Former UVU wrestler teaches life lessons
Brad Curnow | Sports Writer | @JoJoCornrow
In 2011, Utah Valley University senior Ben Kjar became the school’s first ever All-American wrestler. Since graduating with a degree in business, Kjar has been busy with many pursuits, most of which include his love for wrestling.
In the year following his graduation from UVU, Kjar went on a rigorous and financially daring journey to get himself to the London Olympic Games in 2012.
Kjar raised the necessary money that he needed to take a trip to the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs, CO then enter into the Olympic Trials Qualifiers in Las Vegas.
He put together a strong performance. He beat a former opponent from his college days, and qualified for the Olympic Trials. Kjar then traveled to Ukraine to train and get himself ready to compete against world-class competitors.
“When you train to go to the Olympics, you don’t train to be the best in your neighborhood,” Kjar said. “You train to the be the best in the world. You’re not playing patty cake out there. These are grown men.”
He went on to place fourth in the trials, which was good enough for an alternate spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
“My wife and I, in August, went out to London and spent about three weeks there,” Kjar explained. “I was able to experience that, didn’t wrestle in the Olympics, but I was able to experience that [Olympic atmosphere].”
Kjar has since moved on from his Olympic dreams and shifted his focus to helping others that want to succeed on the mat and in life. He is the founder and CEO of Utah United Wrestling Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping young athletes grow in spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, and intellectual areas of their lives. These areas are outlined in the five points of the crown in the gym’s logo. He coaches his wrestlers to succeed in life with wrestling coming as a product of their hard work.
“We have academic counselors,” Kjar said. “If they don’t get good grades, we put them on probation.”
The former All-American is proud of the work that he and his coaches have done with the youth of the gym and what they have been able to accomplish.
“This year we sent nine kids on scholarship to schools throughout the country,” Kjar said. “From Princeton, to Utah Valley, to schools in between.”
Kjar has recently moved his gym to a new facility in Centerville and teamed up with the UVU wrestling coaching staff to open a second facility in the Utah Valley wrestling room.
In September, Ben was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Viewmont High School in Bountiful.
“You don’t often look back and pat yourself on the back, but it’s rewarding sometimes. That night was absolutely tremendous,” said Kjar.
You can still find Ben Kjar on the UVU campus as the voice of Wolverine wrestling. Ben currently does work as the public address announcer for the wrestling program.
