WHITE HALL, Mich. — Wyatt Jenkins, a senior at White Hall High School, won the Division Three individual wrestling championship earlier this month, a testament to his resilience after recovering from a broken neck that sidelined him for nearly all of last season.
Introduced to wrestling at an early age by his father, who both played and coached, Jenkins is continuing a family legacy of winning.
When asked what made him fall in love with wrestling, Jenkins said, "Winning. 100 percent, winning."
The sport's physicality though, is what keeps him returning to the mat.
“I don’t think there’s a better feeling in the world to be able to go out there and inflict your will on somebody else. And going on the mat knowing you did that in one match,” he added.
However, the journey has not been easy. A year and a half ago, Wyatt suffered a broken neck while playing football in Flint.
“I was, like, this close to, like, I would have been paralyzed forever, close to death,” he recalled.
Wyatt's parents, Thomas and Jess, received the shocking news while back home.
Thomas recounted, “[The doctor] goes, I hope you know your football coach saved your son's life. Like he said, one more hit, and you would have been done.”
Miraculously, Wyatt was able to recover, but the path forward was still fraught with challenges. He faced several losses in competition.
“I think I needed to know that I wasn’t untouchable,” he said.
Compounding the difficulty, Wyatt’s grandfather's health began to decline.
“I was able to get him over there to the individual regional tournament so he could watch Wyatt live one last time,” Thomas shared.
Eventually placed on hospice, Wyatt made a promise to his grandfather.
“Last four matches I'm gonna wrestle I'm gonna dedicate them all for you,” he vowed.
He kept his promise, culminating in his victory at the individual state championship.
“When he won it, he ended up running up to the stands and, you know, jumped in my arms, and I'm sitting there, you know. And Jess is hugging him and we're just crying all of us,” Thomas recalled.
The family was able to bring the win back to his grandfather.
“My dad hopped out of that bed quicker than anybody. I was nervous he was gonna fall. He jumps out. He’s like, big old smile on his face. He was like, you did it,” Thomas said.
Sadly, Wyatt's family informed us that his grandfather passed away a couple weeks later.
Wyatt's triumph though, cements his own legacy of determination and persistence through adversity.
“So that felt really good for me,” Wyatt said. “When you get down, get your face pushed down in the dirt, your story’s not over. You got a lot more to prove."
Looking ahead, Wyatt plans to pursue a national title at Southeast Community College in Nebraska.
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