Donofrio leads team

Coach DelPorto says senior wrestler has ‘in-your-face’ style, excellent work ethic

Eastern Michigan teammates and frequent practice partners Zach Donofrio (right) and Chris Jenkins (left) wrestle at Bowen Field House on Thursday. MARK TOWER, EASTERN ECHO

Eastern Michigan wrestler Zach Donofrio, who is a senior and a team leader, said he surrounds himself with people who will make him a better athlete.

One of those people is fellow senior Chris Jenkins, who Donofrio often practices with.

“I would say Chris Jenkins is one of the hardest workers on the team, and we push each other every day,” he said. “We have both seen big improvements from working with each other. I also wrestle with Dave Pienarr – he was a national qualifier at Slippery Rock (Pa.) – Corey Phillips and J.J. Johnson [who] were both state champs in high school.”

Donofrio, 21, wrestles at 141 pounds. He’s majoring in hotel and restaurant management. He attended Monroe High School, but then transferred to Dundee High School.

“I transferred to Dundee High School because they had a successful wrestling program, and I knew I could gain the most from them,” Donofrio said.

During his time at Dundee he played basketball, football and wrestling. His freshman year he played football and basketball, but was too small for those sports.

“My uncle told me about wrestling,” Donofrio said. “His sons were already into the sport, and he thought it would be good for me to try.

“So I decided I would give it a try, and I thought it would be better for me since you wrestle people your in your own weight class. Wrestling also started as part of a self-defense thing for me. When I was younger I would get picked on because of my size, and my parents thought this would be a great way to build self-confidence.”

While wrestling for Dundee, Donofrio recorded 180 career wins, including going 58-2 his senior season. He was a three-time place winner at the state championships and was a four-time varsity letter winner.

During his senior year, Donofrio had three schools looking at him to join their wrestling team including: Cornell College (Iowa), Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan.

“I wanted to wrestle at the Division I level,” he said. “It was one of those things that, if I performed well at the lower levels, I would always wonder how I would have done at the Division I level. So that is why I chose to wrestle at Eastern.”

Donofrio was already at EMU when coach Derek DelPorto was hired in 2006. He didn’t recruit Donofrio, but said he would have because of his wrestling style.

“Donofrio has a very ‘in-your-face’ style of wrestling,” DelPorto said. “He is a very technical wrestler on his feet and is one of the best conditioned wrestlers, not only on this team, but probably in the country.”

Donofrio’s coaches and teammates think he’s one the hardest-working wrestlers on and off the mat.

“He’s definitely one of the hardest workers on the team,” Johnson said. “Zach is always working hard during practice. I practice with him, and we make each other better. I feel like I learn a lot from him.”

His teammates and coaches admire the way Donofrio is always forcing the guys around his weight class to keep up with him, always working hard to make not only himself better but his teammates as well. Donofrio has set a high standard in the classroom too, with a 3.41 GPA.

This year Donofrio has wrestled in two open tournaments, which he’s gone 6-4 to improve his collegiate record 29-27.

“I’m never satisfied with my performance,” he said. “I know I can always do better and improve my weaknesses. If you’re satisfied, you will never improve. Your opponents never stop working, and you have to work every day to stay above them.”