Ruiz true to his faith; takes two-year mission, forfeits to Lowney
By Tim Tushla, W.I.N. Editor:
It took almost a full season for Justin Ruiz to feel back on top of his wrestling game. That feeling carried him first to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA tournament last March and then on to a second-place showing in Greco-Roman at the U.S. Open in April.
All that less than a year after returning from a two-year absence from the sport.
Ruiz returned to the U.S. in mid-August of 2001 after spending time as a missionary in Chile for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He had left for South America after a promising 12-3 redshirt season at the University of Nebraska.
His hiatus from wrestling also came after an impressive youth career. Ruiz was a three-time state champion for Taylorsville High School in Murray, UT. During that time he was also a Junior National champion in freestyle and a two-time champ in Greco-Roman, placing sixth at the Greco Junior Worlds.
Originally when I signed with Nebraska, I hadnıt really planned on going on a mission,² said Ruiz, then 19. But after I got out to Nebraska and was on my own, I had to make some decisions in my life. I figured out more about myself and what I wanted. Serving a full-time mission was something that was a part of that.
So, in September of 1999, Ruiz traveled to central Chile to the Concepcion mission. His charge was to serve the people, teach them about the Gospel and assist with service projects. A part of those projects was to teach the local people English.
His assignment led him to spend time in four different locations during the two-year stint from a small community to larger populations centers.
The first place I was in was pretty rural, about 14,000 people, but as far as technology it wasnıt the same. Iıd still see carts driven by animals or homes without a lot of amenities. From there, I went to bigger cities.
Ruiz also never made a trip home during that time, and as part of the rules of the mission, he was only allowed to call home twice a year.
We got to talk to our families a couple of times during the year for Christmas and Motherıs Day,² said Ruiz, the son of Joe and Carrie Ruiz. ³It was kind of hard. Sometimes I missed my family. But we kept in contact through mail and things like that.
Although there were other U.S. missionaries in Chile including another Utah native Ruiz was also pretty much entirely away from wrestling during that period.
There were a couple of times where there were other missionaries who had wrestled in high school, so we wrestled around a little bit,² said Ruiz. ³It wasnıt anything serious, it was more just for fun. As far as serious training, there wasnıt any.
Through his work in Chile, Ruiz says he has gained a new appreciation for his home country and what it has to offer.
While I was there, I just realized how blessed we are to live in the United States and how many opportunities we have,² said Ruiz. ³But I made a lot of good friends down there. There were a lot of people that I would only know for a short period of time but I felt like they were part of my family. I really grew to love the people.
It was pretty hard when I came home just getting used to not being around them, not having them there and being able to have the same kind of communication I had with them before. There were a lot of special experiences I had down there and it helped me to grow up a lot.
While he was away, the Husker program also went through some changes. The coach that had signed him was let go, a new staff was put in place and the program was put on probation by the NCAA.
All those issues weighed on Ruiz as he tried to decide his future after South America.
When I was coming back off my mission, I thought perhaps I would like to stay closer to home,² said Ruiz, who still had four years of eligibility left.
And, with all the changes in the coaching staff, I wasnıt really sure if there would be a place for me back here at Nebraska.
Also, just being gone for two years out of wrestling, I didnıt know if there would be any schools that would really be interested in me after all that time. So, there was a time when I really wasnıt sure what I was going to do.
But while he was still in Chile, Ruiz visited with new Husker coach Mark Manning. They talked about the new situation and Manning ended up sending scholarship papers.
I wasnıt sure if I wanted to put my time back into wrestling again or look at putting my time into something else,² said Ruiz, who eventually did sign.
But Iım glad I am still wrestling, itıs fun, and it provides me with a lot of opportunities. It is helping me get through school and be able to set up for the future. And, since I have been back, Iıve tried to take advantage of those opportunities, as far as education and participating in sports.
It was a tough adjustment when Ruiz finally did return to Utah. He had about two weeks at home before classes began last fall and had difficulty keeping himself occupied.
It was just kind of a shift of modes or mindset. As part of my mission, we were always working with the Gospel. But when I got home, there were different roles to fill and different responsibilities, said Ruiz. As missionaries, weıd usually be out ten hours a day. We were always out on the street a lot or visiting people.
It was a pretty big adjustment just getting used to the lifestyle of a student again and trying to get back in shape.
Although they studied a lot of scripture on the mission, the school-work adjustment was difficult. Ruiz, a 3.914 student in high school, made that adjustment. But getting back into the wrestling-training mode was a different story.
It was hard both physically and mentally after I started getting back into it. Realizing how much work it was, sometimes I even questioned if it was still worth doing. But, as time went on, I got more used to being back wrestling and it started being fun again.
Ruiz finished the regular season with a 22-9 mark and qualified as a Big 12 wildcard for the NCAA tournament. But he really didnıt feel he was all the way back until he got to Albany.
The NCAA tournament is when I started to feel like things were clicking for me better. I was happy with how I wrestled there. There were some mistakes I made and I will try to correct those for the future. But overall, I was pleased with how I did.
That feeling carried over to the U.S. Open in April when Ruiz made an amazing run through the tournament before falling to 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Garrett Lowney in the 211.5-pound Greco-Roman final.
And he likes the change of pace in the way schedules are currently set up where the Greco events follow the collegiate season.
I figured it would be a tough tournament but when I was wrestling, I was just having fun. I didnıt worry a whole lot or have a lot of pressure on myself as far as how I ended up. And it ended up that I was winning my matches.
Now, just being able to do some of the off-season wrestling and kind of not having so much pressure on me, it has helped me to improve on a lot of things. Having more time in the room, Iıve been working more on my par terre position.
He also had a number of different workout partners recently as he prepared for the World Team Trials in St. Paul, MN. He worked out with Brad Vering now a World team member and also a former Husker and a number of athletes from Northern Iowa.
Having different workout partners was nice and just being able to focus a little more on Greco. Itıs kind of tough because nobody else in our room really competes in Greco, so it is kind of like splitting the time between freestyle and Greco with the workouts.
Despite not spending as much time as he would have liked on Greco, Ruiz looked outstanding at the Team Trials on June 21-23. As the top seed in the challenge tournament, he won three straight bouts over Chael Sonnen (7-6), Tipton Peterson (8-0) and Dan Hicks (3-2) for his spot in the finals against Lowney. Because the best-of-three finals against Lowney was to be held on Sunday, Ruiz chose to forfeit due to his religious convictions about the Sabbath.
It is not something Iıve always done but, when I decided to go on a mission, that was one of the things I decided I wasnıt going to do any more. I figured that if I was going to go teach people in Chile about observing the Sabbath day, that I should be doing a better job of it myself. Since I have been back, I just feel like that is something I am not ready to do.
Iıd like to go as far as I can to try making the World team or Olympic team and doing well in those tournaments. Wrestling is fun and I really enjoy it but there are also other things that are important to me and I donıt want to have to compromise.
Ruiz also has high expectations for the upcoming collegiate season both for himself and his team.
I want to be a national champion. I want to wrestle the best I can and I feel like if I do wrestle to the best of my ability, I can be a national champ. I also think our team has the potential to be a national championship team. But that means a lot of hard work and it is a ways down the road.
As a team, the national championship is the thing that is always on our mind. And I think there are a lot of the younger guys who want to do that. Some of the guys who wrestled at Nationals last year, like Travis Schufelt and Travis Pascoe, have high hopes for the championships next year and for the season in general.
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