If Matt Jagas had a motto, it might be \u201cSurgite!\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite a bumpy start to his university career, the student-athlete persisted and found his niche at Brock University.<\/p>\n
On Friday morning, the multi-time Ontario and national university wrestling champion will graduate with a degree in History during the Spring Convocation ceremony for both the Faculties of Humanities and Math and Science. He is one of 110 Brock Badgers student-athletes in nearly 40 programs who are graduating this week<\/p>\n
Jagas started his university career studying kinesiology while wrestling at Western University, but he struggled in the program and decided to head elsewhere after one of his primary coaches left the school during his second year.<\/p>\n
Jagas\u2019 brother Sam was already on a wrestling scholarship at Brock, and after talking to Badgers head coach Marty Calder, Jagas decided to apply.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always enjoyed writing and was relatively good at it, so I decided to pursue History at Brock,\u201d he said. \u201cLooking back, it was one of the best decisions I\u2019ve made.\u201d<\/p>\n
Studying both History and Classics, including Latin, has allowed Jagas to explore many ideas through writing.<\/p>\n
He became involved with The General<\/em>, Brock\u2019s open access undergraduate history journal and, after publishing a paper for the 2017 volume, he went on to co-edit the 2018 volume with fellow history student Grace Viana.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it would be a great opportunity in my final year to do something new and get to understand the world of publishing a little better, as publishing had never really crossed my mind before as a career option for a History student,\u201d said Jagas.<\/p>\n \u201cMatt tackled the work with professionalism and skill,\u201d said Assistant Professor Jessica Clark, who worked with Jagas and Viana on The General<\/em>. \u201cHe approached the task of selecting papers with care and respect, acknowledging all of the hard work that went into each and every paper.\u201d<\/p>\n Jagas has also received national recognition for his academic work, taking third place in the 2016 Classics Association of Canada Undergraduate Essay Contest.<\/p>\n His successes on the wrestling mat have been no less significant, winning medals provincially, nationally and internationally.<\/p>\n In 2014, Jagas won bronze at the Junior Pan American championships in Santiago, Chile. He went on to win gold at the Ontario University Athletics championships in 2016, and has medaled twice at the U SPORTS National Championships, winning gold in 2017 and silver in 2018.<\/p>\n