I met Jason Juwayne Beukes in 2010 as an impeccable rugby player playing for the Boland u/13 team. Jason hails from a farm in Koue Bokkeveld also the birth place of Springbok legend Breyton Paulse. I was the strength and conditioning coach for the Boland teams playing at the Craven Week. Jason weighed in at 33kg and 1.2m small but brave as a lion. As a wrestling coach first and foremost Jason impressed me even more with his close combat skills as well as upper body strength. Seeing that I had connections at HTS Drostdy, I pulled every string to get this young talent to Worcester. Jason didn’t start straight away with wrestling, he only joined the Drosdty wrestling club in Grade 9. He was an absolute natural on the mat. In 2013 Jason won the South African National Championships by beating reigning champion Nico van den Berg. There after Jason never looked back winning 16 more straight National Championships to date as well as being picked to compete at the Cadet African Championships in Egypt 2014 where finished with a Silver medal. In 2015 Jason received his junior Protea colours and had the opportunity to compete at the Junior African Championships in Egypt where he got another silver medal. In 2016 he was again selected to compete at the Junior African Championships in Algeria where losing in very tight and close bouts earned him a bronze medal. Jason finished school at HTS Drostdy last year as a three year running Senior Sportsman of the year. Jason is not just a current up and coming wrestle but also an outstanding coach at Drostdy wrestling club. Jason qualified to compete at the Junior World Championships in France 1-5 September. Jason being an unbelievable talent and hardworking athlete, I believe he will carry the South African flag with great pride at the World Championships. Jason is a real inspiration to many farm  and young school kids, showing them with hard work and commitment you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it no matter when you come from.

Article by Kurt Herzog