Ryan Berger named to M-S Education Foundation Hall of Fame
By FRED KRONER
fredmahometnews.com
Ryan Berger began preparing for his future before he even knew what he wanted his future to look like.
“Growing up, I had the freedom to be outside and explore in the woods,” Berger said. “I had an affinity for nature.”
His interest was sparked at a young age.
“I remember Career Day in elementary school,” Berger said. “Marine biology is what I put down. I didn’t know if it was reality or not.”
Before he reached the point of needing to pick a profession, however, Berger engaged in a variety of sports at Mahomet-Seymour.
He was a member of the first boys’ soccer team at M-S (fall of 1995), but was best known for his success in wrestling.
After winning a Class 1A state championship as a junior, his challenge to repeat was tougher as a senior.
Due to an expanding enrollment, M-S was shifted from the small-school division by the IHSA to the large-school, Class 2A classification in 1998.
Berger became the school’s first state champion wrestler in Class 2A in the year the change was made. It would be another decade before another Bulldog would reach the same pinnacle in Class 2A.
For his athletic exploits at M-S, Berger will be one of four inductees for the third Mahomet-Seymour Education Foundation Hall of Fame class this fall. He remains second on the school’s list for career wins.
The ceremony will take place in conjunction with homecoming on Friday, Sept. 27. The football team will play Mount Zion that night.
Others in this year’s class are Dani Bunch, Robert Handlin and Brett Melton. They will be profiled separately.
Berger’s mother, Merry, remembers her son’s activities beyond the sporting arena.
“From the time he was 5 years old, was running around our backyard with a butterfly net catching butterflies,” Merry Berger said. “He would patiently wait for them to appear, catch them, then let them go.
“He would spend his summer at Lake of the Woods catching frogs and tadpoles. He always caught them and then would release them. He was — and still to this day is — a true lover of nature.”
When he wasn’t outside, he was surrounded by nature indoors when at home.
“I had no real conception of what was involved (with marine biology) but I had photos I’d cut out of magazines on the walls,” he said. “That allowed my curiosity to be peaked.”
Ryan Berger pursued both interests in college, majoring in biology at Illinois and competing for the wrestling team. As a 149-pounder, he was an NCAA qualifier in 2002.
Originally, he didn’t see himself focusing on wrestling.
“Most of the time, I was more interested in baseball,” the former shortstop and pitcher said, “but I did Greco and Freestyle wrestling and because of the success I had there, over time, I was drawn to wrestling.”
It’s now more than two decades since he graduated from high school.
His athletic resume, he said, “is what I did a lifetime ago.”
And yet, his work these days is in an area which he envisioned as a youngster growing up in Champaign County.
Living in California, north of San Francisco, he is the Northern Range operations manager within the rescue and response department.
“I help lead rescue efforts for seals and sea lions,” Berger said.
With 600 miles of coastline in the state, it’s seldom that two days are identical.
“We will assist an animal back to water, if it doesn’t need medical attention,” Berger said. “There are a lot of rewards in the work. To a certain degree, we are reducing the suffering of animals.
“With something like that, there’s a sense of responsibility I feel for alleviating that injury.”
He is also involved in a related venture.
“I’m involved in a whale entanglement group,” he said, referring to efforts to free whales from fishing nets. “Rescuing animals in need and getting them back in the wild is a huge reward.”
His practical experience came after he finished at the UI in 2003.
He worked on his master’s degree in biology while at Georgia Southern University — where he met the young lady who is now his fiance, Katie Davis — while specializing in animal behavior and marine mammals, specifically manatees.”
“I was drawn to the marine world on vacations to Florida in the summertime,” Ryan Berger said. “In grad school, I started studying manatees, what they do in the winter versus the summer months. That’s how I got my foot in the door.”
He did many of his studies in an area along the Gulf Coast of Florida, north of Tampa in what he called, “a manatee mecca.”
Though his job bears little resemblance to the sports he participated in, Merry Berger believes the activities of his youth taught her son valuable lessons.
“Steve and I both feel Ryan learned patience, perseverance and discipline through wrestling,” Merry Berger said. “This has carried on through his career.
“His discipline was showcased when he spent weeks upon weeks on an isolated island (the Fararollone Islands), off the coast of San Francisco, doing research and data on the elephant seals and various species of birds.”
Becoming a volunteer in disentangling distressed whales that were caught in fishing line in the California waters called upon other traits learned through sports.
“His perseverance was proven when he would spend countless hours in a small inflatable boat following the whale and using his training to disentangle the massive mammal from the fishing line that could take its life,” Merry Berger said. “A very tedious job indeed, but with discipline, patience and his perseverance — taught through wrestling days — he was able to complete this amazing job.”
Ryan Berger appreciates his upbringing in sports, especially wrestling.
“The collective thought is there’s a bigger goal in mind,” he said. “Your individual effort feeds into a team environment.
“I try to lead by example.”
Wrestling is often considered an individual sport — because the matches are one-on-one — but Berger is confident he wouldn’t have enjoyed the success he did without the efforts of others beyond the teammates who challenged him daily in practice.
“I had fantastic coaches who drove me forward” he said. “Coach (James) Heinold and (Jim) Moxley in junior high and coach (Rob) Porter and Coach (Steve) Combs were great role models and coaches.”
His passion for animals has enabled Berger to see many sections of the country. He was in northern Virginia (2003-04), Georgia (2005-07), Florida (2008-10) and has called California home since 2011
As he prepares for his July wedding, he is also contemplating the future.
“California is expensive and fast-paced,” he said. “It’ hard to find down time.
“I’ve questioned a few times whether this is the path I want to stay with.”
And yet, he enjoys the work.
“I’ve gotten a lot of rewards from the profession I’ve chosen,” Ryan Berger said. “I’m definitely happy at work.
“There’s a lot of potential for growth, but as I get older, what does that reality look like with the cost to live. We’ll have to reevaluate to figure what we want to do.”
The person who was enshrined in the IWCOA state wrestling Hall of Fame last April, still maintains connections with one key part of his past.
“I do volunteer assistant coaching (in wrestling) at one of the high schools,” Ryan Berger said, “When I can, I try to make two practices a week.”
It’s something other wrestlers will understand.
“If you’re not involved, it’s hard to understand that culture,” Berger said, “but you find it grabs ahold of you for life.”
Soon, there will be a permanent reminder to Berger’s outstanding wrestling career when his biography is placed alongside those of the other Mahomet-Seymour Education Foundation Hall of Fame.
M-S Education Foundation
Hall-of Famers
Class of 2019
Ryan Berger 1998
Dani Bunch Hill 2009
Robert ‘Moose’ Handlin Coach
Brett Melton 2000
Class of 2018
Craig Buchanan 1993
Frank Dutton Coach
Sharon Farley Goff 1980
Brian Haag 1989
James C. Kroner 1939
Rob Porter 1984
Class of 2017
Brett Camden 1989
Ed Grogg Contributor
Brian Herriott 1987
Eric Mark Johnson 1975
Phil Knell 1963
Melanie Moore Paxson 1990
Maureen Scott Renaud 2002
Marty Williams Coach
