From wrestling rings to school gyms: Chris Gray visits PVNC Catholic schools to inspire students to ‘Dare to Dream BIG!’

Feb. 7, 2025

Chris Gray, known to wrestling fans as Cody Deaner from Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling, is a dad, motivational speaker and storyteller.

He brought his “Dare to Dream BIG” presentation, which focuses on positive messaging for youth to reach for their dreams and to put in the work to get there, to Monsignor O’Donoghue Catholic Elementary School on Friday (Feb. 7, 2025).

And the students responded with a lot of positive energy in return.

“It motivates me and inspires me. It’s my job in all of my careers, whether as a speaker or wrestler, to read the room and adjust what I’m doing according to the room. I don’t have to adjust what I’m doing in a negative way because it’s all positivity,” said Gray. “When I get that response from the kids, it reinforces to me that I’m doing what I should be doing. It was what I was created to do.”

Gray spoke about being a five-year-old child growing up in small Port Bruce, Ontario with dreams of one day becoming a professional wrestler.

He told the students he was often laughed at or told that he couldn’t do it. Although he didn’t let that deter him and through hard work, he achieved his dreams.

He also detailed losing his dream job and remaining positive, which led to him wrestling with some of his childhood idols and then eventually getting back to TNA Wrestling.

“Bringing positivity in general is so important for the generation today. There’s so much negativity out there that they have access to. It’s important to me to be a positive light for these kids. If I can do that for an hour when I’m with them, then I take that very seriously,” said Gray. “In-terms of putting in the work, that’s messaging that I’m very intentional about. There’s this idea in society that you can be whatever you want to be – if you dream it, you can achieve it – but there’s something missing and that work element needs to be enforced to get there.”

Charlotte Del Mastro, a Grade 5 student, was in the crowd during Gray’s presentation.

She wants to be a professional wrestler too.

“I got to meet a wrestler and I was excited about that. If you can dream big and work hard, you can do anything,” Charlotte said. “I want to be a wrestler and this was very inspirational for me.”

Ellie Sweeney, a Grade 5 student, and Payton Walsh, a Grade 6 student, both play minor hockey and have aspirations of one day playing in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).

“It was fun to meet someone that’s inspirational,” said Ellie. “I’m going to make it to the PWHL and I’m going to keep working hard.”

“He taught us some valuable life lessons,” added Payton. “I’m putting in some of that work now to realize my dreams.”

“We’re grateful to the Kiwanis Club of Peterborough and Jeff Westlake for sponsoring this amazing opportunity to have Chris Gray speak to our students,” said Paul Hough, Principal of Monsignor O’Donoghue CES. “Chris brought a powerful message to our students today around not being afraid to Dream Big. This reinforces our ongoing message to students at Monsignor O’Donoghue CES around Being Creative in their lives and believing in themselves.”

Gray also visited St. Paul CES in Peterborough on Thursday (Feb. 6, 2025) as part of his tour.

“Both schools have represented the school board with dignity, class, respect and kindness,” Gray said. “I look forward to visiting more schools within this board because they’re such awesome kids. I couldn’t ask for a better audience each and every time.”