ACADEMIC MAJOR:  Business/ Master's in Accounting

BW ATHLETICS INFORMATION:  Jesse Gunter is arguably the best wrestler and one of the best-ever student-athletes to ever compete at Baldwin Wallace University.

Jesse is one of only a few BW student-athletes (male or female) to ever receive both the Clyde Lamb and Kenneth Steingass awards as a senior. The Clyde Lamb Award is given to BW's Most Outstanding Male and Female Student-Athlete. The Steingass Award is given to the Most Outstanding Male Athlete.

Jesse also is a three-time NCAA Division III All-American, a 2016 second-team CoSIDA Division III Academic All-American At-Large, a three-time National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-American and a four-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference selection. Jesse compiled an outstanding 122-15 career record.

ACADEMIC INFORMATION:  Jesse carries a 3.452 grade point average and is a Dean's List student. He has already completed his degree requirements for a degree in education and is now working on obtaining an accounting degree and is pursuing a Master's in Accounting degree.

CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL_DISTRICT 7:  As a senior in 2015-2016, Jesse received first-team CoSIDA Division III Academic All-District 7 At-Large honors. He went on to earn CoSIDA Div. III Academic All-America honors (see more above).

2016 OAC CLYDE LAMB AWARD: As a senior in 2015-2016, Jesse was the BW Male recipient of the OAC Clyde Lamb Award, symbolic of the school's most outstanding male student-athlete.

NWCA SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICA HONORS:   Jesse is a three-time NWCA (National Wrestliboth 2013-2014, 2014-2015 and 2015-2016.

2016 KENNETH STEINGASS AWARD-WINNER:  As a senior in 2015-2016, Jesse is BW's Kenneth Steingass Award winner, symbolic of the school's Most Outstanding Senior Male Athlete.

ALL-AMERICA HONORS/ NCAA BERTHS:  As a sophomore in 2014, Jesse earned Division III All-American honors with a third place finish at 125 pounds. As a junior in 2014-2015, he earned Div. III All-American honors with a fourth place finish at 125 pounds. As a senior in 2015-2016, Jesse earned Div. III All-American honors with a fifth place finish at 133 pounds.

ALL-OAC HONORS:  Jesse is BW's first-ever four-time All-OAC selection in wrestling. He made the first-team as a freshman, sophomore and senior and was a second-team pick as a junior.

OAC WRESTLER OF THE WEEK:  Jesse has earned OAC Wrestler of the Week honors four times during his career, including twice as a freshman and twice as a senior. See more below.

TOURNAMENT HONORS:  As a freshman in 2012-2013, Jesse was the John Summa Award winner at the OAC Tournament, symbolic of the OAC Most Valuable Wrestler.  He also was the Co-Most Valuable Wrestler at the Tony Wallace Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology Tournament. As a junior in 2014-2015, he was the Sportsmanship winner at the Messiah (Pa.) Tournament. As a senior in 2015-2016, Jesse was the Pete George Sportsmanship Award winner at the Wheaton (Ill.) Tournament).

HONORED BY OHIO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:  On July 14, 2015, Jesse was honored with a proclaimation by the Ohio House of Representatives at the Statehouse in Columbus. The honor was symbolic of his academic and athletics achievements in wrestling as well as the fact that he has overcome diversity.

HAIER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Jesse was the Haier Achievement National Collegiate Student-Athlete for the Month of February 2016. Haier TV in conjuction with CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) sponsored the award. It is symbolic of a student-athlete who excells in the classroom, on the mat and in the community and has overcome adversity in his life (see more on Jesse below). BW received a $2,000 scholarship to its general scholarship fund, the athletics department received a 48" HD Haier TV and Jesse received a plaque.

CAREER SYNOPSIS: Jesse Gunter is arguably the best wrestler to ever compete at Baldwin Wallace University. He was a three-time NCAA Division III All-American, a 2016 second-team CoSIDA Division III Academic All-American At-Large and a three-time NWCA (National Wrestling Coaches Association) Scholar All-American. You can review more honors both above in his honors section or below in through-the-years.

Jesse helped the Yellow Jackets to compile a 47-20 dual match record, including the school's first OAC wrestling title since 1973 with a 5-0 record as a senior in 2015-2016. As both a junior (17-5 overall) and senior (18-8 overall), he helped BW set and reset the single-season school-record for wins.

Individually, Jesse received many, many honors. He finished second on the all-time win list with 122 and a 122-16 career record with a school-record .884 winning percentage. He had 10 career individual titles, 25 pins (falls) and 11 technical falls. Jesse also compiled 217 takedowns, 165 escapes, 13 reversals and 152 total near falls.

THROUGH-THE-YEARS:  As a freshman in 2012-2013, Jesse competed in his first season of wrestling and earned his first varsity letter. He was the starting 125-pounder and compiled a 29-2 overall record and was ranked fifth in the final regular season NWCA (National Wrestling Coaches Association) Brute-adidas poll.  Jesse also was named as a first-team All-OAC selection, won an OAC title and was the John Summa Award winner, symbolic of the OAC's Most Valuable Wrestler. . He had eight pins and one technical fall.  Jesse had 49 takedowns, 36 escapes, two reversals and 22 near falls. He was named as the OAC Wrestler of the Week on November 12, 2012 for his efforts at the Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) College Tournament. He won the OAC Wrestler of the Week award again on December 3, 2012 for his efforts at the Dec. 1 Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology Tournament. He also was named as the 2012 RIT Tony Wallace Co-Most Outstanding Wrestler award-winner. Jesse won four individual tourney titles (at Washington & Jefferson, at RIT, at the East Coast Classic at Johnson & Wales, R.I. University and at the Manchester, Ind.) Tournament.

As a sophomore in 2013-2014, Jesse competed in his second season of wrestling and earned his second letter. He won an individual title at 125 pounds at the season-opening BW Open on November 2, 2013. Jesse placed third at the NCAA Division III National Tournament to earn All-American honors. He also placed second at the Mideast Regional. He was BW's Most Valuable Wrestler and a first-team All-OAC selection for the second straight year. Jesse had a 34-5 overall record with nine pins and one technical fall. He also had 50 takedowns, 44 escapes, two reversals and 28 total near falls. Jesse was named as a NWCA (National Wrestling Coaches Association) Scholar All-American.  BW finished 8-3 overall.

As a junior in 2014-2015, Jesse competed in his third season of wrestling and earned his third letter. The starter at 125 pounds was a second-team All-OAC selection and earned his second NCAA Division III National Tournament berth when he placed second at Mideast Regional Tournament. Jesse also won an individual title at the 29th Annual John Summa Memorial Tournament. He placed fourth at 125 pounds at the 2015 NCAA Division III National Tournament in Hershey, Pennsylvania to earn his second Div. III All-American award. He also was named as a NWCA Scholar All-American for the second straight year. Individually, Jesse compiled a 23-5 record with two pins and two technical falls. He also had 39 takedowns, 42 escapes, five reversals and 12 total near falls. BW had a school-record 17 dual match wins and a 17-6 overall record, including a 4-1 mark in OAC Duals, won the John Summa Memorial Tournament and placed sixth at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional and 20th at the Div. III National Tournament.

As a senior in 2015-2016, Jesse competed his fourth season of wrestling and earned his fourth letter. He moved up to 133 pounds. He earned second-team CoSIDA Division III Academic All-America At-Large honors. Jesse was named as the OAC Wrestler of the Week for the third time in his career on January 4, 2016 for his efforts at the December 21, 2015 Las Vegas Duals where he had a 4-0 record, including a win versus the No.2-ranked wrestler at 133 pounds. His fourth win, a pin in 1:43 versus Ben Kollaja (Saint John's, Minn.) was his 100th career victory. He earned his second OAC Wrestler of the Week award on January 25, 2016 for his efforts in a dual match versus John Carroll University and a 3-0 record at the Thiel (Pa.) College Mel Berry Duals. Jesse won an individual title at the 2016 Wheaton (Ill.) College Pete Willson Invitational Tournament with a 4-0 record and also received the Pete George Sportsmanship Award. Jesse received the national Haier Achievement Award as the National Student-Athlete for the Month of February 2016. He also was a first-team All-OAC selection for the third time in his career. Jesse placed third at the 2016 NCAA Div. III Mideast Regional with a 6-1 record and qualified for the Div. III National Tournament for the third straight season. At the 2016 NCAA Division III National Tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jesse won his first two matches to advance to the semifinals, finished fifth with a 3-2 record and his third Div. III All-America honor. He compiled a team-high 36 victories with a 36-4 record with six pins and seven technical falls. Jesse also had a team-leading 79 takedowns, 43 escapes, four reversals and a team-leading 90 total near falls. BW compiled a school-record 18 victories with an 18-8 overall record, won the OAC title with a perfect 5-0 record and placed an all-time best second at the NCAA Div. III Mideast Regional Tournament. BW also was 31st of 53 teams at the NCAA Division III National Championships.

MORE ON JESSE:  Jesse is an advocate for students with special needs. He is 100 percent blind in one eye and 90% in his other eye. This has not stopped Jesse from achieving many of his lifelong goals.  He is a special education major who intends to teach, coach and continue to be an advocate for those with special needs. In January 2015, the NCAA web site, NCAA.com, did a full feature story on Jesse.

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HIGH SCHOOL BACKGROUND: Jesse grew up in Akron, Ohio and graduated from Coventry High School.

Jesse was a four-year letterman in wrestling. He placed in the Sectional and District tournaments and placed third at the OHSAA (Ohio High School Athletic Association) state tournament.

Jesse also excells academically.  He was a member of National Honors Society.

This page was last updated by the SID on June 8, 2016