By: Matt Florjancic '07
BEREA, Ohio – Winning one wrestling National Championship is difficult, but winning consecutive titles is even more of a challenge, as every other competitor wants to be in that spot at the top of the podium at the end of the season.
For Baldwin Wallace University standout Michael Petrella, successfully maintaining his spot at the top of the 149-pound weight class for a second straight year was all about putting in the work when nobody was watching.
Petrella attributed his winning a second straight 149-pound National Championship this season to “just having fun” when he steps on a wrestling mat.
“Honestly, it’s just liking wrestling a lot more,” Petrella said. “It’s pretty easy to love wrestling when you’re winning, but just liking wrestling through practices and getting better with teammates really helped me kind of jump levels, especially from last year.
“I just feel like this year, I was just so much more. I just wanted to get those good matches in because I like to be able to scrap and just actually enjoy it.”
Embracing the Grind
Throughout the 2023-2024 season, Petrella competed at both the 157-pound and 149-pound weight classes.
Petrella started the season by winning the 157-pound championship at the Ithaca (N.Y.) Invitational in November, and just over one month later, he was back to the 149-pound weight class and won the North Central (Ill.) Invitational.
After winning his 100th career match during the early rounds of BW’s 37th John Summa Invitational, Petrella won the 149-pound championship on the home mats, and then, claimed titles at the Mid-States Invitational and Central Region Championships.
But even with all of the success, including being named the Central Region Outstanding Wrestler, Petrella had to embrace the not-so-fun parts of being a high-level college grappler.
“I can’t say that I love it all the time,” said Petrella, who was named TheOpenMat.com NCAA Division III Men’s Wrestler of the Year on April 3. “Things are going to suck, and that’s why Head Coach Jamie Gibbs has kind of planted in my mind that if we can embrace the suck and love the suck, then it’s just going to make our experience in wrestling better.
“If I go into practice one day, and I just have a bad mindset like, ‘Oh, it’s going to suck. I’m not having any fun,’ I’m obviously not going to get better that day, but if I come into practice like, ‘I’m going to use this practice and get the most out of it and kind of fake it until I make it, I’m going to fake that.’
“The love for it is to be able to improve and see your improvement throughout the year. At the beginning of the year, I had a lot of things to work on, and at the end of the year, it was a lot more fun because I was getting better, and I was hitting those moves, and I was making adjustments. Overall, it was just really fun to see my improvement, not just for the wins.”
Emphatic Victory
Petrella’s mindset of finding solace in uncomfortable situations paid dividends on the way to his second straight National Championship.
Despite being ranked No. 1 in the country heading into the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships, Petrella was one of only four 149-pound athletes who competed in an extra match on his way to the title.
After winning via technical fall over Colby Frost of Southern Maine in his opening match, Petrella defeated eighth-ranked Mike Glynn of the Rochester Institute of Technology by major decision. Then, Petrella earned consecutive decision victories to make the championship round.
There, Petrella beat second-ranked Tyler Goebel of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse via a second-period pinfall.
“It is actually really funny because I had been practicing that move for a month because a couple weeks before regionals, there was this guy that kind of gave me some trouble on top,” Petrella recalled. “A lot of people this year kind of figured out how to wrestle me, especially on my ground game. What happened was they turn into me and just scoot away, and I think I was working that a lot with Coach Gibbs and teammate and 157-pound qualifier Tommy West at the tournament.
“I was doing that move over and over again, and that was the first time I actually hit it. You can see it in some of the pictures. I surprised myself, but it was a surreal feeling. It just comes with all the work I put into it. I understand that’s crazy that it happened, that I pinned someone in the finals, but it came with a lot of repetition, and it wasn’t just something that was luck.”
No Rest
Luck has had little to do with Petrella’s success at Baldwin Wallace, but work ethic and motivation very much have.
Petrella is a second-generation Yellow Jacket who had quite the legacy to live up to. Petrella’s father, Paul, was the school’s first-ever individual wrestling National Champion and a member of the 1978 BW football team that won the NCAA Division III Football National Championship.
After losing in the National Championship match in 2022, Petrella has won 76 straight matches (33-0 in 2022-2023, 43-0 in 2023-2024) with a combined 31 pins, 21 technical falls and 11 major decisions.
And Petrella celebrated his second National Championship by getting in the gymnasium the following week and immediately beginning preparations for the 2024 U23 Nationals, which will be held in Geneva, Ohio May 31-June 2.
“I lifted on Monday,” Petrella said. “I lifted on Wednesday as well, and actually, I lifted Friday as well at 6:00 AM with a group. I haven’t wrestled, but I’m definitely going to start wrestling next week.
“I didn’t really feel like I was that broken after season, and I’m really excited to get back into it. I really want to have an opportunity to do well at the U23s, so it’s coming up pretty quick, just April and May I have to train for it.”
No Surprise
Very few people understand the sacrifices it takes to be successful on the wrestling mats, especially on a national level, but Petrella’s BW teammates definitely know his achievements do not come easily or by accident.
They have watched Petrella turn his last collegiate loss into consecutive unbeaten seasons and end with National Championship Match victories and marvel at his drive to compete.
“He does everything right,” said Jacob Decatur, BW’s 125-pound star who won the 2022 NCAA Championship and has earned three straight All-American accolades. “He’s a great leader, great friend, just all around the most humble person you’ll ever talk to.
“He knows how to work, and he knows how to put the work in and just to go after and chase his goals. He sets his goals at the beginning of the year, and he attacks them every single day. I truly cannot speak highly enough of him and the work he’s put in and just the person he’s become, maybe because of that loss. The overall greatness that he’s shown on the BW wrestling team, it’s really amazing.”
Jaden Hinton, BW’s National Runner-Up at 133 pounds, added, “There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to do it again, and he will do it again next year. That kid, his determination, his work ethic is something that I’ve never seen before, and I’ve been doing this for 18 years. Michael is special. He is a true legend to BW. He always will be, so kudos to him. He does not stop, and I don’t want to see him stop ever.”
Hungry for More
Much like he did after losing the National Championship Match in 2022, Petrella is working to turn his efforts in practice into more success on the wrestling mats in a national competition.
Last season, Petrella was “one match away from placing” at the U23s event. Being so close to placing into a competition featuring athletes from across all three NCAA divisions has been a motivation for him to return to the national stage once more.
After training by himself with coaches, Petrella is looking for opportunities to compete at a regional training center ahead of the U23s.
“It definitely shows me that I’m not the best, and that I have a lot to work on,” Petrella said. “No one really beat the heck out of me, but I did lose in the quarterfinals, and I did get beat pretty handily, 9-2, against the kid that was from Oklahoma State. It just shows me that I have so much more to work on, but it just shows me that I can get so much better than I already am. I’m just really excited for the opportunity that I get to go to those tournaments and get those good matches in.
“I have a lot of good matches in D-III and tournaments, but I don’t get those matches where someone’s better than me, and I have to really overcome adversity. I had three matches last year that I was down, and I came back and ended up winning. A crazy one was against this kid from Virginia that I was down, 13-6, and ended up winning, 17-15, which was a really fun match to watch back.”
One Final Go Around
Following the U23s, Petrella will continue preparations for the 2024-2025 season, as he is “coming back for sure” for one more year with the Yellow Jackets.
Petrella is not yet sure what weight class he will compete for Baldwin Wallace, but whatever that level is, he will embrace a unique opportunity. Petrella will get to compete with his twin brother, Joey, who suffered a serious foot injury early in the 2023-2024 season and was sidelined for the remainder of the year.
“Truthfully, it’s because of my brother,” Petrella said of why he is returning after winning back-to-back National Championships.
“I didn’t get to really wrestle a full season with him, so I’m excited to kind of wrestle another year with him. I’ll be back the year after because he’ll have another year. I’ll be back the year after to coach with him, and hopefully, sit in the finals and watch him win a national title as well.”