Isayiah Chavez TX: Love Wrestling & It Loves You

Love Wrestling & It Will Love You Back

The Story of Izayiah Chavez TX

As related to Bill X. Barron, RMN Events

Izayiah Chavez is 14-year old wrestler out of Best Trained who is coached by Donavan Whitted and Jerry Best. At the RMN National Championships in Las Vegas this June, Izayiah produced a record of 14-0 over the three days, earning two individual championships while competing in the both the 15U 109 lb. and 18U 106 lb. divisions. In Sunday’s 18U duals, his come-from-behind pin in the opening match of the 3rd-place bout inspired his team to a victorious finish over the Silverbacks (CA).

Rosario Nanes, Izayiah’s mother, shares her knowledge and experience:

We always knew that Izayiah was hyperactive, but all the doctors wanted to do was medicate him. The meds altered his personality and dulled his passion for everything.

But I loved his spirit and embraced his aggression, even when it got him into trouble. I still love his spirit now that it has helped him to make his own way. He knows now that he has an extra something that proves he belongs.

My husband Dominic and his mother Nellie were there for him from birth, as Izayiah’s biological father was in and out of prison struggling with drug addiction. In fact, Izayiah did not know him until he was four years old.

Just the same, Nellie said that out of all the children, Izayiah reminded her the most of Dominic in his youth. As Dominic worked in construction, I was the main disciplinarian.

Being his mother, Izayiah was less willing to listen to me. Into our lives walked Donny Whitted, who met Izayiah after he followed his sister to his club practice where, according to coach, she “wrestled like a boy.” 

Donny understood my boy’s troubles, as he had been there himself. Izayiah picks and chooses whom he lets into his life. Thankfully, he accepted Donny’s guidance and now in so many ways he’s my son’s father.  

Donny’s wife Bianca lets Izayiah know he is loved while reaching him through logic, while Donny constantly reminds Izayiah that the choices you make affect the life you live.

His older siblings have all been nationally ranked: Naomi was a 2-time high school titlist and Cadet Nationals champion; Samara, ranked #1 coming out of high school where she was a Pan-Am gold medalist and Super 32 champ, now wrestles for King University; Dominic is on a full wrestling scholarship at Presbyterian College after winning two high school state championships. 

Yet I know in my heart that Izayiah is special. With that attitude that has always made him want to punch back, he will not let life get him down.

Izayiah Chavez, his life in his words: 

Throughout my life, life has pushed back. It’s been a roller coaster of emotions and learning how to manage my anger. Coach Donny (Whitted) is the only one who did not give up on me. He became my father figure.

Wrestling is like life: you have to give it all your time and effort. The sport will embrace your best. What you give to it, it will pay you in return. When you love wrestling, it will love you back.

My siblings led me to join wrestling at age five, I got kicked out of the sport at age eight when I punched an opponent, and at age eleven, I was ready to commit my all to the only place where I felt I belonged.

Wrestling taught me how to cope with challenges. People looked down on me. They wanted to pass me up. Later, I learned that I had ADHD and ODD, but this only made me work harder to prove myself.

Through Donny, who knew this through his own life experience, I learned that nobody but myself would be there for me. He taught me that success only comes through hard work. Thus, it was mine alone to do.

My sister Samara, who just made the U.S. Senior National Team, showed me the meaning of tough love. Constantly pushing me past my limits, she was there to push me through when I wanted to quit.

As a young wrestler, I also looked up to my brother Dominic, a four-time Texas state high school finalist. In practice, he was always on his feet, never stopping. Now I just want to get good enough to beat him!

My mom Rosario is very disciplined but also supportive. A very fair woman, she has kept a family of eight together (four brothers and three sisters) by making us pick our own challenges 

Her husband Dominic became my real dad in the total absence of my biological father. Now, I pretty much live with my other dad, Donny, where for the past three years, I have been home-schooled.

As a teen, I had shut down, living in a quiet zone until Donny reached out to me with another kind of tough love. He helped me get out of my own way so as to face my problems head-on and ultimately to defeat them. 

It’s been a sacrifice to not be around all my friends and family. In a sense, I gave up my childhood to attain a higher goal. Now, I know that I have to maintain my focus in order to get where I want to be in the end 

This weekend at RMN Nationals, I faced a lot of tough competition. Although I am only going into the 8th grade, I used this tournament to prepare me for what I will face in high school.

Through time and effort, I no longer hold myself back on the mat and in my life. When I fall behind, like I did in the 106 lb. match for 3rd place in the team duals, I am not nervous. I just keep after my opponent until he quits.

Before a match, I pray to wrestle through the gift of God. Mission Arlington Coach Dontry Collins taught me to fear no man but Him. I know that I am only wrestling through God’s talent. It’s a gift to use or lose.

Coach Donny Whitted’s shares his perspective:

RMN Events make my kids dig down deep. We love the competition; the atmosphere catapults kids beyond where they enter. They have what we are looking for. I credit RMN for the development of my wrestlers.

My approach to coaching is one of tough love. To be a great wrestler takes a certain level of discipline. Like my dad, I expect commitment and demand respect from an athlete in order for me to give my all as a coach.

In life, nothing is a given. You must work harder than the next person. There are real-life consequences to the decisions you make. You don’t move on, either on the mat or in life, until you master what lies before you.

Growing up, Izayiah was misunderstood. He had come up hard, like a diamond in the rough. He had to learn how to work through a number of small things which had grown to be much more significant in others’ minds.

I can relate to his life story; I see him in me. I had a large chip on my shoulder, always having to prove myself. But that quality also made me want to be better than anyone expected me to be.

Behind the Izayiah who expressed himself through anger, I knew there was a caring kid who was loving and loyal. Once I gained his trust, he wrestled for me. Now he has learned how to wrestle for himself and his family.

When Izayiah has your back, you know it. That’s why I started him at the first weight, 106 pounds, in the RMN dual meet championships. He’s a kid who will lay it on the line and who will never get flustered.

His wrestling IQ is in the top two or three of all the athletes I have coached over twenty-plus years. He is still in junior high but my high school wrestlers will ask him what to do and what not to do in their matches.

With God, love, and discipline, Izayiah is coming into his own. He’s a straight-A student who is also one of the best wrestlers on the team. In his studies and his wrestling, I always challenge him with the next higher level.

He has that ultra-drive that will lead him to surpass his siblings and to become his own person. Through listening and working hard, he has earned accolades. Yet these only make him aim all that much higher.