“Wear your seat belts.”
Jim Horning ends the JVH Memorial Tournament each year with these three words.
The Mason Wrestling Invitational was renamed in memory of Horning’s son, James V. Horning. James was the captain of the wrestling team, and was driving home one rainy night from his girlfriend’s house in 2004. His truck flipped over and upon impact James was thrown from his car. James did not escape the accident alive. He was not wearing a seatbelt.
Jim founded the JVH Memorial Foundation with the help of his friends and some of James’ former coaches and teachers. Ken Whitney is a current ninth grade history teacher at Mason High School, and used to teach James. He is also a close friend of Jim’s and is the tournament director. According to Whitney, the tournament has a deeper intent than to display wrestling skills.
“(The tournament) is a celebration of James’ life,” Whitney said. “Part of that is celebrating James’ life, in honor of James and the kind of kid he was. He loved to help others.”
Head wrestling coach Craig Murnan was an assistant coach at the time of James’ death. According to Murnan, James’ team was one of the best Mason had put on the mat. Murnan takes the week of the tournament to remember James’s character with the rest of the coaching staff. The tournament brings back many alumni wrestlers and parents, and Murnan said that it is great experience for his team to be able to perform in front of so many alumni.
“We’ve been to some memorial tournaments,” Murnan said. “The coaching staff mostly will talk about James, we talk about the character, and the qualities that he stood for. It’s a really good reminder, too, because honestly (James) would probably still be here if he had worn a seatbelt, it’s something as simple as that. It represents a time that is good because it refocuses our kids in the middle of a season about what is important.”
The goal of the JVH Memorial Foundation is to help any families who are experiencing a tragedy, similar to one the Horning family endured. The Foundation has a variety of fundraisers, the biggest being a golf outing that raises about $15,000 in July. The tournament, however, does not raise any extra money for the foundation. According to Jim, the tournament is simply to honor James and the sport that he loved.
“The JVH Wrestling Invitational is more or less just for the wrestling aspect of what James was all about,” Jim said. “We don’t really make a lot of money on that tournament, we ask to break even with that tournament. (The tournament) is more or less to just make sure that we keep (James’) spirit alive in the wrestling foundation as far as within the school so (people) know what he was and what he was all about.”“Wear your seatbelts.”
Jim Horning ends the JVH Memorial Tournament each year with these three words.
The Mason Wrestling Invitational was renamed in memory of Horning’s son, James V. Horning. James was the captain of the wrestling team, and was driving home one rainy night from his girlfriend’s house in 2004. His truck flipped over and upon impact James was thrown from his car. James did not escape the accident alive. He was not wearing a seatbelt.
Jim founded the JVH Memorial Foundation with the help of his friends and some of James’ former coaches and teachers. Ken Whitney is a current ninth grade history teacher at Mason High School, and used to teach James. He is also a close friend of Jim’s and is the tournament director. According to Whitney, the tournament has a deeper intent than to display wrestling skills.
“(The tournament) is a celebration of James’ life,” Whitney said. “Part of that is celebrating James’ life, in honor of James and the kind of kid he was. He loved to help others.”
Despite the high level of intensity during the season, Murnan says that the tournament is a day where coaches push their athletes a little less. According to Murnan, this exemplifies the sportsmanship and character each wrestler stands for.
“As competitive as the sport is, it is a day where sometimes the competitive nature is not as big,” Murnan said. “It’s a good tournament, it’s just the coaches don’t maybe take (the tournament) to the level that they might later in the year when interacting with each other and as well as the team. I think there is a lot of sportsmanship and values that carry through the day.”
Jim and Whitney share the same idea about the message of the tournament: wherever you are, always buckle up.
“The biggest impact that we want to get out there is to make awareness of the seatbelt factor,” Horning said. “We believe that if James had his seatbelt fastened that he would probably still be with us today. That is one of the big issues that we try to side for today.”
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The goal of the JVH Memorial Foundation is to help any families who are experiencing a tragedy, similar to one the Horning family endured. The Foundation has a variety of fundraisers, the biggest being a golf outing that raises about $15,000 in July. The tournament, however, does not raise any extra money for the foundation. According to Jim, the tournament is simply to honor James and the sport that he loved.
“The JVH Wrestling Invitational is more or less just for the wrestling aspect of what James was all about,” Jim said. “We don’t really make a lot of money on that tournament, we ask to break even with that tournament. (The tournament) is more or less to just make sure that we keep (James’) spirit alive in the wrestling foundation as far as within the school so (people) know what he was and what he was all about.”
