‘Don’t let the demons pull you down’

by Allie Northcutt

Since he was a child, Jack Heldt ’23 has struggled with mental health issues. Thanks to the support of his Wabash wrestling coaches, the 2023 NCAA Division III national champion has learned to cope with adversity and gained self-confidence on and off the mat.

holy crap, Max Bishop ’21 remembers thinking the first time he saw Jack Heldt ’23 walk into the Shelbourne Wrestling Center. This guy’s tall!

He definitely has potential!

After his first practice on the mat, Bishop quickly learned the heavyweight wrestler from Carmel, Indiana, had more than potential.

“He brought raw talent,” Bishop says of Heldt, who would go on to be his practice partner. “He was quiet but had this very loud presence on the team.”

Heldt’s presence on the mat and across campus would grow louder and stronger leading up to his senior year, when he capped his Wabash wrestling career by winning the 285-pound national championship at the 2023 NCAA Division III Wrestling Tournament.

After finishing second in the 197-pound weight class at the 2022 championships, Heldt joined four-time national champion Riley Lefever ’17 as the only Wabash wrestlers to compete for a national title in consecutive seasons.

“There is not a way in the world to describe this feeling,” Heldt, who also earned the NCAA Division III Most Dominant Wrestler for the season, says after the win. “Riley Lefever is the best Division III wrestler who has ever competed in this sport. To be in the same company as him and do it representing Wabash and the ‘Wabash Always Fights’ mentality means a lot to me.”

Heldt was named the program’s first-ever recipient of the Elite 90 Award in 2022. The award, founded by the NCAA, is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average competing at the national championships. The biology and rhetoric double major maintained a 4.0 GPA.

Also named a Scholar AllAmerican, Heldt has distinguished himself at Wabash through a variety of campus leadership roles and academic achievement.

He is a member of Sphinx Club, Crawfordsville to Campus Committee, Wabash’s Global Health Initiative (GHI), and the Student Senate’s Mental Health Concerns Committee. He has also served as an enrollment ambassador for Admissions, a resident assistant (RA), and a leader of the Wabash COVID Action Response and Education Team.

“He lives that championship lifestyle,” says Head Wrestling Coach Brian Anderson. “He’s the guy at the top of everything he does. Jack doesn’t cut corners. He has incredible work ethic and is always doing things the right way.” as he’s struggled with selfconfidence and anxiety, Heldt admits juggling it all has taken a lot of mental strength.

“He sets the example,” adds Bishop, who now serves on the wrestling team as an assistant coach.

“That’s been a big challenge for me since I was a kid,” says Heldt, who didn’t start wrestling until middle school, which is later than most of his teammates. “I always felt like I was behind. All through high school, and even some my freshman year here, I would puke during matches just from all the nerves.”

Heldt says he’s leaned on many mentors at Wabash, especially his wrestling coaches, to help him push forward.

“I was never a state-placer or champion in high school, but Coach Anderson still saw my potential,” says Heldt. “He has invested in me a bunch since freshman year. He’s been tough, but uplifting. It’s been cool to look back and see all of the progress we have made together.”

“(Former) Coach Josh Hardman taught me about the importance of positive self-talk. Because of him, I’m a big believer in having those internal reflections and practicing meditation,” he continues. “I’m more conscious of my thoughts, and have worked hard to start believing in myself.”

Anderson has had many conversations during practice and one-on-one sessions with wrestlers, like Heldt, where he challenges them to “not let the demons in your head pull you down.”

“We all have to deal with adversity. I approach it the same way we do on the mat. We can’t dwell on the bad things,” says Anderson. “We have to fight and keep focused on the big picture.”

Anderson says Heldt does a good job of sharing those lessons with his teammates too, especially the younger wrestlers.

As he’s gotten older, we’ve seen him step into this leadership role,” Anderson explained. “He does a good job of guiding guys when they’re struggling and cheering them on when they do well.” those lessons from his wrestling coaches proved to be crucial multiple times during Heldt’s tenure on the team, from the season being canceled sophomore year due to COVID-19 to finishing as the national runnerup at the Division III Wrestling Championships junior year.

“Finishing as the runner-up at that level is a huge accomplishment,” says Bishop, “but I know he still felt disappointed with the end result because he was so close.

“He didn’t let that result turn into turmoil,” he says. “He handled it with maturity and excitement for the fact that he still had one more year left to compete.”

Heldt says he’s learned to “embrace the suck” and use it as a driving force to improve and perfect his technique on the mat.

With his team chanting “Wabash Always Fights” in the crowd, that perseverance paid off for Heldt as he returned to campus after Spring Break with a national title.

“To set your mind toward something for four years and finally see it come to fruition is an amazing feeling. Achieving this goal has been one of the best experiences of my life,” says Heldt. “I wasn’t always the biggest. I wasn’t always the best. I weighed 115 pounds as a freshman in high school. I had to battle my way up the ranks. It just shows you can achieve any of your goals through hard work.”

Celebrating the accomplishment with his coaches was very special for Heldt.

“They have helped mold me into the man and wrestler I am today,” he says. “I have to give a special shout-out to my coach and former teammate Max Bishop especially. He has sacrificed and poured into me more than anyone, and I would not have been on top of the podium if it weren’t for him.”

Heldt is still figuring out his plans for life after Wabash. He will be getting married, and hopes to find a job in medical sales.

“I feel confident that I’m well prepared for the future,” he says. “I have really loved my time at Wabash, and can’t imagine being at any other place for my education. I am forever grateful for the family I have made here.”

While Heldt will always be etched in Wabash history as a national champion, he says he hopes to leave behind a legacy as a friend and leader.

“I hope people remember me for who I am as a person rather than what I have achieved,” he says. “I hope they look to me and see the Wabash Always Fights mantra, knowing that if I could come from never making it to the state championships in high school to being a national champion, then they can achieve anything they set their mind to as well.” .