While there are whispers of “Winnie the Pooh” circulating around the locker room by teammates about the junior wrestler, Jainor Palma’s background tells a different story.
Palma has spent his entire life watching and learning about wrestling, but his style comes from that of his father — a style that includes Jujitsu and grapple.
“My dad is from Costa Rica, but he grew up in Brazil,” Palma said. “He’s familiar with a lot of grapple and Jujitsu. So in a sense, there is some background of wrestling in the family.”
Palma said his father, when watching his son, will get upset because he doesn’t use certain moves, moves that are often illegal in wrestling.
“My dad has the old school type of mentality,” Palma said. “Even though I’ve been wrestling here for a few years, my dad still isn’t too aware of all the rules — his technique is trying to teach me to go beyond that because he comes from such a tough background.”
Palma said he enjoys hearing from his father about what to do in certain situations, even if it is something he isn’t allowed to do.
“He was telling me the other day that when I pick up a leg, I’m too nice about it,” Palma said. “His way would be that I would just kick the guy’s leg.”
Part of the learning process for Palma came when he and his father would wrestle in the house.
“My dad and I would roughhouse and horseplay all the time when I was little,” Palma said. “We were fans of the [Ultimate Fighting Championship] and all types of stuff like that.”
However, wrestling in the house did not fare well with Palma’s mother.
Palma would also wrestle with his brother in the house. Palma’s father said Jainor taught his younger brother everything there is to know about wrestling.
“Everything he knows is from his brother,” Jairo Palma, Jainor’s father, said. “Both of them practice in the house, and they used to break everything. I would get in trouble from my wife because I would laugh at them.”
The elder Palma said it’s tough to watch wrestling because compared to Jujitsu, it’s a more restricted sport.
“Wrestling is so simple,” the elder Palma said. “I get angry because he can’t do the same things that I would do. I would like to see him do some Jujitsu moves, but he isn’t allowed to do that-it might get him in trouble.”
Palma said he has taken a lot more than just wrestling skills from his family. He said his quiet persona comes from his parents.
“I’m a fairly quiet guy,” Palma said. “I think I’ve just been raised that way. My brother and my sister are both kind of that way. I’m more of a listener than a talker.”
Teammate Jeremy Colbert said Palma has a hushed demeanor, but he isn’t someone you want to have on your bad side.
“He is real quiet around other people,” Colbert said. “But he has gotten comfortable around us. Sometimes he will get that look — at that point you know just to leave him alone.”
Palma, a third-year heavyweight starter who had a career record of 28-30 going into the season, has gone 21-6 so far this season and has drawn high praise from second-year coach Carter Jordan.
“He is getting more confidence,” Jordan said. “He will probably win 27 or 28 matches this year. This kid was a walk-on. He is definitely on scholarship now, but he was a walk-on … and he just works his fanny off.”
Even though Palma has become one of the top wrestlers in the heavyweight class, he still talks about wrestling his father.
When asked who would win between the two when Jainor was growing up, Jainor responded with a laugh.
“My dad of course,” Palma said. “But now, it’s a different story.”