DUNLAP ― Donovan Cunningham knows that if he wants something, he has to work for it. It’s the Cunningham family way.
His father, Steve, works at a cabinet-making factory. Donovan has three older brothers, all of which helped him discover his love for wrestling through at-home matches.
This mentality is how Cunningham, a Concord High School senior, has preserved through two mis-timed injuries in 2025. First, it was a broken hand that ended his junior wrestling season early with a 25-9 record. Then, it was a broken C3, C4 and C5 vertebrae during a drill at Concord’s fall football camp.
Before the first game of the season, doctors told Cunningham that, while he wouldn’t need surgery, he also wouldn’t play his senior campaign. Cunningham said the 70 days of inactivity that followed was just as difficult for him as recovering from a procedure would have been.
He was not allowed to work for his goals for the first time he could remember.
“I felt like a bum,” Cunningham said. “Sitting at home doing nothing, I just felt out of place.”
Cunningham made it his goal to prove the doctors wrong and return to the field before season’s end. He did just that in the postseason, making his debut in the sectional semi-final against Warsaw. The Minutemen went on to reach the Class 5A semi-state round, meaning Cunningham played in four games his senior season.
“You’re kind of drawn to him, because this dude is going to give 100% every single time,” defensive coordinator CJ Shafer said.
When Concord head wrestling coach Brian Pfiel heard about Cunningham’s neck injury, he reminded Cunningham that Kurt Angle won an Olympic gold medal with a broken neck in 1996. While the vertebrae are mostly healed, Cunningham must have been inspired by Pfiel’s anecdote, because he has started his senior season unbeaten.
“He shows up every day ready to work,” Pfiel said. “He just keeps grinding away … They all kind of feed off of that same energy.”
Cunningham felt he was on track to make a deep run in the IHSAA state tournament last season before a hand injury sidelined him prematurely. With just one more shot to wrestle for a state championship, Cunningham is depending on what fuels him the most on the mat.
Sure, his natural hard-working mentality fosters a thirst for success both athletically and in his personal life, but Cunningham’s true No. 1 motivator takes a lot of courage to admit.
“I know it sounds kind of stupid, but I’ve always had a fear of losing,” Cunningham said. “It’s less of, ‘I want to win,’ and more of, ‘I can’t lose.’”
Cunningham has been winning more than football games and wrestling matches as of late. He and Elkhart High School senior Alfonzo Newbern were given the Elkhart Chapter Indiana Black Expo Jr. Man of Honor awards November 21.
The two were selected by the ECIBE due to their academic standing and athletic prowess as young Black men in Elkhart County. Complete with the award, Cunningham was granted $2,000 in scholarship money toward his college tuition.
While Cunningham often comes off as quietly confident on the outside, he said he can be hard on himself behind closed doors. However, he doesn’t let his occasional self-doubt stop his determination because he knows youth in the Concord community look up to him, regardless of race.
“Getting that award, it definitely gave me some clarity on the fact that I’m actually doing something,” Cunningham said. “I’m actually helping people. I’m not just doing this for myself.”
Kyle Smedley is a sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email at ksmedley@usatodayco.com or follow him on X @KyleSmedley03.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Concord’s Donovan Cunningham recently honored by Indiana Black Expo
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