It’s hard for William Schwartz to imagine life without wrestling.

The Jim Thorpe junior connected with the sport at a young age. Once Schwartz got a taste, he was hooked.

“After the first practice back in second grade, I kind of knew that I liked it,” he recalled. “And I kept coming, and coming, and coming. And I just liked it from there, as soon as I stepped on the mat.”

It’s a passion that’s stuck with him into high school.

“Will is a kid that’s a coach’s dream, honestly,” said Olympians’ mentor Shawn Albert. “He absolutely loves the sport of wrestling. He does everything he possibly can to get better, and that’s all you can ever ask, regardless of what any results are, out of any athlete.

“The bottom line is you want somebody that’s going to give everything he’s got.”

Schwartz will always battle.

He’ll always fight.

And he will certainly never quit.

It’s the mentality Schwartz carries as one of the leaders of the Jim Thorpe wrestling team.

And the outlook Schwartz has on life.

The son of Kathy and Brian, Schwartz was born prematurely, weighing just 2 pounds and measuring 12 inches long, and faced numerous complications after birth. He was on a respirator for several months, and needed skilled nursing in addition to being on oxygen and a heart monitor.

Despite the constant attention of his nurses and an extremely supportive home environment, Schwartz had to undergo surgery for the placement of a gastrointestinal tube that became necessary after he came down with Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a form of chronic lung disease that affects newborns (mostly premature) and infants.

“When I was an infant, I had the tubes that helped me breathe and everything,” said Schwartz, who also received a great deal of support from the March of Dimes as a youth. “When I was about 3 or 4, I got those out, but I still had to have my food in a blender and stuff; I couldn’t eat or anything.

“I just had trouble with eating, but eventually I was able to learn, and eventually I could eat when I was probably 5 or 6.”

No matter the setback, Schwartz has never backed down from a challenge.

On or off the mat.

“I think my first match, I went out there and I got pinned,” he said with a smile. “The second match, I went out there, and I think it was Coach Terry (Levan) and Kevan (Gentile); Kevan was on my team – he was a sixth-grader, I think I was in second grade – I went out there and won like 14-12, Kevan came out there and gave me a big hug. It was awesome.”

One of the Olympians’ team captains, Schwartz has shown the ability to come up with big wins when the team needs it the most, as he did Saturday at the Indian Duals, winning the final bout to help Thorpe preserve a 34-30 win over Scranton.

Albert wouldn’t have it any other way.

“While he gets frustrated and we get frustrated when things don’t go our way, as I tell him, there’s not another guy in our room as committed as he is,” the coach said. “In my nine years as head coach, he’s one of two or three of the most committed wrestlers to come through our program, at least under my leadership.

“His heart separates him from everybody else. This is a guy who bleeds wrestling. I wrestled in college (at Bloomsburg), and guys who wrestled in college, you either love wrestling or you don’t do it, and this is a guy who does. I don’t care what level he decides he wants to be at when he does graduate, his heart will take him wherever he wants to go.”

Wrestling at both 106 and 113 pounds this season, Schwartz, who is currently 10-7, was third at the season-opening Pope John Paul Invitational; fourth at the Jim Thorpe Christmas Tournament; and second at the South Williamsport tourney.

Schwartz credits his coaches, and Gentile – a 2016 state champion at 106 pounds – for helping him progress in the sport.

“There will be days when I feel down, and he’ll get me going a little bit,” Schwartz said of Albert.” Kevan will be in the room every once in a while, and he’ll keep pushing me, pushing me and pushing me. He won’t take it easy.”

For Schwartz, wrestling has been is a stabilizing force.

“Growing up, it was all right,” he said. “I think wrestling really pushed me to that next level, because you get all these relationships, with all these other schools. Tonight, we’re wrestling Pottsville, and I know all those guys, and it’s fun.

“(I) go down there all the time; know all their starters, all their backups, all their coaches. All those relationships really help.”

Schwartz is well known by competitors and classmates alike. Spending time with him prior to Wednesday’s match against the Tide, it’s easy to see why Schwartz is so popular, with many often going out of their way to talk to him and see how he’s doing.

He’s always happy to return the favor.

“It means a lot,” Schwartz said of the relationships he’s built. “I’ll just be walking down the hallway, and say ‘hi’ to anybody, and they’ll say ‘hi’ to me. It’s awesome, in small schools like this, everyone’s friends with each other.”

It’s an impact that has been felt far beyond the halls of Jim Thorpe.

“There’s not a single coach that I don’t go to different meets and duals or tournaments, that at least one coach comes up to me and asks me how Will Schwartz is doing,” said Albert. “He’s known in the wrestling community, not because of results, but his work ethic and his heart.”

Truly, it’s hard to imagine wrestling without Will Schwartz.

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TOURNEY TIME ... The annual Schuylkill League Tournament will be held this Friday at Pottsville’s Martz Hall. Lehighton’s Chris Whiteman (145) and Tamaqua’s Bronson Strouse (220) are the two returning champions from the area. Several other area wrestlers also are back after placing in the top-six a year ago: Jim Thorpe – Andrew Eisenhardt (sixth, 120), Ethan Mordaunt (third, 195); Lehighton – Lucas Sangiuliano (fifth, 132), Logan Pagotto (third, 138); Panther Valley – Aaron Eidem (fifth, 285); Tamaqua – Randy Steigerwalt (sixth, 113), Aaron Coccio (fourth, 120), Caleb Sell (fourth, 132), Khalid Holland (sixth, 152) and Carson Krell (fifth, 170). The host Tide also won the team title with 243 points a year ago.

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WHAT’S ON TAP ... There are several duals scheduled for tonight: Northern Lehigh at Catasauqua; Northwestern at Southern Lehigh; Palmerton at Salisbury; and Pleasant Valley at East Stroudsburg North. Northwestern’s match will be an hour earlier as a result of the pending weather, with varsity starting at 6 p.m. All other matches are still scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. In addition to the Schuylkill League Tournament, Northern Lehigh will also be in action this weekend when the Bulldogs will hit the road for the Buckley Duals at Haverford.

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GOOD STANDING ... With the District 11 team tournament two weeks away, let’s take a look at how area teams stack up. Remember, invitations will be issued to the top-12 teams in Class 2A and 3A based on the Power Rating system. Lehighton leads the way in 2A with a 9-3 mark and sits fifth, while Jim Thorpe (5-3) is currently seventh. Tamaqua (7-7) eighth, Northwestern (5-5) 11th and Palmerton (2-6) 12th. Northern Lehigh (2-9) is 17th, and Panther Valley (0-13) 21st. In Class 3A, Pleasant Valley (6-9) is 16th. Per the district website, only competition with PIAA teams up to and including Saturday, Jan. 26 will count in seeding.