By Adam Malmut
The very origins of wrestling date back over 14,000 years through drawings on cave walls in Western Europe, but it was the Ancient Greeks who turned the art of wrestling into a way of life.
In a time and place where the hearts of men were frequently tested by acts of war, the Greeks built a society where developing the body was equally important as developing the mind.
Although the world has changed in many ways since then, the scholar-athlete is still a role that human beings strive to achieve.
Some young men want to grow up and achieve success as football players or baseball players, but for Hofstra’s own Jonny Bonilla-Bowman, it was in junior high when wrestling gave its beckoning call.
“It was about seventh or eighth grade when wrestling caught my interest,” Bonilla-Bowman said. “It was one of my best friends, who had since passed away, he and his brother were the ones who first got me into wrestling. I didn’t start to notice that I was good at it until high school.”
To say that the Pamona, New York native had success in wrestling at the high school level would be an understatement.
At Ramapo High School in Spring Valley, Bonilla-Bowman was lettered in both wrestling and soccer.
He earned All-American honors with a seventh place finish at the 2005 High School National Championships, was a three-time High School All-American, and a two-time gold medal winner at the New York State Empire Games scholastic division at 156 and 145 pounds.
Bonilla Bowman finished his high school wrestling career with a 125-10 record, recording 73 wins by pin fall. But, Bonilla-Bowman is quick to give credit elsewhere when he considered the reasons for his success.
“I learned so much from Tom Canty, my high school wrestling coach,” said Bonilla-Bowman. “He really took the time to work with me and teach me the basics of mat wrestling and helped me understand the amount of hard work and dedication that was needed for me to succeed.”
After achieving success in wrestling at the high school level, Bonilla-Bowman decided to continue wrestling as a first year student at Virginia Tech University.
But what began as an exciting learning experience, took a turn for the worse late in the school year.
The Virginia Tech massacre on April 16 of last year on the Blacksburg campus changed everything for Bonilla-Bowman.
When a Sueng-Hui Cho killed 33 people and wounded over 20 more before taking his own life – an event that has been declared the deadliest school shooting in history – things changed for Bonilla-Bowman.
“At first everything went well…I received my first ACC wrestler of the week honor at Virginia Tech,” said Bonilla-Bowman. “But after the Virginia Tech shootings that year, I decided that it would be best for me to be closer to my family. I heard Hofstra had a great wrestling program with an experienced coaching staff, so that’s where I ended up.”
After moving back home, Bonilla-Bowman wanted to continue his education at Hofstra University and continue wrestling.
In his sophomore year, Bonilla-Bowman recorded two top 20 victories and was named the Colonial Athletic Association Wrestler of the Week for the week of February 12.
During that same week, Bonilla-Bowman defeated Drexel’s Ryan Hluschak, the top ranked 157-pounder who was ranked eleventh nationally. He then went on to help the Pride capture their seventh consecutive CAA wrestling title. Head Coach Tom Shifflet said that Bonilla-Bowman was a vital part to the Pride’s success this season.
“Jonny has been a huge part of our group this year,” Shifflet said. “He’s had some experience from the ACC championship last year when he was with Virginia Tech. Whenever an athlete switches schools there is going to be a transition period, but Jonny has adapted well to our philosophy.”
After an already-stellar year on the mat and having a second CAA Championship under his belt, Bonilla-Bowman has qualified for the NCAA Division I Championship tournament for the second time in two years.
While six other members of the Hofstra Pride wrestling squad also qualified, Bonilla-Bowman advanced to the championships quarterfinals before being eliminated at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Even after the loss, it was easy for Bonilla-Bowman to reflect on the excitement an event of this magnitude can bring.
“Before last year I had never been in any NCAA tournaments,” Bonilla-Bowman said. “The experience can be very overwhelming, especially with the huge crowd and having that many people watching you. Once you get out there and step on to the mat, you begin to feel the adrenaline rush, but I was ready to go.”
In addition to being a standout wrestler for the Pride, Bonilla-Bowman has shown his excellence and versatility in the arts since high school.
He is an accomplished musician and has won the New York State Art Teacher’s Association Award for his work with the drums, guitar, and songwriting.
Although Bonilla-Bowman has been recognized for his musical talents in school, his fondest memories of music-making occurred in a garage.
“I started playing drums when I was a six-year-old,” said Bonilla-Bowman. “But I had the most fun playing the drums when I was in my high school garage band, ‘Canadian Bacon’.”