Emily Leighton | Staff Writer

Gable Bonner is a senior wrestler majoring in Math Education from Estherville, Iowa. During Bonners freshman year, he was named the team’s Best Freshman, while in his sophomore and junior years, he received the Jeff Kellogg Academic All-Star Award.

With this being Bonners fourth year on this Beaver team, he sees himself as a huge help with the younger guys.

“As a Senior Captain I have several roles that help out the team. One role that I have is the enforcer. I rarely have to be an enforcer with these guys, but every now and then I have to step in and crack the whip. I think the biggest thing I bring to the team is just being a good example. I work hard and do the right things on and off the mat. I also bring a lot of experience and knowledge to the team. This will be my fourth year starting at heavyweight for the Beavers, so I can help our younger guys’ transition into college wrestling faster,” Bonner said.

Coach Jeff Breese sees Bonner’s leadership on and off the mat.

“He provides much needed senior leadership to a very young team. He also has taken on a role as mentor to our underclassmen. You can see his passion for teaching coming out when he is working with his teammates,” Breese said.

Bonner has set some high goals for himself and this team. He is excited to see what comes from his final season as a Beaver.

“In order to reach my goals, of qualifying for Nationals and becoming an All-American, I will need to increase my offensive output. One of the biggest obstacles I will have to overcome is just having the confidence to take quality shots and get to guys legs. If I can do that I should have no problem meeting my goals. As for the team we look pretty good. We don’t have a lot of guys, but the guys we have are great. The guys look really good in the room and have put a lot of work. I can’t wait to see what the season has in store for me and the team,” Bonner said.

Bonner is extremely passionate about wrestling and he hopes that people continue to see all the hard work he puts in daily.
“The biggest thing I want people to know is that wrestling is more than a sport it is a life style. Us wrestlers live and breathe wrestling twenty four seven. We wrestle all year round and there is no off season. No matter what I’m doing or where I’m at I’m constantly thinking about wrestling or I’m actually wrestling (usually when I’m ever around my brother),” Bonner said.

The Beaver wrestling team opens their season at the Luther College Open in Decorah, Iowa on November 14th at 9:00 a.m.

Photo by Taylor Staab