Roman Bravo-Young moments after winning the 2021 NCAA championship (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Dreaming of becoming an NCAA champion is what drives most young wrestlers to continue to train past their personal setbacks, career-altering injuries, major losses and the grueling task of pushing your body and mind just beyond its breaking point. For Roman Bravo-Young, better known as RBY, becoming an NCAA champion wasn't even on his radar as a young wrestler. Instead, wrestling acted as a means of stability and survival, it was the one consistency in his life.
(Photo courtesy of Roman Bravo-Young)Growing up in Tucson, Arizona, where gangs and drugs thrive, RBY was no stranger to the streets or their struggles. When his dad left, he was forced to live in low-income housing with his brother and mother. However, soon after his little sister was born, his family was forced to move from house to house, living with different family members and friends. This meant often going without the very things so many of us take for granted, like a bed of our own, food on our table and running water or electricity. Gratitude for the small things, was a concept RBY learned at a very young age; it is this same concept of gratitude that he insists creates the winning culture at Penn State, "Cael and Cody teach us all to have a mindset of gratitude. We all are blessed to be in the position we are in and we don't take any of it for granted; we work hard to make every moment count and enjoy it while it lasts. Ultimately, we know everything we do is God's plan in motion. We won't always be wrestlers; Cael and Cody aim to make us great men." Gratitude and grace are recurring themes that seem to intertwine themselves with this phenom of a wrestler. Despite all of the struggles and adversity RBY has witnessed and overcome, he still finds peace with a purpose-filled calling over his life.
We all know overcoming plays a significant role in wrestling. It's literally what produces grit and growth, which go hand in hand with a sport that is just as much a mental game, as it is a physical one. Maybe that's why RBY has seen so much success on the mat. Aside from being a 2021 NCAA Champion, he was the 2019 Junior Pan Am champ and three-time USAW Cadet National Champion. Clearly fighting was a way of life; in fact, for RBY, every day was a battle, "if I wasn't fighting my brother, I was fighting or getting in trouble in school. Not because I wanted to, but because I had to, until my coach, Sanchez, took me in to live with him." During Roman's 7th grade year, Sanchez, a well-known Arizona wrestling coach, saw something in RBY that he couldn't yet see in himself. Sanchez knew Roman could be successful, and not just on the mat, but in life. He wasn't the only one who recognized this greatness either. Other members of the wrestling community always seemed to provide for Roman when he needed it most. If that meant new wrestling gear or travel expenses paid, families were willing to, and even happy to pitch in as needed.
Roman Bravo-Young in the midst of an undefeated HS career (Photo courtesy of Roman Bravo-Young)By his freshman year in high school, RBYs commitment on and off the mat was evident. Coach Sanchez provided a roof over his head, safety and the stability every child seeks. Living with his coach allowed for the structure RBY needed to focus on schoolwork, and the guidance to help get him out of Tucson and away from the streets that slowly seemed to call so many others he grew up with. RBY recognized that wrestling was his way out of a drug-ridden city and used every opportunity within his grasp to get better, stronger, and faster. By his senior year, he was a Penn State commit with a perfect 182-0 record and four state titles under his belt.
Once in college and starting for one of the most well-known and dominant wrestling programs in the past decade, RBY was able to recognize in himself what so many others previously saw within him. However, he was faced with what he felt was a responsibility to provide for those he left in Arizona. Every chance he had to step on a mat, was an opportunity to represent hope, to give back to those who sacrificed and gave so generously for him to be in this very position. Every clinic and camp was an opportunity to send money home to his mother and siblings.
Early wrestling days for RBY (Photo courtesy of Roman Bravo-Young)For some of his teammates and opponents, wrestling at the DI level is merely a part of a lifelong dream, one they set their eyes on at a young age, determined to be the best, to prove themselves to their peers. But, for RBY, wrestling was still just a means of survival that allowed for a college education, housing, and food on the table. While proud of his effort and accomplishments in becoming an All-American as a freshman, RBY knew he had more to give and wasn't about to settle for eighth-place. As a sophomore, RBY continued to push himself in the classroom and on the mat. He believed he could become an NCAA National Champ and set out to do so until Covid cancelled the 2020 NCAA tournament. This roadblock didn't stop the determined wrestler, instead, it fueled him to continue the uphill battle.
As he returned to Arizona for the first time in a while, RBY trained with anyone willing to get on the mat with him. When it was time to return to Penn State as a junior, although certain of his own abilities, RBY became skeptical of what the year would hold for the sport of wrestling. At no fault of his own, RBY was once again thrown into a situation that held so many uncertainties and lacked the consistency we all so deeply need. It was amid adversity that he and his teammates took the advice of their coach, and discovered a Truth that would never fail them, despite what was happening on the mat, on their campus, or in the world.
These young men who came together because of their talents, and passion for the sport of wrestling, decided to begin their own Bible study where they tokened the phrase, "it's in motion." They aren't referring to their stance and motion, but rather God's plan, "whatever happens, whatever is going on, it's God's plan in motion," and that was enough for Roman; he knew whatever happened during this year of uncertainty and unpredictability, no matter how inconsistent, it was all a part of a bigger plan.
With his teammate's encouragement, RBY sought to make life changes, focusing on the person he was becoming just as much as what he was doing on the mat, "It was a lifestyle change, a mindset switch. I didn't want to just follow God because it allowed for relief during a challenging point in my life. I wanted to change how I was living and why I lived that way, I wanted to grow in my relationship with Christ and that changed everything!"
Anyone who is a fan of collegiate wrestling knows the path to becoming a DI NCAA Champion is treacherous, yet this tenacious young man, who has overcome adversity since a young age, set out to do what so many dream of and so few accomplish, "I look back and that moment I won nationals, I just was so overwhelmed because, for a split moment, I thought of that little boy living on section 8 housing waiting for the food stamps to eat so we could finally have some decent food instead of beans and rice...And I thought of that boy who did not even believe in going to college and realized, at that moment, I just won a national title and it was all Glory to God! Growing up, I thought wrestling was my only way to escape, but I realized the whole time I had God and no matter where I am, win or lose, He is with me."
Wrestlers, especially this one, are built differently. When met with adversity and uncertainty, they don't run or make excuses; they tend to embrace the struggle and use it to create grit. In my opinion, wrestlers literally define what it means to persevere. For this talented wrestler, who once had to literally fight for a place in this world, a National title is just the beginning; RBY is currently training in San Diego with Dominick Cruz in preparation for his next fight, with plans to make his first Senior World Team at 61kg and return to Penn State to once again earn his chance at becoming a two-time NCAA champion. More importantly, he continues to pursue his goals to provide hope for all the children who come from similar backgrounds living in what seems like a hopeless situation, "I want to leave a legacy for myself and any other kids that need someone to look up to," and he plans to do just that while he connects with youth at various camps and clinics this summer.
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