Arlington Heights native wins famed British scholarship for grad school

At Prospect High School, wrestler Ben Zintak set a record, winning 130 matches, only to see himself outdone by his younger brother Peter, who topped him with more than 150 wins.

"My brother stole my all-time win record," says Zintak, now a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy in Anapolis, Md.

But, Zintak adds, he likes to think he can still use the older brother intimidation edge to beat Pete in wrestling. And the National Merit Scholar says he outshone Pete academically.

Those competitive instincts, honed by dad Ken Zintak, coach of the Arlington Cardinals youth wrestling club for kindergartners through eighth-graders, surfaced again when Zintak was chosen as one of 40 winners of Britain's prestigious Marshall scholarship, covering the costs of a graduate education in the United Kingdom.

Named for Secretary of State George Marshall, the program began in 1953 as a gesture of gratitude to the people of the United States for the assistance Britain received after World War II under the Marshall Plan.

Zintak plans to study for a master's degree in Autonomous Vehicle Dynamics and Control at Cranfield University.

"It's a mix of electrical, mechanical and computer engineering," he said.

The drones used in Iraq and Afghanistan are an example of the uses of the field, though he wants to work with pilotless planes smaller than the ones used there.

For sophomore year, he had an internship in China Lake, Calif., where he got to ride in the back seat of fighter jets flown by test pilots, learning how to be a systems evaluator for new military equipment.

And last summer, he had a three-week internship in Japan with the aerospace students from his school. Engineering is "a universal language," but there are different nuances based on culture and training, and they're fascinating to study, he said. "The Japanese dialect is a little different," he said, adding he's looking forward to learning the British dialect over the next couple of years.

He is second in command of the 4,500 men and women at the academy as Brigade Executive Officer, accountable to the administration for behavior and performance. He also coaches a children's wrestling team in Annapolis and has participated in a mentoring program for schoolchildren.

How does he find the time for all that? He says he often gets two or three hours of sleep on a weeknight and then catches up on weekends. Making a commitment and then turning the activity a habit is key, he said. Having just returned from working out when he was interviewed, he cited as an example that if he doesn't exercise for a week, he feels like a slug.

"You start to miss it when you don't do it," he said.

Inducements to attend the Naval Academy included that it was free and that he had a grandfather in the Navy. And his parents, Ken and Carolyn of Arlington Heights, encouraged him because "they knew a disciplined lifestyle is one I would work well with." Discipline was the kind of trait his dad demanded as coach of the Arlington Cardinals, which has turned out many of the top wrestlers in the area over the years.

Once he won an interview for the scholarship, he was optimistic about nailing it. "I've always felt interviewing was my strength."

When he received word he had been picked, he was out shopping for blue jeans with a friend.

"We went out for a big seafood dinner. We were psyched," he said.