Jonathan Spiker never lost against Hawai'i competition in his four-year high school wrestling career, a feat that earned him almost immortal status in the local sports world.

But today, Spiker probably knows more about mortality than most 20-year-olds, though his latest feat may even surpass his achievement as just the second Hawai'i wrestler to win four state championships.

He no longer wrestles. His new identity is "cancer survivor." Soon it will be "Harvard graduate."

"It hasn't been easy, but I always told myself to hang in there and never give up," said Spiker, a 2003 Saint Louis High graduate from Hawai'i Kai.

Spiker, home for winter break, is on schedule to graduate in June after three short years — but a long past six months. After being diagnosed with testicular cancer on June 14 and having surgery four days later, he was back at Harvard's summer school in July and enrolled in six courses for the fall semester.

In October, Spiker suffered two herniated discs — no one could determine their origin — and was dragging himself out of bed and into the classroom each day. For two weeks, he was given only aspirin to treat the excruciating pain until the injury was properly diagnosed. By that time Spiker was wheelchair-bound and needed his father, John, to fly to Cambridge, Mass., from Hawai'i and shuttle him from class to class.

"It was almost worse than the cancer," Spiker said of his back injury. "I couldn't even stand up straight, and to take a shower I would have to sit on the ground."

Despite the obstacles and being advised by mostly everyone to withdraw from school and rest, Spiker kept up with his course work, completed graduate school applications to Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, UCLA and Southern California and made it through the grueling five-hour GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test).

For most people, such determination and mental toughness might be considered extraordinary, but it is typical Jonathan Spiker, his supporters said.

"Without a doubt, that's just how he is, and he's always been like that," said Saint Louis athletic director Todd Los Ba–os, who was Spiker's high school coach. "The word that describes him is 'fanatic,' and I say that not as a bad thing. Once he sets his mind to something, nothing is going to stop him from doing it. Whatever he does, he does it all out until it gets done.

"That's how he wrestled — he dominated his opponents. And now he's got two incredible challenges with the cancer and herniated discs. But instead of saying, 'I give up,' he's basically bulling his way through those things, too."

CATCHING IT EARLY

Los Ba–os made an almost identical comment about Spiker in an Advertiser article dated Feb. 26, 2002.

"His success is a combination of God-given talent and an incredible work ethic," Los Ba–os said then. "He has the desire to be No. 1, and no matter what, he'll find a way to win."

That was during Spiker's junior year, right before he won his third state title. The following season, he joined Iolani's Patrick Higa (1983-86) as the only Hawai'i boys wrestler to go undefeated against local competition and win four state championships.

No one has matched the feat since.

Spiker also finished at the top of his class at Saint Louis academically and earned admission to Harvard, where he practiced with the wrestling team as a freshman but did not compete (a common practice known as "red-shirting"). By his sophomore year, Spiker decided to retire from wrestling and focus on trying to finish his degree in three years.

"I was putting so much work into wrestling, but I wasn't getting as much out of it," said Spiker, adding that Harvard does not award athletic scholarships. "I still miss it sometimes, and if I see wrestling on TV I'll watch for a little while. But I decided to just concentrate on getting into graduate school for business and getting my career started."

Things were going smoothly until last spring, when Spiker noticed a lump during a self-exam. He waited until he returned to Hawai'i in June to have it checked out.

"I had heard of another student who had testicular cancer, but other than that it wasn't even a thought for me," Spiker said. "I almost put (the exam) off, but I figured I'd go see a doctor when I came home just to make sure."

It proved to be a wise decision, though the diagnosis was stunning to him and his family.

"The doctor said there were a bunch of risk factors, but I (hardly met) any of them," Spiker said. "But it was important that I went in, because they caught it early."

When Spiker told his father, John was speechless.

"You always think, 'My kid's not going to have cancer,' " John said. "No one in my family had cancer."

Spiker's mom, Donda, said John had trouble breaking the news to her.

"He couldn't even tell me," Donda said. "I work in the medical profession (in the communications department for Kuakini Health System), so I know a little more about cancer. But it was still a shock."

Within a week, Spiker had surgery to remove the cancer through the abdomen. The operation made him "really sick" with nausea for a few days, but he had made an earlier commitment to work in a Harvard psychology department lab for the summer and reported in July.

NO THOUGHT OF QUITTING

Although the cancer was removed, Spiker was told he needs monitoring and testing every three months.

"It still doesn't seem real sometimes, but I know it is and I try not to let it get me down," Spiker said. "There's people in way worse situations than me, so I have no right to complain."

In typical resilient fashion, Spiker responded by enrolling in six courses for the fall. But in mid-September, another unexpected obstacle presented itself.

"I had some pain in my lower back, but I thought it would just go away," Spiker said. "One day in October, I woke up and couldn't stand up straight. I saw a doctor and they gave me aspirin, but it kept getting worse and worse. I thought, 'Something is really wrong here.' "

Before long, Spiker was hobbling to classes bent over on crutches.

"A herniated disc doesn't sound serious, but what happens is the disc gets pushed out into the spinal cord and makes it so you can't straighten your back," Spiker said. "Also, it's touching a nerve, so a crazy amount of pain just shoots down your whole side."

Still coming to grips with the cancer, Spiker and his family were suddenly dealt another blow.

"It was so undeserving for him," Donda said.

Surgery was suggested, but the necessary recovery time would have meant withdrawing from school.

"I didn't want all that work I had already done to go to waste," Spiker said.

So instead, he set a daily routine of waking up for a 9 a.m. class, going to school either in a wheelchair or bent on crutches until about 4 p.m., traveling to the hospital for back treatment and then returning to the dorm or library to study until the wee hours.

In between, Spiker also took the GMAT, hunted down professors for letters of recommendation and completed the five in-depth grad school applications, one of which required seven essays.

"Everybody — from our family and friends and doctors — was telling us to let Jonathan come home and just rest," his father said. "But I knew that's not how he is, that's not him."

Spiker agreed.

"If I came home, what would I have done? Sit on the couch, watch TV and feel sorry for myself?" Spiker said. "(The injury) was frustrating, but I just tried to stay positive. I never thought about quitting."

'THIS IS WHAT IT TAKES'

The healing finally began in November and Spiker was able to make it through to this winter break, although one final project is due in two weeks. He says his back is now "about 75 percent" healthy.

Through it all, Spiker continued to send postcards from Harvard to his two younger brothers, Jared, 13, and Jason, 11. He would encourage them and write, "Give it everything you've got ... and then give something extra."

Los Ba–os said such is the mantra Spiker lives by, and it is something he learned largely through athletics.

"To a normal person, what he did (this semester) may seem extreme, but he always took things to the extreme," Los Ba–os said. "Jonathan wrestled some really intense, tough guys in high school, but he won through discipline and by training himself to be the best. In athletics, you always have adversity and you have to go through it and learn how to rise to a certain level to overcome it."

Spiker said his wrestling experience was good preparation for his most recent trials.

"Sometimes when I was training, I would tell myself, 'No one else would do this ... but this is what it takes to be the best,' " Spiker said.

Said Los Ba–os: "For a kid that age to stay that focused despite all the distractions, all the challenges, it's amazing. You don't come across too many people like him."

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.