When Mark Johnson took control of the Valparaiso wrestling program, Jon Westmoreland quickly captured the new coach's attention.

Not necessarily for his physical prowess nor his technical ability, but for a less tangible quality.

"He's one of those kids who's just tough as nails," Johnson said. "He doesn't like to get beat. I've seen him wrestle a couple matches where he was almost to that point that he passed out, he went at it so hard. That's the kind of wrestler he is. One area where we lacked was toughness. We've got to find a way to bring it back and Jon's a model for it."

Westmoreland sneaked into Saturday's Merrillville Semistate with a fourth-place finish at 140 pounds in the LaPorte Regional. He missed the better part of last week with the flu, but after a string of postseason disappointments, it was going to take more than a bug to knock him out.

"This is the first time I could go and wrestle and make it far," Westmoreland said. "Whatever they throw at me, I've got to take it. I'm at the point where any match could be the last of my entire life. I have to put everything out there and make the best of it."

He saw varsity action as a freshman, but the effects of a broken toe suffered in cross country kept him out of the sectional. His sophomore season, Westmoreland had a skin infection and wasn't cleared in time to return. A light 130, he finally cracked the lineup a year ago, but was slowed by lingering knee problems and didn't advance.

Motivated rather than deterred by his disappointments, Westmoreland channeled his energies to the weight room. He gave up cross country to focus solely on wrestling and packed on 20 pounds of muscle.

"I wanted to do something great," Westmoreland said. "I've always been aggressive. I just wasn't big enough or strong enough to act on it. I developed over the last year where I could use it. I enjoyed the challenge of going against older, bigger guys. Three years of getting beat up taught me a lot. I got tougher from that. Now I'm the bigger one."

Johnson credits the one-year jump from a sectional exit to a semistate berth to Westmoreland's dedication.

"He just committed himself to take it to a higher level," Johnson said. "He drills hard. He's the kind of kid, when he's in between groups and is the guy out, he'll come up to me and say, 'Let's go, coach!' He likes to test himself, push himself, what can I do next to make myself better? He's a pleasure to have on the team. I wish I could have half a team of him. I'd take a quarter team of him."

Westmoreland hopes his success shows his teammates how far effort and attitude can take someone in wrestling.

"It's like a legal fight," he said. "It's about toughness, strength. Younger kids don't always understand. I'm setting an example that you've just got to go after it."

PREP WRESTLING | MERRILLVILLE SEMISTATE PREVIEW

The Jon Westmoreland file

School: Valparaiso.

Year: Senior.

Background: Westmoreland is a Merrillville Semistate qualifier at 140 pounds. His record is 26-9. He was a varsity cross country runner as a sophomore, but had to give up the sport because of injuries.

More online

Calumet's Nate Fowler motivated by last season's setback that prevented him from reaching the state finals. Read the story at nwi.com/sports.