Today we’d like to introduce you to Connor Steensma.
Connor, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m born and raised in Kalamazoo, I went to Mattawan from young 5s to graduation. My dad and uncle own Steensma Lawn and Power Equipment, a small engine lawn and garden equipment dealership. I played football from second grade to my senior year of high school. I always wanted to play in college and early on it was my dream to play in the NFL, but as I got older, around the time I was entering into high school, I started to notice that I probably wouldn’t be built like the ideal NFL prospect, as I was walking around at 5’7 and about 120 pounds.
My junior year I started wrestling. One of my buddies who I played football with and is now one of my best friends badgered me about trying wrestling for 3 years. My junior year I finally went out for it. As soon as we were able to get on the mats I fell in love with the sport and started working towards getting better. The next season I was fortunate enough to be named a captain. After graduating high school, I decided to attend Western Michigan University majoring in finance. After looking at WMU and seeing what all they had to offer, I recognized that they did not have a wrestling program of any kind; varsity, club, intermural, or otherwise. After wrestling for only two years and really loving it, I believed that I should have more time with the sport, so myself along with another freshman at the time named Tyler Clendenning, decided to start the Wrestling Club at Western Michigan University. After about 6 months of work, from November of 2022 to May of 2023, we became the first associatively competitive wrestling program, as an NCWA team competing in the Great Lakes Conference, since the varsity team disbanded in the 1980s. There were other wrestling clubs at WMU before us, but none of them were ever competitive in the way that we were and none of them had ever lasted more than two years. After about a year of being a part of the Wrestling Club, I decided to change my major to sport management to help better serve the club and be able to apply my experience with the Wrestling Club to my major and eventual carreer.
Since starting the Wrestling Club, we have become the longest standing program at WMU since the varsity team as we prepare to start our 4th season and we have become the most accomplished program at WMU since the varsity team as we have been able to qualify three wrestlers for NCWA Nationals, myself being one of them, the other two being Kaden Malotke and Brennan Bolen.
Along with the Wrestling Club, I founded a non-profit organization called Bronco Club Wrestling Ltd. that is committed to supporting the Wrestling Club at WMU along with the wrestlers of the greater Kalamazoo area and their families.
I am also a founding father of Sigma Alpha Epsilon – Michigan Delta, where we were fortunate enough to earn our chapter charter and become an official SAE chapter in two years; about half the time it typically takes. We have been able to form great relationships with local nonprofits, other Greek life organizations at WMU, and WMU.
Currently I am focused on earning my degree in Sport Management at the end of August 2026, along with starting my career, and founding a Christian faith-based wrestling academy in Kalamazoo that is set to launch in April of 2027. If there are any readers that are interested in the academy, want to learn more, get involved, or have any questions, please feel free to reach out at connorsteensma@icloud.com.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has definitely not always been a smooth road. I had a lot of naysayers when starting the Wrestling Club and SAE who said we wouldn’t be successful and negative things of that nature. What helped me get through it was just realizing that I’m the one in the driver’s seat and I’m going to focus on what I can control and that everyone else has an outside opinion that isn’t fully informed, so I should trust myself and what I’m doing.
The biggest hurdle I faced was when starting the Wrestling Club, I reached out to as many people as I could to see if we could get a head coach and some sort of a staff for our first year. I managed to find a coach who was very experienced and very knowledgeable. Unfortunately, without any sort of warning or heads up, he called me about a month and a half before the school year started saying he did not want to coach anymore and that he would not be involved in any way. This was a shocker to me but something I needed to figure out, so I contacted and reached out to as many people as I could and we were fortunate to go into the season with a head coach and two assistant coaches who were dedicated, knowledgeable, and positive role models for our wrestlers to look up to.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are the Wrestling Club at Western Michigan University, we are the first and only associatively competitive wrestling team at Western Michigan University in about two generations. We are wanting to get our name out to the community and let people know that we are at WMU, as many people still don’t know that WMU has a wrestling team again. What sets us apart is that we are almost entirely student ran, students are in direct communication with NCWA executive personnel, WMU faculty, and other wrestling programs around the country. Coaches are responsible for coaching along with scheduling competitive events. Other than that, everything from payments and eligibility to branded products and fundraising is student ran. The reason we do this is to ensure that our executive board gets as much real-world administrative experience in their role as possible, as we believe that these experiences greatly benefit our wrestlers in the job portal and starting their career.
Brand wise the thing that I am most proud of is our warm up uniforms and singlets. We are constantly getting comments and compliments on our uniforms. Rudis Wrestling produced our uniforms and we could not have been happier with the results. We still are able to use the same ones from when we started the program, and as to my knowledge, we do not have any uniforms with rips, tears, or any other defects that one would expect out of a singlet after years of competition.
We are always trying to connect with our community and collaborate with local wrestling programs. If any readers know of any wrestling programs or individuals who are a part of a local wrestling program, we would love to be able to connect to them, so again, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Something that people may not know about me is that I am a DJ on the side, specializing in private events and unique settings. I have been doing it for closing in 0n two years now, and I absolutely love it. My favorite genre of music is hip-hop, but I do a lot of R&B, pop, house, and country. I can mix any kind of music, but those are the ones I’m best at, so again, if there’s any readers who are in need of a DJ for an event or to come into your business and provide a good vibe and great music for your clientele, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @wmuwrestlingclub @wmu_sae
