In September 2020, our Wrestlers in Business Network Ambassador, Brody Von Brethorst, was at Stockton Lake in Missouri, enjoying some time with his friends and teammates. He didn't expect that he'd be a hero by the end of the day, but that is precisely what happened. Brody and his friends were doing some cliff-jumping when a young man showed up and joined in the fun. Unfortunately, this new "jumper" had a terrible accident when he landed on the water awkwardly (belly-flop) and didn't come back to the surface. As the wrestlers watched and counted off the seconds he had been underwater, Brody took decisive action.

Scaling down the cliff, Brody jumped into the water and searched for the victim. His vision wasn't great under the water, and he had a local boater toss him some goggles….and then he saw that the victim was lying on the bottom of the lake. Brody swam the 10-15 feet to the bottom and recovered the young man. He brought him to the surface and a nearby boat. Fortunately, among the boaters were a few nurses who began life-saving steps to help the unresponsive victim. They immediately made for the boat launch and summoned emergency services. Along the way to the boat launch, the victim began breathing thanks to the efforts of all involved. He survived the terrible accident, and it all started with Brody and his decisive action.

Brody hadn't thought much of the incident until this past fall when the Sheriff called to inform him that he had submitted Brody for the Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award. On top of that, Brody had been unanimously selected for the prestigious award recognizing selfless service. At a ceremony attended by Missouri Governor Mike Parson, Brody was recognized in front of local leaders, his family, and his coach, Mike Machholz.

While the award, the ceremony, and the recognition have been great experiences for Brody, what is most satisfying to him is the frequent conversations he has been able to have with the young man he saved at Stockton Lake. At Wrestlers in Business Network, we couldn't be prouder of Brody. It is no surprise that he was nominated for this prestigious internship with the Wrestlers in Business Network.

Brody, from Idaho, has a great wrestling story. While he grew up wrestling, it wasn't always his passion. Early on, he played all sports, football, basketball, soccer, baseball. You name it, and Brody was playing it. He didn't even wrestle his freshman year of high school but elected to return to the sport his sophomore year. From there, he was a two-time state place winner and even won a state title his senior year.

A great student at Missouri Valley College, he was an equally great student at Weiser High School in Idaho. As a testament, he was awarded both the Navy ROTC and Army ROTC scholarships during his senior year. He would go on to the University of Idaho on the Navy ROTC scholarship but elected to go in a different direction after his first semester, transferring to Missouri Valley College.

How does someone from Idaho end up at Missouri Valley? Simple. His high school coach Drew Dickerson wrestled at Missouri Valley. It also helped that two wrestlers from his high school (Matt and Tim Cobb) were both national champion wrestlers at Missouri Valley. The pipeline was strong and led to Brody heading to MOVAL.

Brody is a junior this year and is majoring in mathematics. His long-term goal is to be a high school coach where he can teach, coach, and mentor young men and women. He hopes to return to Idaho, but it is no guarantee that he'll end up coaching wrestling. Instead, he is equally excited about coaching all sports. He'd be equally ecstatic coaching football, baseball, or basketball. He's working with his academic advisor on when to start his student teaching but is excited to make "coaching" part of this experience.

Without question, Brody is an exceptional young man with a very bright future. We are lucky at the Wrestlers in Business Network to have him on our team, and it is clear why he was selected for this role. We wish Brody the best of luck in the future, and the WIBN will be here to help him on his journey.