James "Chico" Hernandez (born April 14, 1954) is an accomplished athlete in the sport of Sambo. He is the first Sambo champion to be featured on a box of Wheaties Energy Crunch and the first Sambo wrestler to appear in CNN/SI "Faces In the Crowd". History Hernandez was born in the Heart of Chicago, in a community called Pilsen. Hernandez competed and wrestled for Reavis High School, Chicago State University, the University of Maine at Presque Isle, the US Army National Team, and the United States National Sambo Team. He is the First Sambo wrestler to be featured on Wheaties (Wheaties Energy Crunch). He won his first Gold medal at the Illinois Wrestling Federation South Suburban Freestyle Wrestling Championships in the 154 lbs weight class in April 1972. He won a Bronze medal at 154 lbs in the 1972 Amateur Athletic Union Illinois State Jr. Freestyle Wrestling Championships held at Loyola Academy. At the 1973 City of Chicago Park District City-Wide Open Wrestling Championships, Hernandez won the 155 lbs weight class finals. In January 1975, he was awarded a wrestling scholarship to Chicago State University. He took second place at the 1976 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics District #20 at 158 lbs. He qualified for the NAIA National Wrestling Championships held at Edinboro University in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. Hernandez transferred to the University of Maine at Presque Isle in August 1976. In November 1977, he won the Acadia University, Nova Scotia Open. In January 1979, he won first place at the University of New Brunswick International Open Championships in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Hernandez won first place at the 1979 USA Wrestling Maine State Freestyle Wrestling Championships, third place at the Northern New England Championships and fifth place at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Northeast Regional. He was a 3 time All-District selection in NAIA #5, 1979 All-New England and NCAA Northeast Regional Teams. The State of Maine AAU Olympic Freestyle Wrestling All-Star Team selected him to compete against the Netherlands Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Team. Hernandez graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Science from the University of Maine at Presque Isle in May 1979. Hernandez was named head wrestling coach at University of Maine at Presque Isle for the 1980-81 season. He coached 3 Northern New England Champions, 3 All-New England NAIA Wrestlers, 2 All-New England D-3 NCAA Wrestlers, and 3 NAIA National Qualifiers. He was selected as NAIA