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Wrestling with adversity
Documentary chronicles Lehigh wrestler’s bout with life lessons
Documentary chronicles Lehigh wrestler’s bout with life lessons
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By Greg Johnson
The NCAA News
The NCAA News
You don’t have to be a wrestling aficionado to appreciate “Veritas: The Jon Trenge Story.” You just have to appreciate a student-athlete’s resolve.
The documentary follows the Lehigh University wrestler’s senior season in 2004-05 and the expectations that came with being favored to win the 197-pound championship after finishing second in each of the two previous years.
After Trenge lost a heartbreaking decision in the finals as a junior, he had the word “Veritas” (Latin for “virtue of truthfulness”) tattooed on his right thigh.
His story is one of courage, since he wrestled his last three years with retinal damage in his left eye. Doctors told him he risked permanent blindness if he took a blow to the eye and strongly recommended that he give up the sport he loved.
But his childhood dream of becoming a national champion trumped the possibility of losing his eyesight. In the documentary, Trenge’s parents, Michael and Darlene, support their son’s decision, but they can’t help but worry every time he takes the mat.
The story also covers how Trenge (pronounced “trenj”) learns to manage a temper that contributed to his being benched for part of the season after two disqualifications. The film captures the poignant heart-to-heart talks Trenge has with his coach Greg Strobel. Strobel knows Trenge won’t be his best until he controls the anger he feels when opponents paw at his eyes or hit him in the face during matches.
Above all, the compelling movie captures how a young man evolves as a person and learns lessons that he can apply in other aspects of his life.
Viewers saw an advance screening of the documentary at the 2007 Division I Wrestling Championships in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Hundreds stood and applauded during the closing credits.
“This was a labor of love,” said Veritas producer Howie Miller, who plans to pitch the film to television producers as well. “We are going to present it to distributors for theaters, too, and see what happens. We know there is a passionate fan base for wrestling, and we want to make this available for them as soon as possible.”
Lights, camera, action
Miller and fellow producer Alex Weinress followed Trenge with cameras for six months to film the documentary.
Like Trenge, Miller grew up in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania where wrestling has the same religious following at the high school level as football does in Texas, hockey in Minnesota or basketball in Indiana.
Miller is a few years older than Trenge, but they are both alumni of Parkland High School. Miller’s family is also close with Trenge’s grandparents, and he felt this was a story that needed to be told.
“That area is a mecca for wrestling,” said Miller, who attended the University of Virginia from 1991-96 on a wrestling scholarship. “It’s a way of life for people in that area. It’s a great tradition that is passed on from generation to generation.”
Miller, who also has a law degree from Villanova University, worked as a lawyer in Allentown, Pennsylvania, while filming the documentary.
While he wrestled at Virginia, Miller became aware of an up-and-coming wrestler from his home area. Trenge developed into a blue-chip prospect and dominated in high school. He decided to wrestle in the area at Lehigh.
Trenge was always one of the top-ranked wrestlers in the 197-pound weight class, including being No. 1 heading into the Division I national championships his senior year.
“One of the takeaways from this film is what you learn about work ethic,” Miller said. “As Jon’s dad said in the movie, it’s not about winning or losing. It’s about all the people who care about you.”
Anyone who sees Veritas will understand how accurate that statement is.
Last time on the mat
At the beginning of the film, Trenge’s focus is all about being a national champion. Home movies his parents took show him competing in his adolescent years. Trenge also looks through some old papers where he reads the goals he wrote down in grade school.
The project began as an examination of the entire Lehigh wrestling program, where coach Strobel has built a national contender.
Strobel is a two-time former national champion in the early 1970s at Oregon State University and a former U.S. National Team coach. He has made Lehigh a power primarily by recruiting the Valley.
Trenge was one of his prized recruits, and it became apparent to Miller early on that his story would become the focus of the film. The producer found the fact that he was risking one of his five senses to compete and was dealing with the internal and external pressures of his last chance to be a national champion as a compelling premise.
Trenge, now an assistant coach at Lehigh, was having a stellar freshman season when his eyesight began bothering him late in the year. He described the feeling as someone pulling a window shade over his eye.
Doctors discovered three retinal tears, two of which occurred sometime before he enrolled. He was told he had to give up wrestling because of the danger of losing his eyesight. Trenge had to miss the national meet, which many in the wrestling community believed he could win.
After watching from the sidelines, Trenge wouldn’t accept that his career was over. His father rigged a pair of goggles that included silicone on the inner rims to protect against cuts around the eyes.
Trenge then reached the 197-pound final as a sophomore, only to lose to Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson, who became the first Division I wrestler to go undefeated over a four-year career. Sanderson had previously won three national titles at 184, but moved up to Trenge’s weight for his last title.
As a junior, Trenge lost to Minnesota’s Damion Hahn in the final, despite leading, 3-1, with 30 seconds left. Hahn scored the winning point with just three seconds to go.
“When I lost that match, I was really depressed,” Trenge said. “I started to veer off the right path a little bit. I got the (Veritas) tattoo to remind me to keep doing the right things.”
After a year away from collegiate wrestling in an attempt to make the U.S. Olympic Team, Trenge returned to Lehigh for his last run at accomplishing his goal.
During the season, a constant theme was played out when he wrestled. Almost all of his opponents would poke at his goggles or hit him in the face.
Trenge let some of his opponents get under his skin and retaliated with moves that caused him to be disqualified. One incident occurred at Pennsylvania State University, where Trenge dangerously threw his opponent near the end of the mat.
Strobel, who tried to get his star pupil to “worry only about things you can control,” had no alternative but to suspend Trenge and urge him to see an anger-management specialist.
A critical moment in the documentary depicts the decision to allow Trenge to return to the mat against Oklahoma State University. Strobel believed that Trenge was ready to wrestle, but Trenge felt he would lose his temper and do something that would get him thrown out of a match.
After much deliberation, Trenge wrestled and won, despite the usual tactics from the opponent.
During matches, Trenge taps his right leg where the Veritas tattoo resides.
“That technique is called anchoring,” Trenge said. “It is something I learned from the anger-management therapist, who is really more like a sports psychologist. He told me when I’m wrestling well in practice to tap my tattoo. If someone is frustrating me in practice and I get through it without breaking, I tap it. I did the same thing in matches because he said instead of becoming frustrated it would bring me back to a moment of success. It gives you the strength to push through.”
He also credits Strobel with helping him deal with anger issues by displaying a calm demeanor.
“Coach Strobel knew somebody needed to keep their head and that person probably wasn’t going to be me,” Trenge said. “Imagine how I would react if he would start yelling and screaming during the match. That would make me more fired up, and it wouldn’t be good. It was a matter of me maturing.”
Wrestling fans know how Veritas ends, but the climatic ending at the 2005 NCAA meet won’t be revealed here.
The bigger message is that the film shows how a person can grow through competing in intercollegiate athletics.
That’s a defining moment.
More information about the availability of the documentary on DVD can be found at Veritas-movie.com.
The documentary follows the Lehigh University wrestler’s senior season in 2004-05 and the expectations that came with being favored to win the 197-pound championship after finishing second in each of the two previous years.
After Trenge lost a heartbreaking decision in the finals as a junior, he had the word “Veritas” (Latin for “virtue of truthfulness”) tattooed on his right thigh.
His story is one of courage, since he wrestled his last three years with retinal damage in his left eye. Doctors told him he risked permanent blindness if he took a blow to the eye and strongly recommended that he give up the sport he loved.
But his childhood dream of becoming a national champion trumped the possibility of losing his eyesight. In the documentary, Trenge’s parents, Michael and Darlene, support their son’s decision, but they can’t help but worry every time he takes the mat.
The story also covers how Trenge (pronounced “trenj”) learns to manage a temper that contributed to his being benched for part of the season after two disqualifications. The film captures the poignant heart-to-heart talks Trenge has with his coach Greg Strobel. Strobel knows Trenge won’t be his best until he controls the anger he feels when opponents paw at his eyes or hit him in the face during matches.
Above all, the compelling movie captures how a young man evolves as a person and learns lessons that he can apply in other aspects of his life.
Viewers saw an advance screening of the documentary at the 2007 Division I Wrestling Championships in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Hundreds stood and applauded during the closing credits.
“This was a labor of love,” said Veritas producer Howie Miller, who plans to pitch the film to television producers as well. “We are going to present it to distributors for theaters, too, and see what happens. We know there is a passionate fan base for wrestling, and we want to make this available for them as soon as possible.”
Lights, camera, action
Miller and fellow producer Alex Weinress followed Trenge with cameras for six months to film the documentary.
Like Trenge, Miller grew up in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania where wrestling has the same religious following at the high school level as football does in Texas, hockey in Minnesota or basketball in Indiana.
Miller is a few years older than Trenge, but they are both alumni of Parkland High School. Miller’s family is also close with Trenge’s grandparents, and he felt this was a story that needed to be told.
“That area is a mecca for wrestling,” said Miller, who attended the University of Virginia from 1991-96 on a wrestling scholarship. “It’s a way of life for people in that area. It’s a great tradition that is passed on from generation to generation.”
Miller, who also has a law degree from Villanova University, worked as a lawyer in Allentown, Pennsylvania, while filming the documentary.
While he wrestled at Virginia, Miller became aware of an up-and-coming wrestler from his home area. Trenge developed into a blue-chip prospect and dominated in high school. He decided to wrestle in the area at Lehigh.
Trenge was always one of the top-ranked wrestlers in the 197-pound weight class, including being No. 1 heading into the Division I national championships his senior year.
“One of the takeaways from this film is what you learn about work ethic,” Miller said. “As Jon’s dad said in the movie, it’s not about winning or losing. It’s about all the people who care about you.”
Anyone who sees Veritas will understand how accurate that statement is.
Last time on the mat
At the beginning of the film, Trenge’s focus is all about being a national champion. Home movies his parents took show him competing in his adolescent years. Trenge also looks through some old papers where he reads the goals he wrote down in grade school.
The project began as an examination of the entire Lehigh wrestling program, where coach Strobel has built a national contender.
Strobel is a two-time former national champion in the early 1970s at Oregon State University and a former U.S. National Team coach. He has made Lehigh a power primarily by recruiting the Valley.
Trenge was one of his prized recruits, and it became apparent to Miller early on that his story would become the focus of the film. The producer found the fact that he was risking one of his five senses to compete and was dealing with the internal and external pressures of his last chance to be a national champion as a compelling premise.
Trenge, now an assistant coach at Lehigh, was having a stellar freshman season when his eyesight began bothering him late in the year. He described the feeling as someone pulling a window shade over his eye.
Doctors discovered three retinal tears, two of which occurred sometime before he enrolled. He was told he had to give up wrestling because of the danger of losing his eyesight. Trenge had to miss the national meet, which many in the wrestling community believed he could win.
After watching from the sidelines, Trenge wouldn’t accept that his career was over. His father rigged a pair of goggles that included silicone on the inner rims to protect against cuts around the eyes.
Trenge then reached the 197-pound final as a sophomore, only to lose to Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson, who became the first Division I wrestler to go undefeated over a four-year career. Sanderson had previously won three national titles at 184, but moved up to Trenge’s weight for his last title.
As a junior, Trenge lost to Minnesota’s Damion Hahn in the final, despite leading, 3-1, with 30 seconds left. Hahn scored the winning point with just three seconds to go.
“When I lost that match, I was really depressed,” Trenge said. “I started to veer off the right path a little bit. I got the (Veritas) tattoo to remind me to keep doing the right things.”
After a year away from collegiate wrestling in an attempt to make the U.S. Olympic Team, Trenge returned to Lehigh for his last run at accomplishing his goal.
During the season, a constant theme was played out when he wrestled. Almost all of his opponents would poke at his goggles or hit him in the face.
Trenge let some of his opponents get under his skin and retaliated with moves that caused him to be disqualified. One incident occurred at Pennsylvania State University, where Trenge dangerously threw his opponent near the end of the mat.
Strobel, who tried to get his star pupil to “worry only about things you can control,” had no alternative but to suspend Trenge and urge him to see an anger-management specialist.
A critical moment in the documentary depicts the decision to allow Trenge to return to the mat against Oklahoma State University. Strobel believed that Trenge was ready to wrestle, but Trenge felt he would lose his temper and do something that would get him thrown out of a match.
After much deliberation, Trenge wrestled and won, despite the usual tactics from the opponent.
During matches, Trenge taps his right leg where the Veritas tattoo resides.
“That technique is called anchoring,” Trenge said. “It is something I learned from the anger-management therapist, who is really more like a sports psychologist. He told me when I’m wrestling well in practice to tap my tattoo. If someone is frustrating me in practice and I get through it without breaking, I tap it. I did the same thing in matches because he said instead of becoming frustrated it would bring me back to a moment of success. It gives you the strength to push through.”
He also credits Strobel with helping him deal with anger issues by displaying a calm demeanor.
“Coach Strobel knew somebody needed to keep their head and that person probably wasn’t going to be me,” Trenge said. “Imagine how I would react if he would start yelling and screaming during the match. That would make me more fired up, and it wouldn’t be good. It was a matter of me maturing.”
Wrestling fans know how Veritas ends, but the climatic ending at the 2005 NCAA meet won’t be revealed here.
The bigger message is that the film shows how a person can grow through competing in intercollegiate athletics.
That’s a defining moment.
More information about the availability of the documentary on DVD can be found at Veritas-movie.com.
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