Cpt, Leigh Evelyn Jaynes (born December 18, 1980) is an American

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling i ...

and beach wrestler.

Education

Jaynes earned a BS in Exercise Science and in MA in Management from

Missouri Valley College Missouri Valley College is a private college that is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Marshall, Missouri. The college was founded in 1889 and supports 40 academic majors and an enrollment close to 1,500 students. Misso ...

. The summer of her junior year, following a poor semester, Jaynes enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve on February 22, 2002.

Athletic career

She started wrestling at

Rancocas Valley Regional High School Rancocas Valley Regional High School is a regional high school and public school district serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from five communities in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. The district encompasses approxi ...

Mount Holly, New Jersey Mount Holly is a township that is the county seat of Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia, the nation's sixth largest city as of 2020, As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township's population w ...

, after a coach dared her to try out for the team.Politi, Steve
"The story of N.J. Olympic hopeful Leigh Jaynes-Provisor will inspire you"
NJ Advance Media for

NJ.com NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to a report in ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore r ...

, August 9, 2015. Accessed August 8, 2016. "Her wrestling career started with a dare. Leigh Jaynes-Provisor was on a backpacking trip with a youth group when a popular coach at Rancocas Valley Regional High issued a challenge that would change her life and set her on a path to the Olympics." Needing a winter sport, Jaynes accepted the challenge, becoming the 1999 HS All-American via USGWA Girl's Folk-Style National Championship in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

. She went on to become a 2x All-American for MoVal. With a 5th Place finish at University Nationals, she qualified for the Olympic Development Program in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. Jaynes made 6 consecutive national teams from 2007-2012 before taking a short break, Jaynes returned to the mat, seized a 3rd world team slot in the highly competitive weight class. She won bronze at the

2015 World Wrestling Championships The 2015 UWW World Wrestling Championships were the 12th edition of World Wrestling Championships of combined events and was held from September 7 to 12 in Las Vegas, United States. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle M ...

at Women's freestyle 60 kg. Jaynes won bronze at 2006

World Beach Wrestling Championships World Beach Wrestling Championships is the annual world championship organized by United World Wrestling for the sport of beach wrestling. History The first World Championships took place in 2006, alongside the resurrected FILA Sambo World Champi ...

. Jaynes also competed in the

2007 World Wrestling Championships The 2007 World Wrestling Championships were held at the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Concert Complex in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event took place from September 17 to September 23, 2007. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's ...

and the 2012 World Wrestling Championships.

Post athletic career

Jaynes is now the Head Women's Wrestling coach at Delaware Valley University, Doylestown, PA.

Personal life

Jaynes is a veteran of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

(February 22, 2002 – June 16, 2016) and was formerly married to Olympic wrestler

Ben Provisor Ben Provisor (born June 26, 1990 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin) is an American wrestler. He won the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials at 74 kg GR, and competed at the 2012 Olympics. He also competed at the 2016 Olympics. Personal life He is the son o ...

. The two divorced December 16, 2016 and share one daughter.

References

United World Wrestling Database
1980 births Living people 21st-century American sportswomen American female sport wrestlers People from Mount Holly, New Jersey Rancocas Valley Regional High School alumni Sportspeople from Burlington County, New Jersey World Wrestling Championships medalists {{US-wrestling-bio-stub