Wawasee's Warrior

Jamie Salazar played basketball as a freshman last year, but by the time the season grinded to a close, his heart was no longer into the sport.

"My eighth grade coach said I had potential and should work at it," he says. "I took his advice. I worked as hard as I could. I didn't get too much playing time."

So he made a change. The 245-pound 15-year-old joined the Wawasee Warrior wrestling team as a sophomore.

This wasn't the first time a Salazar dropped basketball for wrestling. His older brother, Joe Salazar Jr., played basketball his first two years of high school. He wrestled the last two.

So the change wasn't all that big for Jamie. He came from a family with a wrestling background. He first wrestled at age 4. He played basketball in junior high, but he wrestled, too. The seasons follow each other. He lost one match his eighth grade year.

"With the help of my dad, I decided to wrestle. It's working out pretty good so far," he says. "I switched to a sport I thought I would be better in."

Better and happier. Salazar has been both this year. Without him, the Warriors may not be competing at the state finals Saturday.

The Warriors, ranked No. 12 in the Associated Press poll, faced No. 2 Bellmont in the semistate two weeks ago. Bellmont led 30-25. To seal the win, all the Braves had to do was avoid a pin in the last match.

They couldn't do it.

Salazar pinned Bellmont's Tony Myers. Pins are worth six points. Wawasee won 31-30.

That match was arguably the biggest of the year for Salazar, who has come a long way since the start of the season.

The middle part, late December and early January, was tough.

The Warriors wrestled at the Mishawaka Invitational two days during Christmas break. Salazar missed both because he went on a family vacation.

He says now that set him behind a little.

But that was nothing compared to what happened on Jan. 9.

His dad, Joe Salazar Sr., was in a bad car wreck. A semi plowed into his 1991 Ford Mustang, totaling the car. The Jaws of Life were used to dig Salazar out.

He shouldn't have survived, but he did. The collision threw him into the back seat. That kept him from getting crushed.

Jamie, a devout and outspoken Christian, knows why his dad survived.

"I believe God had his hand over him," he says.

He must have. The worst that happened were a couple of cracked ribs.

Still, Jamie struggled in matches right after the crash.

He's always been used to having his dad at his side.

His dad wasn't there. He was recovering from the wreck.

Wawasee lost to Penn by one point in one of the first matches after the wreck. Because he is a heavyweight, Salazar always wrestles in the last match.

"That kind of put me down for a while, because I was the determining factor," Salazar says. "I was down on myself, and that put me into a slump."

When his dad returned, Salazar broke out of his slump.

"Ever since he's been back, I look over at him," he says. "That pushes me more.

"The accident motivated me. I was thinking, man, my dad could not have been here. I want to accomplish our dreams. There are a lot of things I want to do for him."

His dad is easy to spot at wrestling matches. He sits in the stands through the middleweights. But the closer Jamie's match gets, he leaves his seat and walks over to a railing that separates the first and second decks.

He is always by himself. He leans on this railing and intently watches his son, who always looks up.

And when Jamie's match arrives, he goes to work on accomplishing his dreams and his dad's dreams.

"My dad came from a hard-working family," he says. "They moved from state to state to find work to do.

"My dad always dreamed of his boys playing a sport and reaching goals he never accomplished. That's his dream. That's our dream."

Salazar is on the path that could realize the dreams. One of the dreams is a state championship. Salazar and Wawasee could win that Saturday. If not, Salazar knows he has two more years.

He has finished strong after his down times and owns an 18-13 record. Salazar wants to do well, but he gets a bigger kick out of lifting up the Lord and lifting up his team.

It's kind of like Christmas. You are always happy when you receive gifts. You're happier when you give them.

After Salazar's big win at Bellmont, he talked about everyone and everything except himself.

He did the same thing he always does. He gave God the credit.

"I gave thanks to the Lord first," he says. "It was a great feeling to know that I got to help the seniors reach their dreams of getting to state. God willing, we'll be able to win.

"It just felt good, because one of the things I love to do is help people out."

One other thing he loves? Talking about the Lord.

"It's a gift God gave me," he says, "to have courage to tell others about Him. That's what it says in the Bible. Go tell others about Him. Give all credit to Him."

Yes, Salazar is happy. Happy to help out teammates. Happy to be going to state.

And happy he chose wrestling over basketball.

"My freshman year, if I could have seen into the future, I would have wrestled," he says.