OLD TOWN — As a member of the Menomonee Judo Club, Michael Mutz knows something about quick reversals, but even he has to be amazed at his own turnaround from a year ago.
Last summer, Mutz was recovering from foot surgery involving a torn ligament near his left big toe, an injury suffered and then aggravated in competition. But this week the Lincoln Park 16-year-old, a junior at Jones College Prep, is off to Santiago, Chile, to compete in the Cadet World Judo Championships at the peak of his young career.
"This is by far the biggest tournament I've ever done," Mutz said Tuesday as he was preparing for the trip. "I've never done a world championship before. So I'm looking forward to the high level of competition."
Mutz's comeback has seen him place seventh in an international event in Mexico a month ago, then win gold in an International Judo Federation event in Florida in his weight class, 81 kilograms or 178 pounds, as a cadet, under 18. He also placed fourth moving up to compete in the 18-20 age group simultaneously.
"He is head and shoulders above where he's ever been," said his father, Michael A. Mutz, citing how he's ranked 24th in the world on the International Judo Federation cadet list for his weight class.
Mutz credited his coach, sensei Brett Wolf.
"When you think of Menomonee Judo Club, it's really about Brett," the younger Mutz said. "He is the coach who has taken me everywhere.
"He's brought me up and he's basically taught me what I know," added Mutz, a seven-year student at the club. "He's really why I've stayed at the Menomonee Club."
Other judo clubs, he said, were more "formal" and "rigid," adding, "At our club, it's a lot more laid back. It's a lot more fun, and I really enjoy doing judo there."
Wolf agreed that the emphasis is on fun at Menomonee, adding that he adopts more of a "hands-off" approach to teenagers, giving them place to develop on their own. Yet he also said they can get serious when it counts, and that the teens are also handed mentoring roles with younger and disabled judo players. He said Mutz was one of those athletes who didn't need to be driven hard to succeed.
Mutz joins Wolf weekly in three judo programs they run for the disabled through the Park District on Saturdays.
"He really stepped up as a mentor," Wolf said.
Of all the students he's had over the last 20 years, Wolf called Mutz "one of the most dedicated and really committed to the craft," adding, "He loves judo and he enjoys judo, but he also takes it really seriously."
It's another in a series of success stories for the Menomonee Judo Club, 1535 N. Dayton St., which last year sent Sarah Chung to the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro — and, not coincidentally, to the White House. Mutz is representing Team USA in Chile, and Wolf is one of three coaches running the team of 19 — 10 of them girls — for USA Judo.
"This is really a team sport," Mutz's father said. "No one gets good at it by themselves."
Mutz said he's intensified his training over the last month since the seventh-place finish in Mexico, resulting in the gold medal in Florida.
"I've really prepared," Mutz said. "I really feel good going in."
Mutz begins competition Friday.
