by Kyle Nagel
By his junior year of high school in Wenatchee, Wash., Brian Van Hoven noticed Marines recruiters in the stands at his wrestling matches mixed in with the college scouts and coaches.
Van Hoven certainly was skilled enough in the sport. He began as a young boy encouraged by his former professional-boxer uncle and his single mother, so he found classes at the local YMCA and developed.
In high school, he was on his way to a 117-14 career record and two state runner-up finishes when a decision started to take shape: Would he go with one of the several college offers coming his way? Or, would he enter the Marines and mix wrestling with a military career?
Van Hoven picked the latter, deciding service combined with competition would be best for his future.
“But it wasn’t a sure thing I would make the team, “Van Hoven told, MMAjunkie.com(www.mmajunkie.com). “I had to go through the tryouts with everything else we had to do. It was a lot going on.”
While making it onto the Marines wrestling squad and joining his infantry unit, Van Hoven set the ground work for the multitasking that is necessary when a full-time worker like the 37-year-old Washington, D.C.-area resident also carries an MMA career.
Van Hoven (6-2) next appears in a local feature fight at 155 pounds against Rad Martinez (9-2) “a feel-good signing recently featured on, ESPN’s “E:60 “program, “at Bellator 50 on Saturday in Hollywood, Fla. In the mix of the MTV2-televised tournament openers “including middleweights Jared Hess (11-2-1) vs. Bryan Baker (15-2), Zelg Galesic (10-5) vs. Alexander Shlemenko (40-7), Sam Alvey (15-2) vs. Vitor Vianna (11-1-1), and Victor O’Donnell (10-2) vs. Brian Rogers (7-2) “Van Hoven fights on Spike.com and will continue one of the few MMA careers that has roots on a military wrestling squad.
He also hopes to help carry the banner for fighters in the Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland area, who often are overshadowed by others in the Midwest or on the West Coast, he said. So while he works full days as a project manager for a D.C. construction company, Van Hoven uses the multitasking he learned as a Marines sergeant and international competitor to continue his MMA career.
“I’m hoping to help open the door for more DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) exposure, and I want to compete with the best in the world, “he said. “I’ve already been lucky enough to see the world.”
Another kind of club team
Wrestling for the Marines included being part of a team organized somewhat like other club teams that dot the United States and the world. At the same time, it was nothing like that.
First, Van Hoven had to make the team. He enlisted after high school and went through the grueling tryouts in Quantico, Va. The All-Marine team included just 14 spots for dozens of hopefuls, and when Van Hoven was included on the squad, he began traveling around the world.
Even shortly after joining the team, Van Hoven was wrestling in Russia, Sweden, Finland and other countries representing his branch of the armed forces at 152 or 163 pounds. He was doing what many post-high school wrestlers hope to accomplish: competing internationally.
“A lot of guys go through college and find opportunities after that, “Van Hoven said. “I was going up against guys all over the world instead of competing for an NCAA championship. I sometimes wonder what that would’ve been like, but I like how it ended up.”
So while Van Hoven was enduring the training and upkeep that is demanding for any Marine, he was also concerned about the mix of wrestling responsibilities that included training, making weight and performing. He did well, finishing fourth in the military championships and later placing seventh at the 2000 Olympic trials.
As his military career wound down “he spent 10 years total with the Marines before his retirement to his family of a wife and three children “Van Hoven wondered what was next in competition for him.
It took the motivation of seeing himself as an out-of-shape civilian six years later to push him into his new sport.
Desiring competition
When Van Hoven was a high school senior, he already claimed a stellar record and a state runner-up finish. For his final year, he decided to jump from 122 pounds to 129 during the season to compete directly with another of the state’s top wrestlers.
Van Hoven was undefeated up until the state final, when the competitor he sought out defeated him in a close decision by points. It was a crushing loss at the time that ended his high school career with a pair of runner-up finishes.
“I had done so much to get to that point, and then it was just over, “he said.
Years later, Van Hoven found his new competitive obsession. He said he took six years off from most things physical following his Marines retirement and, frankly, got “fat and out of shape. “A former Marine buddy encouraged him to give MMA a try “if for nothing else just to get him back into a gym, where he had always been comfortable.
He started training “in the friend’s garage, at first “and within two months was set up for his first amateur fight. It was the first of nine amateur bouts Van Hoven would take before becoming a professional in 2008.
After starting his career 4-0, Van Hoven has mixed wins and losses in his past five fights. As he continues to focus on being a good husband, father and employee, Van Hoven works to increase the reputation for fighters in his area.
He could help that cause with a strong Saturday showing, which will continue his unique competitive career.
“The biggest thing, at any level, is how you bounce back from a loss, “he said. “Everybody has good days and bad days, but you learn to put it in perspective. This is a huge fight for both of us.”
For more on, Bellator 50, stay tuned to the, MMA Rumors, section of MMAjunkie.com.
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