By:Andrew E.Gasber
First and foremost this article is a tribute to one of the great wrestlers in Ohio history, David Habat. Thank you for all that you have done over the years by representing the state of Ohio along with making the entire wrestling community a better place. Watching you compete over the last 20 years along with competing against you truly was an honor. The countless hours in the wrestling room with you as a young lad growing up only made me a better wrestler in the end. You happened to always get the better of me when we competed but as I said, you only made me a better wrestler!David and I first started scrapping in tournaments from the time we were 7/8 until we were out of high school. David happened to wrestle at St.Ignatius High School, and I wrestled at the rivals on the other side of town, at St.Edward High School. David happens to be one of the most dominant wrestlers in OAC History. David claimed 2 Junior High State Titles during his middle school years. When it came time for the decision to pick a high school, many thought that David would just end up at Lakewood St.Edward High School since his older brother Larry was already getting ready to graduate from there. I as well thought that I would be continually training with David in the same wrestling room. What an opportunity that would have been had it happened. David though, decided to attend St.Ignatius and he thrived there too. I don’t think there was a school that David wouldn’t have flourished at, just because of his love for the sport. I can remember being young kids out at the campground of the Habat family and David and I playing with action figures and instead of firing imaginary guns or throwing around action figures, David would be hitting knee picks pretending that the action figures were Cael Sanderson or other well-known wrestlers from our time. I’m not sure he remembers this but I certainly do. The Habat family is the best. If you ever had the chance to meet them over the years you will know what I am talking about. I can still hear David’s father yelling “Come on Butchy go out there and get it”. David truly had the support from his parents that every young wrestler needs in order to become successful on the mat and off. The Habat family understood what it took to help advance David within his career. In his years with the St.Ignatius Wild Cats, David was a 4-time OHSAA State Place Winner with one of those seasons being a State Championship at 145 pounds in Division 1. David succeeded at every level he ever wrestled at. When I found out that David was heading to Edinboro University for college I knew that it would fit him well. Edinboro is a small school just over the Pennsylvania border. They are known for scoring extremely high numbers at the NCAA Division 1 wrestling tournament. The Fighting Scots brought a tough crew every single year to NCAA’s as well as any dual they were ever in. In David’s career at Edinboro, he was a 4-time NCAA Division 1 qualifier & 2-Time All American. In his last run at the NCAA tournament, he stormed his way to the finals where he ended up losing an extremely close match to Drake Houdashelt of The University of Missouri. Being one year removed from college wrestling myself I recall being at home with the family and watching this match. It was so great to see an old family friend and a member from our wrestling years on the big screen on ESPN battling for the national title. I couldn’t have been happier for David. Regardless that he lost in the finals, just to become a 2-time All-American your last shot at NCAA’s, let alone making the finals just shows that this guy never gave up.
When college wrestling ends, most of us wrestlers have to make an extremely challenging decision. Do we choose to move on from the sport? Do we continue to be around the sport whether it be coaching or starting up a youth club to help develop the newcomers so that they can become superstar wrestlers? Do we just jump into sales because it happens to be remotely competitive? What is it that we do? I don’t think there was any doubt in David’s mind that he knew he wanted to continue wrestling. David happened to start training on the international circuit. I figured he would be working for a position on the United States Olympic or World Team. He certainly had all the credentials. Then all of a sudden I find out that he wouldn’t be representing the United States but he would be wrestling for Slovenia. All these years we wrestled together I never once knew that David had dual citizenship. How cool was this going to be that he now had the opportunity to train here with some of the best. But now he was going to be able to get as much international competition and exposure as he liked. Sure we see more of this now with wrestlers like Myles Amine, Dominic Abounader, Micic and so on, but when David announced this he was one of the first that I had ever heard of let alone I never knew he had dual citizenship. David got to train up north at The University of Michigan and wrestle for Cliff Keen Wrestling Club (Everybody knows what Cliff Keen is). David would go on to represent his homeland of Slovenia and wrestle at some of the world’s toughest tournaments. In those years of competition up until now, David placed as high as 3rd in the European Championships and also 5th. He also wrestled at 5 World Championships. David also finished 4th place at The Dave Shultz Memorial, which is an absolute killer of an international event. These results and placings at European Championships are the literal dreams of thousands of young wrestlers. David got to live and compete with the best in the entire world. I know for myself as a young kid competing I always dreamt of being on an Olympic or World Team. Well, maybe I didn’t make one of those, but I am proud to know that my high school rival certainly did. Just competing at some of these international events is a dream come true to some.
Here is a link to his 2005 State Bracket https://oacstate.com/3dUza6K
Check out his 2006 State Bracket here https://oacstate.com/2ZJSCzs
The state of Ohio, the OAC, St.Ignatius and even Westshore Wrestling Club is at the literal core of David Habat’s amazing wrestling career. The countless hours that this young man spent over the years training to become a champion. He won an OHSAA State Title as a Junior at 145 pounds and then the next season he was once again in the finals as a senior. Only this time he happened to lose to a tough opponent but this opponent was never supposed to take down Habat. Yet, regardless of a devastating loss in one of his biggest matches as a young man, he persevered. He continued into college where he only became better. I am sure there are many reasons David could have decided to step away from the sport of wrestling but he didn’t. Tough losses, injuries, losing his father his freshman year of college. David still continued to grind and live on the mat. David chose this lifestyle a long time ago and the fact that he got to represent the family’s motherland of Slovenia just says it all about him. Like I said at the beginning, this guy represents this sport 24/7. David called it a career this year early on in 2021 as he was one match away from qualifying for the Olympics in Tokyo. He has absolutely not one thing to ever doubt. He knew in his heart that it was time to step away. He’s a father and a husband and those will always come first. Wrestling has taken great care of David over the years, and with him stepping away, we all knew he would still find a way to be with the sport. He has since been named the Head Wrestling Coach at “Case Western Reserve Academy”. One of the countries most prestigious schools. This school went out and got the best possible coach that they could find and they got someone who was fresh off of the international mat. Frankly, David and a guy you may know by the name of Jordan Oliver both would have met in the finals had they won those last matches in Poland. I am bummed I did not get to see it happen however I could not be happier for my guy David! I think we all should take the time and congratulate this young man on such an amazing career. Most of us don’t compete past high school. Some of us are fortunate enough to compete in college. Then you have guys like David, whom literally gave their entire lives to the sport of Wrestling. Giving your life to such a grueling sport all while trying to be a loving husband, father, brother to all within your family. Wow, what a task that is only fit for a wrestler! So with that all being said, we welcome you into retirement from competing David. We wish you nothing but luck and the best on your coaching career with Western Reserve Academy I am certain we will see you around the mat sooner than later. The State of Ohio Wrestling along with the entire wrestling community and OAC want to say thank you for all those memorable years David Habat! You had one amazing career!
Check out David’s 2005 OAC State Title Here https://youtu.be/JL6BjssBj7A
Here is a recent Podcast with David talking about Western Reserve Academy Video https://youtu.be/BI_nCoX0iDoAudio https://oacstate.com/2WRov9O
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