Olympian wrestler to visit Northwestern

Wrestler Tervel Dlagnev, a medalist at the 2014 and 2009 World Championships and a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, will visit Northwestern College Thursday and Friday, Oct. 2 and 3.

He will speak at a gathering for area college and high school athletes on Oct. 2 at 8 p.m. in the Bultman Center and in Northwestern’s chapel service at 10:05 a.m. on Oct. 3 in Christ Chapel. The events are free and open to the public.

Dlagnev is being brought to campus by Northwestern’s athletic department, the college’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle and the NAIA’s Champions of Character initiative.

A native of Bulgaria whose family moved to the United States when he was four, Dlagnev was an NCAA Div. II champion for the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 2007 and 2008. As a member of Team USA, he won the bronze medal at the World Championships in Uzbekistan earlier this month. He also finished third in 2009 and placed fifth at Worlds in 2011 and 2013. In addition, the heavyweight finished fifth in the 2012 Olympics and won gold at the 2011 Pan American Games.

Dlagnev frequently speaks at FCA and Athletes in Action events. Carl Perry, executive director of FCA Wrestling, says he is a “special person with an incredible conviction to allow the sport of wrestling to be an avenue for him to grow in his faith.”

Josie Clark, a Northwestern College junior whose father worked with Dlagnev in a college ministry, describes the wrestler as humble and generous. “Even though he had a lot of success, you wouldn’t know that by how he acts. He didn’t change when he joined the U.S. team. He values relationships with people and is very generous and thoughtful.”