St. Joe’s Prep’s Maxwell Roy has committed to Ohio State. He’s also an All-American wrestler.

Maxwell Roy is a wrestler.

The St. Joseph’s Prep senior-to-be has won the last three Philadelphia Catholic League titles in the 285-pound weight class. He notched his 100th career victory in January in his 122nd match, and two months later, he finished sixth at the PIAA state tournament. In April, the Delran native gritted his way to an eighth-place finish at the National High School Coaches Association nationals and was named an All-American.

The sport is in Roy’s blood. His two older brothers also wrestled, his uncle coached the sport at Delran High School, and his mother, Roxanne Jackson, was a stat-keeper for her high school team. She calls wrestling “her sport.”

“I couldn’t imagine my kids not wrestling, and they all took to wrestling really well,” Jackson said.

Roy has been on the mat since he was 4 years old, and though his dominant 41-win junior season was a new peak in his career, his last match of the year brought bad fortune. During the seventh-place match at nationals, Roy suffered a serious knee injury that forced him to withdraw.

If he only wrestled, that wouldn’t have presented a significant problem. Roy would’ve had the rest of the spring, the whole summer, and much of the fall to rehab.

But the 6-foot-4 Roy also is the No. 19 defensive lineman in the class of 2025, and he had planned on committing to a football program once his wrestling season concluded. With his banged-up knee and a pit in his stomach, Roy got on the phone and informed his suitors — which included Ohio State and Michigan — that he may not suit up for the 2024 football season.

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“I wanted people to make sure that the relationship we were building was 100% trust both ways, and they knew everything that happened to me,” Roy said.

Jackson says the situation was a “moment of pause,” but in the end, Roy’s transparency served him well. Coaches reassured him they were no less interested, and Roy took official visits to Ohio State, Michigan, and Rutgers this summer. On his visit to Columbus, Ohio, in mid-June, he fell in love with the idea of being a Buckeye. Roy made a verbal pledge to Ohio State on July 1.

“Every time I look at the amazing place I committed to, it seems even more surreal,” Roy said. “Talking with coaches, talking with people that also committed to Ohio State, it’s just amazing the more I think about it.”

With his college plans now sorted, Roy has turned his attention to his knee. The four-star recruit wants nothing more than to be on the gridiron for his senior season at the Prep, which is why he started rehab the same week he suffered his injury. Less than four months since limping off the mat at nationals, Roy is jumping rope and running.

“It’s a great and scary thing that I’m very far ahead of schedule right now,” Roy said. “A part of me is super happy, but, at the same time, you always have to be cautious never to rush too far.”

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Roy still is unsure whether he’ll return this year. The Prep kicks off its 2024 campaign against the Haverford School on Aug. 23.

In the meantime, he is finding solace in a new role on the sideline. As a two-time All-Catholic League selection and a key piece of the Hawks’ back-to-back PIAA state titles, there is no player more suited than Roy to help coach the team’s next generation of talent.

“A lot of times I led by example — leading by my work ethic and the work I was able to put in on the field,” Roy said. “Now that I can’t lead by that example, I have to lead in a different way. Start trying to be more vocal to the guys, be more hands-on with trying to help guys, develop younger people to get through our program a lot easier.”

Tim Roken, the Prep’s football coach, appreciates what Roy is contributing this summer.

“He’s been a coach on the field for us, passing on his intelligence of the game and our defense to some of the younger guys,” Roken said.

Roken said there is always a tough period recovery process as athletes adjust to being away from their sport. He’s been telling Roy to “control what you can control” the last few months, and, by all accounts, the future Buckeye is doing just that.

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In addition to his physical therapy sessions and other rehab activities, Roy attends the Prep’s morning practices, which start as early as 6 a.m. It’s his way of living vicariously through his teammates, who are pushing through the workouts that Roy is eager to take part.

“I thought [the injury] would have more of a mental impact on him because … he’s very committed to what he does, but it hasn’t had an effect,” Jackson said. “ … He never stopped being involved with his team.”

Roy has always known these things about himself — he works hard, he cares about his team’s success as much as his own, and he loves football. But it took a painful injury, plus a lengthy rehab, to uncover his level of resolve.

“I’ve realized I’m a tough guy,” Roy said. “Going through everything I’ve been through so far, I’ve realized I don’t think there’s much that can stop me.”