Athlete of the Month
Devin Griffen

Pictures and Content courtesy of The Griffen Family

Devin Griffen was born March 13, 2003 in Reno, Nevada to Jake and Nikki Griffen. He had 1 older brother, Jacob who was 5 at the time. From the beginning, Devin has always been a rough and tumble boy who had little to no fear. Everything was always a competition to him. Whether it be eating dinner the fastest or the most food, to who could do better tricks on a bike. He actually learned to ride a two-wheel bike without training wheels at the age of 2yrs old. He did this because his older brother got to ride a dirt bike, and we told him that if he wanted to ride one, then he had to learn how to ride the two-wheel bike. That day he asked his dad to take the training wheels off, and a few hours later he was off and riding. So we taught him to ride a motorcycle and quad.
At 5 it was finally his chance to wrestle, after watching his brother for years. Well his first year was cut short because he broke his arm, at home, after just the first tournament of the season; which he still got first. He was super sad that he couldn’t compete the rest of the season. Devin took to wrestling and loved the individual competition right away. After his arm was better, he wanted to try baseball. He did both sports for a couple years but wanted to focus on getting better in wrestling, so he chose to quit baseball.
Devin would take a wrestling match loss as a way to get better, by using it to train harder. At a young age, he was winning Nevada State titles a couple years in a row. He loved it and was pushing ever harder to get better. By this time he had a little brother named Eli. Devin was so excited to show his little brother how to wrestle and cheer him on when it was his time to compete.
Unfortunately at the age of 9yrs old Devin was wrestling at Reno WOW in a tied overtime match for placing rounds, when he broke his other arm. Devin was devastated and in a lot of pain. He was taken to surgery that night and had two rods placed in his arm. He had a long road to heal and a couple more surgeries to get better. Needless to say, when it was time to get back on the mat, he was nervous and had to work through the mental aspect of being afraid to get hurt again. He also had to work up the strength in that arm to be as strong as it was before it was broke.
The next couple of years were challenging, as Devin wanted to quit a few time to “just be a kid”. We have always believed Devin had a talent in wrestling and never wanted him to quit. We allowed him to take some time away and not do as much training and tournaments, as long as he didn’t give up. He used to say his dream was to wrestle in college. Well he missed it more than he thought and asked if he could get back to training full-time.
During his JR High years he chose not to wrestle for the school. He chose this so he could wrestle and travel with club. He was traveling to some big tournaments in California, Idaho and Utah. Along the way, he always had great coaches with the Spanish Springs Wrestling Club. One of them being his dad Jake. Some others that gave so much of their time and talent to Devin were; Steve Gresko, Marc Cramer and Kelly Anundson. A big thank you to all of them.
Once Devin was about to enter high school at Spanish Springs High, he was asking for more training. He looked up and found an elite camp in Iowa called JROB. Anyone in the wrestling family knows who they are. Their camp is very intense and strict. They claim, once you attend, you come back a different wrestler. Well we looked it up and decided it was time for him to make his first time across the USA for this 10 day camp. He came back and said it was the hardest camp he ever did. Their claim was true, Devin came back home with a new attitude and goal….”To become a 4A 4x Nevada State Champ.”
Once in high school, he was setting the stage to achieve his goal. He trained weekends and holidays, gave up hanging out with friends and evenings with family to get better. With the help of his high school coaches Joe Imelli, both coach Whites and Nacho Ruiz and his many teammates, he won his first State Title at 106lbs. That year, Spanish Springs High also won the team title in 4A. His sophomore year came, and he was able to secure the State Title at 113lbs, and for a second time the team were 4A State Champs. Devin was so honored to be a part of all of this. During the off season Devin was always looking to train and learn new stuff. We found Josh Nolan, who has since started his own elite club here in Spanish Springs, called Silver State Wrestling Club. Josh has been instrumental in helping Devin further develop and become ready to wrestle in college, as he was a college wrestler himself.
Devin’s junior year rolled around, and he had gained some muscle and was now at 126lbs. He was able to earn another State Title, at this weight also. We were all so excited. His goal coming into his Freshmen year was now looking like it may be a reality. Well, then came COVID, in March of 2020. We all waited and watched, as the days and months went by, hoping it would clear up and be normal for his Senior Year. As we all know that has not happened. Devin will never be in the record books as a 4A 4x state champ, not because he didn’t win, but because he never got the opportunity. All along he has been constantly training and attending tournaments where he could. He was always ready for the word that wrestling was going to happen.
Devin amazes all of us with how positive he has been during all this. His Senior Year has been anything but normal, but we have taken it to our advantage. He has been full distance so he has been able to travel and train in other states that are allowed to wrestle. He has found another wrestling family at LOG in South Dakota, with Terry Pack. He has been there a couple times and loves going there and the competition that he gets there.
Devin has received a scholarship and committed to Reinhardt University in Georgia to wrestle and get a Nursing Degree. He enjoys learning about Anatomy and Biology, and he has a big heart with lots of compassion for helping others. His saying about his senior year “On to bigger and better things.”