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It's not every day that Sports Illustrated covers wrestling, so when they write a ten page article about a high school wrestling coach, you know that issue's a keeper.  The issue that just hit shelves this week, dated February 13, 2012, features an incredible story about Mike Powell, the coach at Oak Park-River Forest (OPRF) High School on the west side of Chicago.  As a little background info, Powell was an Illinois state champ and an NCAA All-American at Indiana before elevating the OPRF team from unranked to a state powerhouse in a matter of five years.  But shortly after OPRF won their first state title as a team in 2009, Powell was diagnosed with a rare auto-immune disorder called polymyositis that caused his muscles to waste away, weakening him to the point where he could no longer perform daily activities without extreme exhaustion.

But Powell has always preached to his wrestlers and students the value of hard work and being mentally tough, and that is what he has done to survive with this illness.  He can no longer demonstrate technique to his team, but anyone in the program will tell you that "He's 10 times the coach he was" after demonstrating so much courage.  It is a sad but inspiring story, and well worth the cover price of $4.99.

I had the privilege of working with him when I was wrestling with Team Illinois back in high school, as he was one of the Greco-Roman coaches.  Despite having nowhere near the accolades of some of the other stars on Team Illinois, he gave me more attention than any of the other coaches did.  He was the one who called my house asking if I'd want to be on the National Duals lineup.  He was also the one that let me enter the 2006 Greco-Roman state tournament even though I missed weigh-ins after my dad and I got lost.  In the off-season he opens up the OPRF practice room to anyone willing to train, for free, even if they are from their rival high school.  Looking back, I really regret not practicing their myself, and so if you live in the Chicago suburbs, I can't recommend enough that you train there.

The bottom line is, read the entire article for yourself to get the full experience.  If you're still looking for more, read this story about about a current OPRF wrestler: http://riverforest.suntimes.com/sports/10206270-419/wrestling-family-play-role-in-woulfes-success.html.  OPRF is a great place to be right now.  As one person told me, the wrestlers on that team "would rather lose a limb than miss a practice or tournament" for their coach.

Lastly, Mike Powell always signs his e-mails a certain way, so I'm going to finish it off his way today.

In relentless pursuit,
Jeff