Courtesy of John Harrison
John was a two time NCAA All-American at Penn State and was the first wrestler in the school’s history to win over 100 matches. In 1983 he served as an assistant coach for Penn State and was also a member of the 1983 U.S. National team. After the 1984 Olympic Trials in which he was a finalist (he was defeated by Olympic Champion Dave Schultz) he served as head coach for the Fordham University wrestling team. He went on to become a model and has gotten very involved in the fitness industry.
He developed the fitness department and was head trainer at New York City’s “Peninsula Spa” and, in 1991, he opened the “Carnegie Park Swim and Health Club”. In 1994 he (along with partner Pat Manocchia) launched “La Palestra, Center for Preventative Medicine”. John served as vice president for this award winning Manhattan health care facility. He also assisted the U.S. National Wrestling Team as a conditioning coach and has also trained NFL and NHL athletes.
John returned to competition for the 1996 Olympic Trials where he defeated two-time national champion Ray Oliver and finished as Eastern Trials runner-up.
He is an associate member of the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He has appeared on the Fox Morning News as a fitness advisor and has been featured in “Men’s Health”, “GQ”, “In Style” and “Self” magazine fitness articles. He also serves as a panelist for the National Sports Performance Association’s certification seminars.
His latest feature in GQ can be seen here.
John, what have you been doing recently?
Last year I set up shop independently in Los Angeles, forming “Exercise & Sports Training of L.A.” (John was recently rated as the “Best Personal Trainer of L.A.” by “Allure” magazine). I provide fitness programming for the heads of four major Hollywood studios and a confidential list of celebrity clients.
I also have plans to open a west coast location of the “La Palestra”. My wife Kirsten and I make our home in the California beach town of El Segundo and we have two boys (ages five and two).
What are your best memories from the years you spent as a Penn State wrestler?
My best memories are of preparing for, and competing in, the 1981 NCAA tournament. Coming into the tournament, we were ranked 40th in the nation and we came away as the number six team (with three All-Americans) in the country after three days of hard wrestling. We regained national respect for the Penn State program and got Rich Lorenzo recognized as a most deserving “National Coach of the Year”. Penn State Wrestling has never again fallen from the top ten since that memorable year.
Some other great memories:
- post weigh-in steaks at Zenos
- first (Cal Poly ’79) and last match (Clarion ’82) in Rec Hall
- receiving Freshman All-American honors (“Amateur Wrestling News”)
- becoming the first wrestler at PSU to win over 100 matches
- upsetting the University of Oklahoma in the 1980 dual meet
- the four NCAA tournaments I was able to compete in
- the great wrestling fans of Pennsylvania and especially those in State College
- beating anyone with an Iowa uniform
- friends and teammates working hard together towards a goal
How has the Penn State wrestling experience impacted your life/career?
As a fitness professional I now provide direction and motivation to individuals in much the same way as the PSU coaches guided me toward my goals while I competed for the Lions. The Penn State Athletic Department’s full spectrum approach of technical and motivational coaching, strength and conditioning coaching, along with sports psychology and nutritional counseling teamed with the proper medical attention are the same components we incorporated at the La Palestra Center in New York City and will incorporate in our up and coming La Palestra facility here in Los Angeles.
Do you still follow wrestling? How has collegiate wrestling changed since you were a wrestler at Penn State?
Not only do I still follow it, I actually jumped back into competition for the ’96 trials. I had stepped away from wrestling after losing to Dave Schultz and Lee Kemp in the ’84 trials…until being asked to coach the Fordham University program in New York City, which I enjoyed doing from ’89 to ’92. I saw Dave still competing and in 1995 I began training at our fitness facility in Manhattan (La Palestra) with two World Cup champions, Rico Chiappareli (Iowa) and John Giura (Wisconsin) for the ’96 trials. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to wrestle against Dave this time but competed in his memory for the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club-finishing as the Eastern Region runner-up and one match away from the top eight at the nationals.
I was able to assist in putting together a tribute to Dave which aired on ABC’s “Prime Time Live” and was hosted by one of our La Palestra clients, Diane Sawyer.
I found that the sport of wrestling had not changed from the time that I had last competed until my comeback and that’s what is great about wrestling-the unchanging purity. There is a tragedy surrounding wrestling, however, and that is the hundreds of programs being dropped around the country.
Wrestling needs to promote itself as America’s true martial art. I’m involved with training the RAW Team (Real American Wrestling) which is comprised of five Olympic team wrestlers who are competing in Mixed Martial Arts competitions. RAW Team member Randy Couture (Oklahoma State/ ’96 Olympic Team member) recently won the Ultimate Fighting Championship belt. We have incorporated Jiu Jitsu submission techniques and RAW Team members have been proving the dominance of our sport in competitions from Brazil to Japan. People in the martial arts community have had their myth (of dominance) dispelled and now we can replace karate studios across the country with schools of wrestling.
John, what advice do you have for collegiate wrestlers today?
My advice is the same I was given by Coach “Papa Bear” Lorenzo when I began, “Make the most of it-these four years fly by…”. The only regret you can have is to not work as hard as you possibly can while you have the chance.
Thanks John!
