When David Rubio took to the mat for the NAIA National Championship final at 157lbs, it was not the first time. He had been here twice before, coming just short of his ultimate goal on each occasion. But this time felt different.  

 “Before coming to Corban, I really didn’t have much of a relationship with God,” Rubio says. “I was living to please myself, and I was trying to fill the void I felt in my life with my wrestling. I thought that my success would bring me so much happiness.” 

As a high school Junior, Rubio won the Oregon state title, his dream at the time. It felt good. He was finally happy. But only a week later, he felt empty again. Wrestling couldn’t fill the void. When he lost the state title as a senior, the world he had created around himself began to crumble. “I was broken,” he remembers. “All I could think was, ‘I got second. How could this happen? I’m not a champion, and no one loves me like they used to.’”  

Deep in a performance-driven depression, Rubio received an offer to wrestle for Corban University’s brand-new wrestling program. He would become the Warrior’s first recruit under then head coach, Keegan Davis. It felt like a second chance—one more opportunity to recover that feeling he had lost as a senior at the state finals.  

A new dream of becoming a collegiate wrestler drove him onward. But still, wrestling could not fill the void. He continued to chase the high of success on the mat, but after a rough first year at Corban, Rubio was ready to drop out. “I was not transitioning well,” he admits. “I had such a bad attitude and had developed some really bad habits. I was blaming professors, blaming the system, blaming anyone I could but myself.”  

Rubio credits Corban, his coaches, his team, and ultimately God for never giving up on him. “I started to learn there was so much more than wrestling and living for myself,” he says. “Before coming to Corban, I wrestled without God. When I got here, I had to learn to wrestle with God. He guided me through some tests and trials, put people in my life that could challenge me to grow, and now, I get the joy of wrestling for God.”  

This was the difference. At the NAIA national championships, Rubio and the Warriors were not just wrestling for themselves. They felt compelled by a greater purpose that existed beyond the individual, beyond the mat, beyond even the team. “I knew the result belonged to God,” Rubio says. “And at the end of the day, win or lose, we were all going to give the result and the glory to him. That’s what I love about our team. We wrestle for a bigger purpose. I felt them rallying around me and praying for me. They believed I could get it done.”  

He had talked the gameplan over with his coaches, he’d finished drilling techniques with his teammates, all that was left was to go out and compete. This time, the pressure was gone. He gave it all to God. “I remember thinking, ‘If losing in the national final three times is the worst thing that happens to me, I think I’m living a pretty blessed life.’” He says. All that was left was to wrestle. For David Rubio, that was the easy part.  

The first period was scoreless as the two finalists studied and probed each other’s defenses, techniques, and tendencies. Rubio was not worried. Patience was something he had learned to cultivate over his years at Corban. When the second period began, he knew it was time to score.  

There’s a term in wrestling called “finishing on the edge.” It’s one of the most difficult things to do well, and the mark of a great wrestler, learning to score a takedown even as you are running out of real estate, your opponent fleeing to the edge of the mat. All points must be scored with at least one foot in the ring. Early in the second, Rubio shot and secured a single leg. His opponent began to flee to the edge of the ring.  

“You can’t be discouraged when a guy’s running out of bounds,” he said. “Just like you can’t be discouraged at a bad call, a bad grade, a tough circumstance in life. God gives us trials for us to learn and grow through adversity.”  

Rubio was no stranger to adversity. For most of the season, he had been wrestling through a torn PCL and LCL in his knee that threatened to end his dream championship run before it even began. “It changed the way I wrestled,” Rubio says. “It made me a better wrestler. I had to be more disciplined. I couldn’t allow guys to get in on my legs. I couldn’t just react. I had to learn to be patient and find my times to score.” 

Stuck on the edge of the mat with time ticking down in his third and final chance at a national championship, David admits, in years prior, he may have forced the issue and tried to power through for a takedown, or let his opponent step out of bounds. But this time, he was patient, and slowly began to pull his opponent back in.  

“My first years at Corban, when all I wanted was to win, I realized the Lord was making me wait,” he says. “He was teaching me and preparing me for the future beyond wrestling. It wasn’t time my sophomore year. It wasn’t time my junior year. God was showing me that if you’re just committed to Him, to the process of growth, it will pay off—whether that’s in a match, a tough lab assignment, finishing a research paper, or learning to grow in your faith. It’s going to pay off.” 

Rubio saw his opening, converting his single leg hold into a cradle, scoring a take-down and near-fall points—a match-defining score on the edge. From that moment, the floodgates opened, and Rubio poured on the offense. His defense remained immaculate. He did not give up a single takedown in the match—a difficult accomplishment against any opponent, let alone one of the nation’s best.  

Rubio finished the match with a score of 11-1. To make his victory even sweeter, his margin of victory meant he earned a “major decision,” scoring bonus points for his team, and catapulting them into a top-ten finish in the national team race, above conference rival Southern Oregon, who had bested the Warriors at the conference championships just weeks earlier. It was a program-record finish.  

David Rubio, Corban’s first ever recruit, was now the University’s first ever national champion. This time, wrestling for God, not without him, the feeling of victory stayed as he embraced his head coach, Nolan Harris, and the rest of his coaching staff, and all the teammates that had helped him to reach this point. “I really believe in this program,” Rubio says. “My coaches, my team, they helped me realize that loving wrestling is not a bad thing. God uses our skills and our interests to help spread the gospel. That’s what I love about this team. We are Warriors and fighters on the mat, but we also get to show our opponents the love of God off of it. We wrestle for a bigger purpose, and they get to see Christ through us.”  

Rubio believes that the principles he has learned in wrestling, handling adversity, fighting for your team, and learning to finish on the edge, were meant for more than just his time as a student-athlete. Now, he is ready to apply them to the profession and purpose he feels God calling him to, mentoring young students, just like he was, as a coach and educator.  

Rubio’s childhood and early years were difficult. Born in Compton, California, his father was deported when he was only eight years old. Even after moving to Salem, where he attended local McKay high school, he struggled to find positive influences in his life—people who could commit to mentoring him. Eventually, he found them in his coaches; Troy and Tyler Thomas in high school, Keegan and Stryder Davis, who first recruited him to wrestle at Corban, and current Corban coaches, Nolan Harris and Kary Hadden, who helped him grow in his faith and into a national champion. “They never gave up on me,” he says. “They reflected the character of God. He will never give up on us. I think that’s why He is calling me into education and coaching, and into mentorship.”  

Graduating with a degree in post-secondary history education, Rubio is excited to put all he has learned on the mat and at Corban into practice off of it. “Having a relationship with Jesus saved me,” he says. “My time at Corban helped me grow in my faith, to learn to be patient, to handle adversity, to become selfless, and follow Christ’s example. Those are qualities that help you become a better athlete, a better coach, a better friend, husband, and father.”  

Even as a national champion, having finally achieved his ultimate goal, having stood on top of the podium, Rubio doesn’t look at that moment as the most significant in his wrestling career. He looks back to the moment his journey at Corban began. “It’s crazy to think that one short recruiting trip could change my life forever,” he says. “I look forward to continuing to wrestle for God, not without Him, and seeing where He leads me.”