NEWS

NEWBERRY — At the end of its 20th season, the Newberry College men’s wrestling program stands as a powerhouse of the South.

At least one All-American each season since 2008, for a staggering total of 46. Six consecutive conference titles, and 10 Super Region championships. Attendance at the NCAA national tournament every year since 2006, and four national champions. There’s little doubt that the Wolves are forged for battle.

This season, the ranks have been bolstered by two retired and one currently serving member of the United States Armed Forces: Jacoby Benjamin, JP Gamez and John Parker. Each started wrestling as a teenager, joined the military, and, though they took different routes, found their way to Newberry.

“These three in particular have brought so much to the program beyond what we even thought in the initial recruiting process,” said head wrestling coach Deral Brown ’13.

Benjamin, a senior from Richmond Hill, Georgia, began his college career at North Iowa Area Community College, wrestling for a year before joining the United States Army in 2015 as a combat engineer. In that role, Benjamin said he and his team entered an area before the infantry, sweeping it for explosives. After four years, he became an aircraft mechanic, working on electrical components of Blackhawk, Chinook and Apache helicopters. While on a mission at Noncommissioned Officer Academy, Benjamin suffered pectoral muscle and shoulder labrum tears. He passed the course and obtained the rank of sergeant, but a nerve was damaged during the ensuing surgery, ending his military career.

Despite this, Benjamin was able to return as a coach to the sport he loved. While attending Georgia Southern, he took his talents to Georgia’s Richmond Hill High, where, in an unexpected twist he would coach his soon-to-be Newberry teammate, Will Evans. Benjamin soon after applied to coach at Newberry. While there wasn’t an opening for a coach, there was a place on the mat with his name on it. With a degree already in progress and financial aid from the G.I. Bill, he transferred his remaining eligibility to the Wolves.

“Coach [Bryant] Blanton ['11] was a big push towards me coming to wrestle,” he said. "He stayed in contact with me, getting stuff in order. I came out to Super Regionals to watch them, get a feel for the team. I talked it over with my wife, and she was like, ‘hey, let’s do it.’”

Benjamin hadn’t been on the mat in 10 years, but after getting back into the swing of things, he said he is better for it. “It’s helped mold me as a person, as an athlete, and as a man, just with resiliency, confidence and maturity. I love being here, working with the coaches and a great team. The biggest difference between our program and any of the programs I’ve been in is they really preach academics first, wrestling second. We do weekly progress reports, and I’ve never seen that before. The fact that we have the wrestling success we do have, and the academic success, is just a praise to the coaches and the dedication of the team.”

In his time with the Wolves, Benjamin posted a 19-7 record. He plans to graduate in May with a bachelor’s in exercise science and human performance, with the goal of becoming an athletic trainer and continuing to coach. He and his wife are also expecting their first child this summer.

“Jacoby popped up later in the spring semester last year around this time,” said Brown. “He’s been such a breath of fresh air, the leadership he’s brought as an adult. He’s 29, going on 30, with a kid on the way, so just a different perspective than your traditional college student. That has really helped our team when it comes to the maturity it takes to win a championship, which is our goal at the end of the day.”

Gamez, a senior from Dade City, Florida, wrestled in middle and high school and joined the program at North Iowa Area Community for two years (where, coincidentally, Benjamin had been a few years before). He dislocated his elbow, and with his wrestling career set back a bit, he took a couple of years off from school, working various jobs. He joined the South Carolina Army National Guard in October 2020, graduated from bootcamp in July 2021, and enrolled at Newberry the following month. He attended One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and now serves as a cavalry scout in addition to studying full-time.

“We’re more of a stealth-operated kind of unit,” said Gamez. “Originally, U.S. cavalry scouts rode horses, and they were there to scout battlefields, locating enemy troops and using the terrain to their advantage. We do the same thing now except we’re mechanized. It’s cool.”

One of Gamez’s high school teammates came to wrestle at Newberry, and he “got the wheels turning for me,” he said. “It felt like home coming here. I wanted to come to a college with a good wrestling team. I never looked back after that.”

During his time with the Wolves, Gamez has stepped up as a starter in the 141-pound division, and he represented Newberry at the NCAA Super Region tournament, held at Lander University on March 2.

Gamez plans to graduate in May with a degree in business administration. He plans to combine his love of business and the arts, as he works to complete his novel and produces short stop motion animation films.

“JP, I can’t think of a bigger ‘team’ guy,” said Brown. “Any time the call was given to him, that we needed him to step up, he answered it, no questions asked. Perfect example was when Zach Harrington, our starting 141-pounder, he went down with a season-ending injury a month or two before regionals. But I called JP and said, ‘hey, man, we need you to step up, even though you’re undersized, and be the guy for the rest of the year. No complaints at all, did what was asked of him, answering the call for his teammates.”

A native of Temecula, California, Parker attended high school in Florida and was a one-time state qualifier before he joined the United States Marine Corps after graduation.

“I wanted to be physically challenged,” said Parker. “I wanted to serve my country and get a free college education while I was at it.”

He served four years of active duty as a Fire Support Man. “Basically I’d be telling the artillery, mortars, and if necessary, any aircraft where to shoot,” he said. “I went on a MEU [Marine Expeditionary Unit] so I was on ship for seven months just ready in case anything happened. We were all over the place: Hawaii, Guam, Thailand. We trained in Jordan and Kuwait.”

After he concluded his four years in the Marines, Parker looked forward to returning to wrestling and earning a degree. “My high school coach knew Coach Cy [Wainwright]. I saw that this program had two national championships going here, so I knew that it was going to be a solid program where I’d be able to improve, and I definitely have.”

In March, Parker won the 197-pound division at Super Regionals. He was one of five wrestlers to represent Newberry at the national tournament in Wichita, Kansas. He was defeated in the second round, and in the consolation round, he defeated Limestone’s Jack Trautman for the third time in the season. His tournament run ended to Nebraska-Kearney’s No. 8 Jackson Kinsella.

Parker finished his junior season 31-9 and undefeated in South Atlantic Conference play, the best record on the team. Brown said he finished the season with 14 pins, which places him among the nation’s top 10, across all divisions. He was also named the Conference Carolinas Elite 23 Wrestler for his perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA, the best in the league.

Parker plans to graduate in spring 2026 with a degree in mathematics. He hopes to continue his education with a master’s in sport management, with the goal of eventually coaching wrestling at the collegiate level.

“John Parker is a guy who leads by example. Not super vocal in the room, but he leads in his work ethic and the amount of work he puts in here,” said Brown. “John is in here every morning at 8 a.m. with Coach Blanton working on things that he needs to continue to improve on, and so much stuff that people don’t even see. This season was his first time as our starter and he ended up winning the region. It’s so awesome to have him.”

Speaking of all three, Brown said, “The biggest thing they bring is a disciplined lifestyle. I think in any sport it's important to have, but especially college wrestling, given the weight management piece and trying to do that on top of your school, on top of the regular training regimen that we have to maintain. They are assets to our program.”

 Photos provided by Newberry College Athletics.