As the days and the hours and the minutes ticked down to his first wresting match in more than four decades, Dr. Bill Brozovich, now 62 years old, could sense the same butterflies well up. It was the same feeling he once felt as a much younger man. The feeling right before the battle. Where he would go face to face with his opponent. Mano a mano.
Brozovich, a Greenville chiropractor and city councilman, known affectionately around town as Dr. Broz, had been training more than six months for this day. He was confident that he had put in the work. On March 12, he stepped on the mat and faced his first opponent at the USA Folk Style National Championships at the Uni-Dome on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Springs. He still had it!
Dr. Broz went 3-1 with two pins in his matches and took home second place at the National Championships in the 58-to-63 year old age division.
“It was so exciting! It brought back every single feeling I felt when I wrestled in high school,” Dr. Broz said. “It was the same exact feeling I was nervous. I had to lose weight. I lost about 18 pounds to get down to 192.
“All the sudden when you are flying up there, I am thinking I am going to battle these guys and I have no idea who they are and there is going to be a lot of people watching. It was a weird feeling that I like. It’s an internal fire that I want to see. It is all high-level competition. I love it.”
The fact that he entered the event was in itself an accomplishment for Dr. Broz. With his daughter, Casey, scheduled to be married in September, his wife, Rhonda, never totally approved of his decision to enter. But, in the end, she and more than two dozen of his friends and family came to Cedar Falls to watch him compete. Dr. Broz is a native Midwesterner who was a successful wrestler at Alleman High School, Black Hawk College and Western Illinois University.
Along with his fans at the arena, Dr. Broz’s wrestling matches also became a community wide event with watch parties happening both at the Greenville Golf & Country Club and the house of Steve Azar, as the championships were streamed live on the Internet.
“I decided I was going to enter the event about six months ago. I started training and just wanted to see if I had any gas left in this tank and I found out that I did.”
And Dr. Broz is not done yet. He said he wants to compete in another national wrestling tournament next year. His message to everyone is they are never too old to do what they love.
“Whatever you set your mind to, you can do it. Don’t let age be a hindrance. You should take it very slow because the body isn’t the same as it was when you were 20. Take it slow and you can reach your goal.”
