoulder, it's his body, and, in wrestling, it's about the individual.

The ethos of wrestling is that an individual can be as good as he or she wants to be. It's about putting in the work. You loaf in workouts, cut corners, you'll pay for it in spades on the mat. You can't cheat the grind.

And in the end, every move and decision a wrestler makes on the mat is his or hers to own.

"It was a freak accident when it happened and I take pretty good care of my body," Atienza said. "I stretch a lot. I eat the right things. I don't go out. I get good sleep. There's a saying, 'When you worry about an outcome, you double up the negative outcomes.'

"If it's in the cards for me to dislocate my shoulder again, it's going to happen whether I wear the brace or not."

HONORING HIS COMMITMENT
Atienza is 13-8 this season, ranked fourth in the Mid-American Conference. His career record stands at a solid 68-42. He has shown up, put the time in, dedicated himself to his craft. He is a finance major with a 3.20 grade point average with a job as a data analyst awaiting him after graduation.

He has also grown into a leadership role, which is natural for a senior in the wrestling room, and one that became even more pronounced when some of his fellow veterans opted to transfer from CMU.

He is the lone senior on the roster, one of just two upperclassmen in the program. He knows the eyes of his teammates are on him in the room and on the mat. He sets the tone.

Longtime CMU coach Tom Borrelli put his faith and trust in Atienza when he recruited him out of Franklin. Atienza is paying that back.

"I look at it as a commitment and staying true to your word," Atienza said. "Doing what you say you're going to do.

"You get in a relationship and you and your partner get in an argument, do you find the next best thing? Or (if) you have a bad day at your job, you have a bad interaction with your boss, are you going to quit or find a new job? When things get hard you don't just up and leave. You communicate and work things out and you get through it. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I walked out on someone that I've committed to.

"You realize that the decisions you make, they don't affect just you. Every choice you make has externalities and overarching effects that impact other people. I feel like I'd be doing a disservice to others if I dishonored my commitment. I care about this team and this program."

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