[ WRESTLING ]
Jonathan Spiker has a passion for wrestling and a passion for learning, and that's why he'll be wrestling for Harvard University this fall. Harvard lands Spiker
By Nick Abramo
nabramo@starbulletin.comSpiker, a senior at Saint Louis School, is undefeated throughout his four-year, high school career, and he's working toward a fourth state individual championship.
"Ever since I was little, I've heard about Harvard, and it's been a dream of mine to hopefully attend there," Spiker said. "They have one of the top wrestling teams in the nation, and it's one of the best places to get an education."
Spiker would eventually like to go into medicine to one day be a doctor or pediatrician.
He chose Harvard over Stanford, Minnesota and Cornell and will officially announce his intentions in a press conference today at Saint Louis.
"Jonathan is an extremely talented, hard-working individual in whatever he does, whether it's wrestling or in class," said Saint Louis coach Todd Los Banos. "He's always doing the extra work to make his grades better. He's always doing extra work on the mat; he's one of those guys who can never get enough of it and that's what's going to make him successful in whatever he does."
Los Banos said Cornell was "bummed" it didn't land Spiker, who wrestles in the 152-pound weight class.
Spiker's good friend, Travis Lee, wrestles for Cornell. Lee is a three-time state champion who graduated from Saint Louis two years ago, and he's ranked second nationally in the 125-pound class.
"It would have been great for their (Cornell's) program to have them working together, but for us at Saint Louis, it's good that we can spread 'em out to other schools, too."
In his four years, Spiker is 148-2 overall. He's 127-0 against Hawaii opponents and 21-2 in three trips to the Reno (Nev.) Tournament of Champions, where he placed second this year.
As a youngster, Spiker visited the Boston area for a judo tournament and took a tour of Harvard, which is located in neighboring Cambridge, Mass.
"That's when the dream started," he said. "I've always wanted to be part of that tradition."
Lee was back in Hawaii for the holidays, working out at his alma mater, and Spiker absorbed some college wrestling knowledge.
"He showed me some moves and some new things to add, and it was helpful," Spiker said. "I had a lot of questions and he had a lot of good advice on technique, what it's like in college and the daily life of being a student and college wrestler."
Spiker, who earned a perfect 5.0 cumulative average last semester and carries a 4.24 overall average, looks forward to traveling to different cities to compete, and he'll be especially excited when Harvard squares off against Cornell.
"I want to finish high school strong by winning the state (individual and team) championship" he said. "For college, I want to be focused, study hard and wrestle hard."
