For Justin Kerr, wrestling was both a journey and an all-consuming mission that took him from first overcoming local youth rivals all the way to becoming State Champion and High School All-American (NHSCA Nationals 6th place) and one of the best wrestlers in the history of John Carroll University. It was far from a smooth ride, with many big wins and a few devastating key losses that he always used as motivation to get to the next level. Wrestling is a roller coaster where the wins and losses are intensely personal in a way that those who have never wrestled would understand but these losses only served to harden his resolve to train harder and took him to a new level of intensity. Of course, many years after these events he can put them into their proper context but at the time,
it was EVERYTHING.

Justin remembers the details as if it was yesterday. After a recurring pattern where he’d dominate opposition all season only to come up short at the end, he was finally able to put it together for one great run his senior year of high school and achieve all of his goals that season. He finished out with a major decision (8-0) of the undefeated #1 ranked wrestler in the state followed by winning 13-0 in the State finals.

From there, it was on to high school nationals to test himself against the best in the nation. Becoming an All-American had been his goal since youth wrestling. However, disaster struck when he blew his knee out, tearing his meniscus and inflaming his bursa three days prior to the National Tournament. His knee was locked at a 90º angle as he was rushed to the emergency room, career over.

Nevertheless, his knee was able to be straightened out. He went out to compete with a knee that was roughly the size of a basketball by the end of a tournament, coming back with All-American Honors with a last second double overtime win over a California State Finalist. Ironically, he also defeated the best wrestler he faced in his career. Justin placed 6th in the nation at that time despite the injury crippling him in his final two bouts.

From there Justin went to John Carroll University. He had already committed to attend there on a full academic scholarship but by the time the Division I schools started to take notice, following his unexpected senior year run. In addition, for him wrestling was always something that he wanted to be doing, because he wanted to be doing it. He never wanted it to be a job, so an academic scholarship was much more appealing than an athletic one. Ironically, he trained multiple times a day just as a Division I athlete would anyway, but he had the self awareness (not always his strong suit) to know that if he was doing that because he was required to, it would ruin it for him.

The decision to compete at HS Nationals exacerbated his knee injury severely. He suffered a major setback when the knee injury he had suffered at the end of his senior year kept him off the mats for almost two years when he should have been making the already difficult transition to collegiate wrestling. Fast forward nearly two years, and he had to start almost from scratch, complete with the cardiovascular conditioning that went from world class to that of a “couch potato”. When he finally returned to the mat, there was virtually nobody in the room he could defeat, as he vaguely recalled the days when he was good.

After a difficult first year, everything suddenly clicked for him red shirt sophomore year. All the sudden he was beating All-Americans left and right, and he was able to rebound to become a 3 time All-American, achieving a ranking as high as #1 or #2 in the nation at various times throughout his career. Though he failed to achieve his goal of becoming a National Champion, he was able to defeat National Finalists in three separate divisions including the National Champion in his weight class his junior year, and posted 12 wins over NCAA Division I Qualifiers along the way, versus seven losses. Justin was also named the Most Outstanding Wrestler one of the nation’s best teams three years in a row, and received the OAC’s Most Outstanding Wrestler Award.

During his time at John Carroll he became a leader of his teammates as well, inspiring others with his training methods and fanatical dedication to achieve more than they ever thought they could in a way that the record books will never capture. When Justin graduated, he held a number of career records in one of the most historically accomplished programs in the nation, including Most Pins, Most Technical Falls, Most Dual Points in a single season and career. At one point during his junior season he won 30 matches in a row, with none of them being closer than a six point margin during that streak.

Today, he would like to think he has taken that same warrior spirit into his law practice, where he is a criminal defense attorney. Justin lives in Westlake with his wife Danielle. Meeting her has been the single life defining event that makes all other events pail in comparison.

Justin would be remiss if he didn’t state what a great support system he was fortunate to have at Mapleton including but not limited to Head Coach Tim Kline, Coach and mentor Brian Welch, tremendous workout partners who battled in the room with him and sharpened him along the way-such as Geoff Lewis, Seth Reisinger, and Corey Kline. There was certainly rivalry at times, but we had a real sense of community with Mapleton Wrestling. Last but not least, to his family, who never stopped believing in him even when he came up short and made certain he never missed an opportunity as he traveled across the state to wrestle against the best competition available. What a magnificent journey it was!