Jonathon Toro - Wrestling Coach

Jonathon was born and raised in East Los Angeles.  He grew up playing football and skateboarding, but then wrestling took over in high school.  In high school, Jonathon was a four-year varsity letterman, a four-time CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) qualifier, and was the Lower Weight MVP at the West Coast Classic. 

Jonathon even wrestled some in college at Cal State Fullerton University until the program was eliminated.  At CSFU, Jonathon earned a BA in Earth Science with a focus on Education.  It was in college that he first started BJJ.  His college offered free BJJ classes and he took a few there.  He first put a gi on at UJJ in early 2020, and he hasn’t looked back!

After college, Jonathon was a substitute high school teacher and a full-time wrestling coach.  He did those two jobs until he was hired at Nike as a manufacturing supervisor, a job he still holds today.

Jonathon believes that not all techniques in wrestling and BJJ are meant to be cut and dry.  He believes that wrestling and BJJ should be about finding the variations of movements that work best for each individual, and most importantly, that are fun to do.

Jonathon teaches our Wrestling Fundamentals class every other Thursday night at UJJ.  You can also find him helping new students in Fundamentals BJJ classes where he is always ready and willing to help brand new students out.