JustinRuiz.com

Justin is a tremendous competitor and has excelled at the sport of wrestling. He loves what he does, and has been able to have a lot of success in the sport. Here are some of his accomplishments:

3 x Utah High School State Champion

2 x Jr. Greco Roman  National Champion

Jr. Freestyle National Champion

High School National Champion

Winner of the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award

3 x FILA Jr. World Team Member

2 x NCAA All-American for the University of Nebraska

7 x U.S. Nationals Champion Greco Roman

6 x World Team Member

5 x Pan American Champion

World Bronze Medalist

5th Place All-World finish at World Championships

World Cup Silver Medalist

2 x USA Wrestling Greco Roman Wrestler of the Year

2 x Olympic Alternate

Champion of numerous international competitions

Justin knows wrestling. Keep up with him as he keeps winning.

Biography

Justin was born and raised in Taylorsville, UT where he grew up and helped his dad train and care for horses as part of his dad’s horse training business. While in middle school Justin went out for the wrestling team and fell in love with the sport immediately. From that very young age, Justin knew that he wanted to wrestle in the Olympic Games someday. Justin has since dedicated his life to the sport in the hopes of making his dream come true of representing the United States on the world’s biggest stage for sport, the Olympic Games.

Justin wrestled at Taylorsville high school where he was a three time state champion as well as winning 4 national championships. During this time he also made two jr. world teams that allowed him to compete at the world championships in Turku, Finland and Cairo, Egypt. These experiences of wrestling internationally would help to fuel the competitive drive to compete at the world level as well as encourage him to seek a birth on the U.S. Olympic team.

After being heavily recruited for wrestling by many colleges, Justin attended the University of Nebraska where he red shirted for a year before serving an LDS mission in Concepcion, Chile. Upon his return to Nebraska, Justin started for the corn huskers his freshman and sophomore seasons, and he received all American honors finishing 5th both years at the NCAA tournament. Following his sophomore season, Justin moved to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO in hopes of winning a spot on the 2004 Olympic Team. Justin made it to the finals but fell short of accomplishing his goal of making the Olympic team. He was an Olympic alternate that year.

Justin made the decision to continue training in Colorado Springs sacrificing his final two years of college eligibility to compete on the world level. Following the Olympic year, Justin made the world team and competed in the world championships in Budapest, Hungary where he won an individual bronze medal. He also made the world team in 2006 and was also a member of the historic 2007 world team which won the first world championship for the United States in Greco roman wrestling. In 2008, after having earned a berth for the United States to compete at his weight class in the Olympic Games, Justin once again found himself in the Olympic Trial finals and was heavily favored to win. After a heartbreaking defeat Justin was once again an Olympic alternate coming up short of his dreams. His opponent went on to win an Olympic bronze medal.

After the 2008 Olympic Trials, Justin took a year off from competition working in the oil fields of Wyoming to raise funds to be able to continue his Olympic quest. Upon his return, Justin once again established himself as the nation’s top wrestler in his weight class and represented the United States at the 2010 world championships where he earned a 5th place all world finish. Justin once again made the 2011 world team competed in the world championships in Istanbul, Turkey. He is now preparing for the 2012 Olympic Trials which will be held in April in Iowa City, Iowa.

Justin is very dedicated to the sport and achieving his long time goal of wrestling in the Olympics. He currently resides and trains in Orem, UT where he lives with his wife Sarah and their two young girls Brinklee and Bristol. They provide great support and encouragement as Justin strives to make the 2012 Olympic Games which will be held in London, England.