Not a Hawkeye, but I’m sure most of you guys know and love Brett. Huge Hawkeyes fan.
Posting this because I felt really good about this one, for he is a really, really good person, in my book. The more time goes on, the more appreciative I am that he did what he did for my grandpa. It was just so mature and down to earth of him. Thank God my immature ass was taking notes at the time...
Brett Wheelan is one of the most important and influential individuals who has circled the Iowa wrestling scene since I have been around it. I mean that. I don’t know if he knows or believes that, but to me he most certainly is and I am 100% sure there are several others who feel the same way about him. This man loves wrestling more than anyone I’ve ever met. He loves wrestling probably twice as much as I do and on a very consistent basis that has spanned decades, he has given back to it by means of coaching, advocating for it, his unrivaled enthusiasm and well, just being himself. If wrestling in Iowa did not have a Brett Wheelan, the sport would feel different..The ride back from Wells would be spent trying to pinpoint what was missing. You can not duplicate Brett Wheelan. We are only going to get one of him and thank God we did… And to think wrestling hasn’t always treated Brett Wheelan back with the same love.
Brett is a dude who cares deeply about wrestling. It means the world to him and always will. He is a guy who has a competitor was a student of the game and was an absolute combatant on the mat, but he struggled with untimely bad luck at times. His career was injury-plagued when he hit high school. He suffered a terrible shoulder injury that was unbearable for him and really destroyed his career and broke his heart. Looking back, I would probably take an injury in my own wrestling career if it meant Brett Wheelan didn’t experience that shoulder injury because like I said, he was the least deserving person that I can think of to go through all that. Brett isn’t as prone and willing to making excuses as I am, but I will say confidently that if he did not experience that injury, he would have climbed that podium.
I wrestled him 3 times and he had terrible luck in at least two of those matches. Wrestled him for 3rd and 4th in 6th grade and I won that one, but I was having a great day and Brett was just kind of starting to find his footing around that time. The next year, I saw him at a youth tournament in Fort Madison in which I was not participating, for that week in practice, I dinged up my knee to a point where the swelling became so bad that it put the average cantaloupe to shame. I had to walk around with this giant, ugly knee immobilizer for a couple weeks. Now, I have mentioned this so many times by now that it’s probably starting to become annoying, but I was “chatty” with most everyone at wrestling tournaments to a point where, well to several of them, it became very annoying. When I ran into Brett, I pointed at him and was like, “hey Brett! I am…” and in his infamously raspy voice that would make a 13 year old Tom Waits seethe with jealousy, he interrupted me and enthusiastically said, “Josh Swafford!!! Your one of the best guys I’ve ever wrestled! I wondered where in the world you are from. Are you from this area?! Would you be wrestling here if your leg wasn’t injured?!” I was kind of surprised and taken aback, but flattered. This is probably how people feel when they first meet me. Haha, I filled him in on my knee, my season, my career, etc. and we talked wrestling all day and have done so since. You think I’m a passionate Encyclopedia about wrestling? Well, try to meet Brett sometime, if you haven’t. He puts me to shame. From that point on, I always rooted for him and still root for his wrestlers that he coaches if I see him in the corner screaming somewhere.
We hung out quite a bit in Dubuque when I was in college. Brett’s family moved there. He was squirrely, but certainly one of my most level-headed friends. A good influence for me because of his character. This guy has seen me at my worst and has still been cool to me. I mean hell, I am by no means a thief…never have been, never will be, for stealing things doesn’t even cross my mind, but one time Brett caught me stealing a chicken salad sandwich out of someone’s refrigerator. I was broke, drunken-munchy ridden and freaking starving at the time, so I classify it as a case of justifiable clouded judgment, but Brett certainly let me know how much of a douche move that was, stealing someone’s chicken salad sandwich out of their refrigerator. I haven’t stolen a chicken salad sandwich out of someone’s fridge since, so that was a life changer!!!
Brett’s parents raised he and his brothers, Brad and Brooks very well, for they are all so tight-knit, funny and treat people with the respect they deserve. They always treated me so well any time I was fortunate enough to make my way to their house on BarbaraLee with Brett. It’s no mystery as to why that Wheelan boys have turned out to be the awesome individuals they are.
To give you a perfect idea of this Brett’s character, this story will enlighten you. My grandpa Robert Swafford was nothing short of a second dad to me. He lived a mile down the road from us growing up and I saw him almost every day of my life. He was the nurturing voice of reason that my brother Justin and I desperately needed when wrestling consumed too much of my father’s emotions to where he couldn’t express himself towards us in a positive manner if it involved wrestling. My grandpa was at every event we participated in and was there for any sort of support that we needed. We lost him a month before my daughter was born in 2010. Now, just because my grandpa was as positively influential to the lives of every one of my family members, sadly, this doesn’t mean that he was treated by me with the respect he deserved. A perfect example of this was when I came home from college to throw a party. I was… a handful for my parents, pretty much from day 1 and this was one of several huge parties that I threw at my house because I caught wind through my brother (my parents didn’t tell me these things…they knew better) that they would be out of town for the weekend. So I bought 3 kegs and brought Brett home with me. And there were tons of people there. This party didn’t disappoint. That is until my grandpa made a surprise visit to check to make sure that I didn’t drive 2.5 hours back home to throw a party. Sadly, my parents caught on to my ways and started introducing road blocks to interfere with my shenanigans. Some major “mellow-harshin.'” The party was already way too big and out of control to send everyone home, so that was a lost cause. And my grandpa was a very nervous person the older he got and this was very noticeable to anyone who actually acknowledged that he crashed the party. His hands were shaking. Brett noticed this and said, “don’t worry Swaff, I’ll take care of your grandpa…go out and enjoy your party.” So Brett sat my worried grandpa down in the living room and chatted with him about baseball for 4-5 hours… until the party had dwindled down fully and Grandpa felt comfortable enough to go to bed. Brett could have been living it up as a normal late teens/early 20’s person would have been, but was perfectly content with talking baseball all night with my grandpa. This eased Grandpa’s nerves a ton and he had one of the best nights he’d had in a long time…in a situation that brought him tons of stress due to his grandson being incapable of not indulging every whim that he faced, regardless of the obvious stupidity of it. Brett could have been outside like the rest of us, partying, trying to meet girls (and there were some promiscuous ones there), etc. Nope, Brett chose to hang out with my grandpa to talk baseball with him. And he didn’t do this because he felt obligated to, be did it because it’s what he wanted to do. That’s how he would have the best night himself. It meant the world to my grandpa. Every time I visited from college, he would ask about how Brett was doing. It was one of the highlights of his year. Talking to Brett all night… Since my grandpa has passed, I have a difficult time thinking of the good times I spent with him. My mind goes straight to regret. Regretting every time I drove by his house without stopping, regretting every time that I didn’t answer the phone when I saw his name on the caller ID, for I knew Grandpa was likely just stressing out about a speed trap on the way to Mediapolis. Today, I’d give anything to have another warning of a speed trap. I’d give up every party I ever threw back then if it meant having a 1 minute talk about baseball like Brett chose to do. I’d do it in a heartbeat. Thank goodness the world produced a person like Brett Wheelan who was mature and kind-hearted enough to take my shortcomings upon himself to make up some of the ground that I had left uncovered. That eases the blow a bit.
Brett Wheelan, everyone… We are fortunate to have him as part of our fan base.
Posting this because I felt really good about this one, for he is a really, really good person, in my book. The more time goes on, the more appreciative I am that he did what he did for my grandpa. It was just so mature and down to earth of him. Thank God my immature ass was taking notes at the time...
Brett Wheelan is one of the most important and influential individuals who has circled the Iowa wrestling scene since I have been around it. I mean that. I don’t know if he knows or believes that, but to me he most certainly is and I am 100% sure there are several others who feel the same way about him. This man loves wrestling more than anyone I’ve ever met. He loves wrestling probably twice as much as I do and on a very consistent basis that has spanned decades, he has given back to it by means of coaching, advocating for it, his unrivaled enthusiasm and well, just being himself. If wrestling in Iowa did not have a Brett Wheelan, the sport would feel different..The ride back from Wells would be spent trying to pinpoint what was missing. You can not duplicate Brett Wheelan. We are only going to get one of him and thank God we did… And to think wrestling hasn’t always treated Brett Wheelan back with the same love.
Brett is a dude who cares deeply about wrestling. It means the world to him and always will. He is a guy who has a competitor was a student of the game and was an absolute combatant on the mat, but he struggled with untimely bad luck at times. His career was injury-plagued when he hit high school. He suffered a terrible shoulder injury that was unbearable for him and really destroyed his career and broke his heart. Looking back, I would probably take an injury in my own wrestling career if it meant Brett Wheelan didn’t experience that shoulder injury because like I said, he was the least deserving person that I can think of to go through all that. Brett isn’t as prone and willing to making excuses as I am, but I will say confidently that if he did not experience that injury, he would have climbed that podium.
I wrestled him 3 times and he had terrible luck in at least two of those matches. Wrestled him for 3rd and 4th in 6th grade and I won that one, but I was having a great day and Brett was just kind of starting to find his footing around that time. The next year, I saw him at a youth tournament in Fort Madison in which I was not participating, for that week in practice, I dinged up my knee to a point where the swelling became so bad that it put the average cantaloupe to shame. I had to walk around with this giant, ugly knee immobilizer for a couple weeks. Now, I have mentioned this so many times by now that it’s probably starting to become annoying, but I was “chatty” with most everyone at wrestling tournaments to a point where, well to several of them, it became very annoying. When I ran into Brett, I pointed at him and was like, “hey Brett! I am…” and in his infamously raspy voice that would make a 13 year old Tom Waits seethe with jealousy, he interrupted me and enthusiastically said, “Josh Swafford!!! Your one of the best guys I’ve ever wrestled! I wondered where in the world you are from. Are you from this area?! Would you be wrestling here if your leg wasn’t injured?!” I was kind of surprised and taken aback, but flattered. This is probably how people feel when they first meet me. Haha, I filled him in on my knee, my season, my career, etc. and we talked wrestling all day and have done so since. You think I’m a passionate Encyclopedia about wrestling? Well, try to meet Brett sometime, if you haven’t. He puts me to shame. From that point on, I always rooted for him and still root for his wrestlers that he coaches if I see him in the corner screaming somewhere.
We hung out quite a bit in Dubuque when I was in college. Brett’s family moved there. He was squirrely, but certainly one of my most level-headed friends. A good influence for me because of his character. This guy has seen me at my worst and has still been cool to me. I mean hell, I am by no means a thief…never have been, never will be, for stealing things doesn’t even cross my mind, but one time Brett caught me stealing a chicken salad sandwich out of someone’s refrigerator. I was broke, drunken-munchy ridden and freaking starving at the time, so I classify it as a case of justifiable clouded judgment, but Brett certainly let me know how much of a douche move that was, stealing someone’s chicken salad sandwich out of their refrigerator. I haven’t stolen a chicken salad sandwich out of someone’s fridge since, so that was a life changer!!!
Brett’s parents raised he and his brothers, Brad and Brooks very well, for they are all so tight-knit, funny and treat people with the respect they deserve. They always treated me so well any time I was fortunate enough to make my way to their house on BarbaraLee with Brett. It’s no mystery as to why that Wheelan boys have turned out to be the awesome individuals they are.
To give you a perfect idea of this Brett’s character, this story will enlighten you. My grandpa Robert Swafford was nothing short of a second dad to me. He lived a mile down the road from us growing up and I saw him almost every day of my life. He was the nurturing voice of reason that my brother Justin and I desperately needed when wrestling consumed too much of my father’s emotions to where he couldn’t express himself towards us in a positive manner if it involved wrestling. My grandpa was at every event we participated in and was there for any sort of support that we needed. We lost him a month before my daughter was born in 2010. Now, just because my grandpa was as positively influential to the lives of every one of my family members, sadly, this doesn’t mean that he was treated by me with the respect he deserved. A perfect example of this was when I came home from college to throw a party. I was… a handful for my parents, pretty much from day 1 and this was one of several huge parties that I threw at my house because I caught wind through my brother (my parents didn’t tell me these things…they knew better) that they would be out of town for the weekend. So I bought 3 kegs and brought Brett home with me. And there were tons of people there. This party didn’t disappoint. That is until my grandpa made a surprise visit to check to make sure that I didn’t drive 2.5 hours back home to throw a party. Sadly, my parents caught on to my ways and started introducing road blocks to interfere with my shenanigans. Some major “mellow-harshin.'” The party was already way too big and out of control to send everyone home, so that was a lost cause. And my grandpa was a very nervous person the older he got and this was very noticeable to anyone who actually acknowledged that he crashed the party. His hands were shaking. Brett noticed this and said, “don’t worry Swaff, I’ll take care of your grandpa…go out and enjoy your party.” So Brett sat my worried grandpa down in the living room and chatted with him about baseball for 4-5 hours… until the party had dwindled down fully and Grandpa felt comfortable enough to go to bed. Brett could have been living it up as a normal late teens/early 20’s person would have been, but was perfectly content with talking baseball all night with my grandpa. This eased Grandpa’s nerves a ton and he had one of the best nights he’d had in a long time…in a situation that brought him tons of stress due to his grandson being incapable of not indulging every whim that he faced, regardless of the obvious stupidity of it. Brett could have been outside like the rest of us, partying, trying to meet girls (and there were some promiscuous ones there), etc. Nope, Brett chose to hang out with my grandpa to talk baseball with him. And he didn’t do this because he felt obligated to, be did it because it’s what he wanted to do. That’s how he would have the best night himself. It meant the world to my grandpa. Every time I visited from college, he would ask about how Brett was doing. It was one of the highlights of his year. Talking to Brett all night… Since my grandpa has passed, I have a difficult time thinking of the good times I spent with him. My mind goes straight to regret. Regretting every time I drove by his house without stopping, regretting every time that I didn’t answer the phone when I saw his name on the caller ID, for I knew Grandpa was likely just stressing out about a speed trap on the way to Mediapolis. Today, I’d give anything to have another warning of a speed trap. I’d give up every party I ever threw back then if it meant having a 1 minute talk about baseball like Brett chose to do. I’d do it in a heartbeat. Thank goodness the world produced a person like Brett Wheelan who was mature and kind-hearted enough to take my shortcomings upon himself to make up some of the ground that I had left uncovered. That eases the blow a bit.
Brett Wheelan, everyone… We are fortunate to have him as part of our fan base.
