The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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46 THE WOLVERINE OCTOBER 2020 WHERE ARE THEY NOW? ment of not making All-American again — there were a lot of motiva- tors after that," he said. "That was the same year my brother lost that controversial national final in Okla- homa. There was a lot of family dis- appointment that weekend. "You don't have excuses or look in the past, but that was a huge motiva- tor for me. Being knocked out of the tournament, but still encouraging my brother, and seeing him get to the finals the way he did. He was unde- feated that season. That gave me the internal confidence." Churella then posted a 31-5 mark at 149 as a redshirt junior, making it all the way to the finals at the NCAA Championships. He felt strong to- ward the end of that campaign. "I started feeling like everything was clicking pretty well for me," he said. "I never beat [Minnesota's] Dustin Schlatter, but I got closer and closer. "I got back to the Big Ten finals that year, and had a pretty close match with him. I felt dialed in. My train- ing was great, I was tapered; I was fresh." Churella also clawed as close as one can get to a national title with- out achieving it, falling to eventual mixed martial arts star and UFC standout Gregor Gillespie, then of Edinboro University. "We went back and forth in that match," Churella recalled of the overtime scrap. "It was a 1-1 match, but there was a lot of action. We were close to scoring multiple times. I was really close to an overtime takedown that he defended. He ended up get- ting a go-behind on me to win. "That's bittersweet, obviously. You get so close, and you end up falling short. As a wrestler and competitor, I was always taught, you can't look back and make excuses. After it's over, it's over." Postseason shoulder surgery set him back a couple of months prior to his fifth-year senior campaign. Incredible competition kept him from taking his hoped-for final step. He wound up placing fourth in an NCAA bracket that included even- tual Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion Jordan Burroughs, among several other es- teemed competitors. "If you look back at that bracket, out of eight All-Americans my senior year, seven ended up being national champs," he said. "It was a lot of parity." After graduation, Churella em- barked on a freestyle wrestling ca- reer, taking him to a host of national and international tournaments and the 2012 Olympic Trials. He admit- ted he wasn't ready to give up on the sport, a drive that might have changed with a slightly different col- legiate outcome. "Maybe if I win two national titles — that was the pinnacle of wrestling for me," he mused. "My brother and I started in seventh grade. The first time my dad took us to the NCAA Tournament was in seventh grade. It was 1998, in Cleveland, Ohio. "I loved it. When you go to the national tournament for the first time and see how electrifying it is — 18,000, 19,000 fans, and two people get to go on that stage and compete against each other. For me, that ig- nited something. It was an inter- nal motivation. That what I knew I wanted to do." After a few years, though, changes set in. "You start getting older," he said. "I ended up getting married, and go- ing into the 2012 Olympic Trials, I was 27. There was definitely a part of me thinking I want to get my foot in the door coaching somewhere." He wound up becoming a volun- teer wrestling coach at Michigan, which two years later turned into full-time assistant status. "I've been a diehard Michigan guy my whole life," he said. "If a posi- tion opened, I was definitely going to take it." He took it and ran with it. He now mentors All-Americans, Big Ten champions and those set to return the Wolverines to his college days of top-10 national finishes every year. "We're not content," Churella stressed. "We want to bring a na- tional title back to Ann Arbor. That's our goal." ❑ The Josh Churella File Michigan Accomplishments: Posted a 124-21 career record, ranking 16th among U-M's win leaders … Earned All-America status three times … Made the national championship match at 149 pounds as a redshirt junior … Earned a Big Ten title as a redshirt freshman at 141. Professional Accomplishments: In his ninth year as a Michigan assistant wres- tling coach … Has helped coach the Wolverines to four straight top-10 national finishes, including fourth in 2018 and fifth in 2019 … Has coached numerous All-Americans. Education: Earned a bachelor's degree in sports management from the Uni- versity of Michigan in 2008. Michigan Memory: "A lot of it is the bond you form with your teammates. You drive each other every day to be the best. Those are memories that will stay with me forever. "There are moments on the mat. One time at Cliff Keen Arena with a packed crowd, we beat Minnesota for the regular-season Big Ten title, and they were ranked No. 1 in the country. "But the people who are part of this institution, and the bonds with the guys on the team, trumps almost anything." Family: Married to Carlee, and the couple has two boys, Cruz, 6, and Ryker, 3. In addition to his role as one of U-M's two full-time assistant wrestling coaches — on a staff full of former Wolverines — Churella is the father of two sons named Cruz, 6, and Ryker, 3. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY