The route to a Greco-Roman wrestling gold medal has traditionally gone through Europe, Asia and the United States. For American Justin Ruiz (West Salt Lake City, Utah) the road to the 2004 Olympic Games has taken him through the wrestling-barren landscape of Chile.

Ruiz, Team USA's No. 2-ranked wrestler in the 96 kg/211.5 lbs and a practicing Mormon, spent two years performing missionary work in Chile for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"I ended up going to the Chile Concepcion Mission," explained Ruiz. "What you do every day is find people to talk to about the church, do community service or just whatever people need you to do. I spent a lot of time with people, just helping them learn more about the church."

All of South America, let alone Chile, has never produced an Olympic medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling, making training difficult for Ruiz.

"I was able to do a little cross-training. I would go running occasionally and had a pair of dumbbells that I used a little bit. It's not like there was any structured workout, especially with anyone who knew anything about wrestling."

Ruiz accepted an athletic scholarship to the University of Nebraska and redshirted his freshman year. The request for his services in the mission came after his first year of college making the decision to leave Lincoln to engage in his philanthropic work a difficult one.

"It was a hard decision because I liked all the guys and I was looking forward to the next season. I wanted to do well and compete at the college level," said Ruiz. "I had to decide what I wanted in my life and the mission was one of the things. I figured that I always had the opportunity to go back to college and finish wrestling there. At the time, I felt I really needed to go on a mission and do that for myself as well as for the other people I was helping."

A wrestler since the eighth grade but a Mormon since birth, Ruiz understands that there is more to life than his sport.

"The biggest thing is it gave me a different perspective on wrestling," commented Ruiz. "I realized there is more than wrestling, there are other things in life too. Before I put everything into wrestling but the mission made me open my eyes and realize that if you don't win it's not the end of the world. There will be another match on another day."

Ruiz found the experience incredibly rewarding and had a hard time returning to the States.

"After a while I got used to it [the mission] and by the time it came to leave, I didn't really want to come home," Ruiz said. "Of course I missed my family and my friends and everything, but you just get used to it and you make a lot of friends and you love the people down there and it is hard to leave."

Upon his return, Justin was able to take some solace inside the Cornhusker wrestling room. Nebraska head coach Mark Manning reinstated Ruiz's scholarship and his transition period was eased by his familiarity with the program, coaches and teammates. Ruiz rewarded Manning's loyalty by recording two consecutive fifth-place finishes at the NCAA Division I Championships during his freshman and sophomore years of eligibility.

Now, Justin is on a new mission. He took an Olympic redshirt from Nebraska this season and is scheduled to compete in Serbia at the end of February to try to qualify the U.S. for the 96 kg/211.5 lbs weight class at the upcoming Olympic Games. Unlike other sports, wrestlers must qualify their weight division for the Olympics before qualifying individually for their national teams.

"My biggest goal is getting the weight class qualified for the Olympics, then qualify for the team, and then do well in Athens. That is what I am looking to do when I go to Serbia is to qualify the weight class. I think I have a pretty good chance. That's what I have been working really hard for over the last several months."

To achieve this goal, Ruiz has recruited the services of his older brother, Brandon, a former Brigham Young University wrestler, and one of the biggest influences in Justin's life.

"I started wrestling in the eighth grade because my brother [Brandon] was wrestling," remarked Justin. "Growing up I always wanted to be like him."

Brandon recently moved from Utah to Colorado Springs, Colo., to assist his brother who is preparing at the Olympic Training Center.

"It's great to be around my older brother and be able to train with him. It's something that we haven't been able to do since when we were in high school. It's also been great to be able to work with coaches and other athletes who are doing Greco full time."

No matter what happens on the mat, Ruiz knows he has accomplished more important things off of it. Even if he falters in qualifying, at trials, or in the Olympic Games, there will always be "another match on another day" for Justin Ruiz.

- reprinted with permission from the U.S. Olympic Committee