Ryan Heim (Photo/Dubuque (Iowa)
Telegraph-Herald)
Wrestling is about resilience -- getting back on the mat, no matter what challenges you face.
Today, two inspirational stories about three wrestlers from the wrestling hotbeds of Iowa and Ohio who have overcome tremendous physical odds...
Ryan Heim: College wrestling fans may remember Ryan Heim. A two-time Iowa high school state champ for Dubuque Hempstead who was a redshirt freshman at the University of Iowa, Heim was involved in a serious car accident in 2002 that caused severe traumatic brain injury.
More than seven years later, the former Hawkeye is about to start his new job as an assistant wrestling coach at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City while he studies in the Physical Therapist Assistant program.
In the past couple weeks, two Iowa newspapers have updated readers on Heim's life. In late July, award-winning wrestling writer Andy Hamilton of the Iowa City Press-Citizen wrote an in-depth profile on the former Hawkeye matman... while this week, in an interview with Troy Johnson of the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, Ryan talks about his recovery process from the wreck (including special treatment in China), and his emerging coaching career.
Leroy Sutton and Dartanyon Crockett. Two wrestlers from Lincoln-West High in Cleveland who found friendship as they overcame serious odds. Sutton had lost both of his lower legs in a train accident at age 11; Crockett is blind. In his senior year, Crockett went 26-3, winning the league championship at 189... while Sutton won nine matches in multiple weight classes. ESPN's Outside The Lines did an interview with the two athletes who met each other in January 2008... with "Two Athletes Carry On" video and article.
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