With just a couple years of middle school wrestling under his belt as opposed to a decade of kids club competition, Josh Van Holland was among the most inexperienced members of the Mill Valley High School wrestling team four years ago.
Today, he is among the most decorated performers in the program’s nine-year history. Van Holland graduates from Mill Valley as a three-time state qualifier and a 2009 Class 5A state runner-up at 171 pounds.
His work on the mat is not done, however.
In May, Van Holland signed a letter of intent to wrestle at Oklahoma City University.
“I think it’s really exciting,” Van Holland said of the opportunity to wrestle at the college level. “I told myself I wanted to wrestle in college if I didn’t win a state championship, and then I was thinking about if I had won it I wanted to do it anyway because I love sports so much.”
Van Holland entered the state championships with his list of college choices narrowed down to two — Central College and Northwestern College in Iowa — but a week after state MVHS coach Travis Keal was contacted by Oklahoma City coach Archie Randall.
Randall asked Keal to have Van Holland fill out a questionnaire. Shortly thereafter, Randall and Van Holland spoke on the phone. A campus visit was organized.
“I thought I might as well see what it’s like,” Van Holland said.
The quiet, laid-back atmosphere of campus and small-town atmosphere appealed to Van Holland. So did the competitive environment of the practice room when Van Holland worked out with the team.
“I went in for a couple days and they kind of tossed me around a bit,” he admitted. “I walked in and they were like ‘fresh meat’ and all this nonsense. I just got destroyed by the 197- and 215-pounders. They just threw me around, but it was fun.”
It was so much fun that Van Holland returned home with his mind made up.
Keal said he was thrilled to see Van Holland earn the opportunity to compete at the next level while having his education paid for. His scholarship is partial athletic and partial academic.
“Josh is one that came in with not a lot of wrestling experience, but he worked every year and he got good grades, and now he’s put himself in position to go and get a scholarship through academics and wrestling. He’ll get to continue to wrestle, something that he likes to do, plus he’s going to get his degree,” Keal said. “That’s the main thing we want to get across to these kids. You don’t have to go Division I to live your dream. You can do it at NAIA schools, Division II, whatever. You can continue your dream if you want to put the time in and pay the price and move on to the next level, and he’ll get to do that.”
Hard work is something Van Holland never has shied away from.
“I don’t really think I’ve grown up knowing any other option besides ‘you have to get it done,’” he said. “You’re not allowed to not do something.”
Van Holland said he plans to major in business and marketing with a focus on sports marketing.
Regardless of what Van Holland chooses to do, Keal said he has the right work ethic to be successful at whatever he does.
“He’s a kid with great character. His academics are there. He’s just the kind of kid we’re looking for to build our program,” Keal said. “He’s not a superstar, but a kid like that gets better every day. That’s how our program is set up, and if you take it that way then you’ll get what you deserve in the end. That’s kind of what Josh did, and now he gets to go do something that he enjoys doing for the next four or five years. That’s a testament to his hard work.”
