Zachary Benkovich '14 Recruiting Profile

I am very interested in wrestling in college.  The following experience explains why I would make a great student for your school.  I was at an off season wrestling meet, preparing for the next season when the unthinkable happened.  I blew out my knee.  At first I was devastated, but then I realized if I still wanted to achieve my goal of making it back to state with the season only five month away I would have to persevere through the injury.  After surgery, I rehabbed my knee through the rest of the summer and football season.  When the next wrestling season started I had to wear a kneed brace.  This affected my usual style of wrestling, so I was forced to adapt.  With more hard work and perseverance I overcame this challenge with great success.  Later on in the season I qualified to the individual state finals tournament.  This was a great personal achievement for me considering that the original projected return time to sports after an ACL injury was still two more months away.  Later on in the post season I qualified for team Illinois to wrestle at Fargo nationals.  With this same work ethic applied to school, I have been on my schools honor roll for five straight semesters, and maintained a three point two grade point average.  If accepted, I would be very interested in taking challenging courses and participating in school sponsored activities like sports or a fraternity.  Because of the challenges I overcame in dealing with my knee injury, as an undergraduate I would like to pursue a pre-med major.  I look forward to being able to attend college and continue my wrestling career.