Newtown coach Curtis Urbina, right, is the author of the book Where Grit Meets Greatness.
At a time when young people are facing unprecedented levels of pressure, anxiety, self-doubt, and emotional struggle, longtime wrestling coach and mentor Curtis Urbina is stepping forward with a mission far greater than sports.
His newly-released book, Where Grit Meets Greatness, is not simply a story about wrestling — it is a deeply authentic and lived message about perseverance, identity, confidence, discipline, and discovering strength through struggle.
Through the eyes of his lead character Ty Alvarez, a seventh-grade wrestler learning to navigate competition, friendships, setbacks, family pressures, and self-belief, Urbina offers readers something increasingly rare in today’s world: a reminder that greatness is not something we are born with — it is something built.
One challenge. One setback. One moment of courage at a time.
“This book was written for the kid who feels pressure,” said Urbina. “The kid who questions themselves. The kid who doesn’t feel good enough yet. Wrestling became the backdrop, but this story is really about life. Every young person is wrestling something — fear, confidence, belonging, pressure, identity. I wanted them to understand that struggle doesn’t mean you’re failing.
Sometimes struggle is proof that you’re growing.”
Unlike many youth sports books centered solely around winning and competition, Where Grit Meets Greatness tackles the emotional and mental realities young people face every day — fear of failure, comparison, confidence, setbacks, and learning to trust the process of becoming who they are meant to be.
The story resonates far beyond wrestling.
Parents will see lessons in perseverance. Coaches will recognize the power of mentorship. Educators will value its message of character-building. Youth organizations will connect with its themes of self-esteem, resilience, and emotional growth.
And perhaps most importantly, young readers can see themselves in Ty.
Written with reluctant readers in mind, Urbina crafted the book to feel accessible, relatable, and emotionally real — especially for young athletes and middle school students who may not naturally gravitate toward reading.
“In a world filled with screens, comparison, and constant pressure, kids need stories that speak to them honestly,” Urbina said. “I wanted to create something young people would actually want to pick up — something that says, ‘I understand what you’re feeling, and you’re going to be okay if you stay in the fight.’”
Where Grit Meets Greatness is fiction.
Urbina has been the head coach of the Newtown Youth Wrestling Association since 2014, one of the largest youth wrestling organizations in New England. Many of the wrestlers he coached wrestled in high school winning state and New England titles. Some earned NHSCA All-American honors and wrestled in college.
From 2021 through 2024, he has been an assistant coach at Newtown High and has served as an assistant coach since 2005 with Team Connecticut at the Junior National and 16U national championships in Fargo, North Dakota. In 2025, he joined the University of Bridgeport, who relaunched their men’s wrestling program, as an assistant coach.
