Tori Harrison, 15, adjusts her headgear before a wrestling match against Greenbrier High School at the Tennessee School For The Blind, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn.
The Tennessee School For The Blind wrestling team huddles up after a wrestling match at the Tennessee School For The Blind Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn.
Tennessee School For The Blind’s Avery Mayberry, top, pins Greenbrier’s Jaden Burns in the 120-pound match during a wrestling match at the Tennessee School For The Blind Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn.
Tennessee School For The Blind’s Avery Mayberry, top, pins Greenbrier’s Jaden Burns in the 120-pound match during a wrestling match at the Tennessee School For The Blind Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn.
The Tennessee School For The Blind wrestling team huddles up after a wrestling match at the Tennessee School For The Blind Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn.
Tori Harrison, 15, adjusts her headgear before a wrestling match against Greenbrier High School at the Tennessee School For The Blind, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn.
The Tennessee School For The Blind wrestling team huddles up after a match at TSB on Jan. 12.
From endurance to rigid dieting to mastering new techniques and moves, wrestling requires dedication.
It’s even more demanding when you’re not able see your opponent.
If you were to stop by the Tennessee School for the Blind on a Monday or Wednesday afternoon for practice, you would see that dedication in action.
TSB features a coed program that allows visually impaired students in grades 7-12 to participate in high school wrestling as a part of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. The wrestling program has existed since the early 1960s. The school was formed in 1844.
“Wrestling has a long history with individuals who are blind or visually impaired,” said Jay Humphreys, second-year TSB wrestling coach and former wrestler for Donelson Christian Academy. “So it lends itself well to it and it teaches you a lot of skills that are needed for visual impairments.”
Tennessee School for the Blind’s Avery Mayberry, top, pins Greenbrier’s Jaden Burns in a 120-pound match at TSB on Jan. 12.
The TSB is part of the North Central Association of Schools for the Blind, which is made up of 13 schools that provide visually impaired students the chance to compete in wrestling, cheerleading, swimming and goalball, which involves a rubber ball with bells and is similar in scoring style to soccer.
In addition to wrestling other schools for the visually impaired, TSB more often wrestles local schools and has produced 14 TSSAA individual state champions, the most recent in 1969 (Joe Roberts, 119-pound division).
“We only wrestle blind students maybe three or four times a year,” Humphreys said.
Facing the competition
Not being able to see the person you’re squaring off with understandably has its challenges.
“You’re going out there blind,” DCA wrestling coach Ryan Pendergrass said. “There’s no other way to say it. You’re going out there not knowing what you’re going to get into.”
Without being able to see their opponent, visually impaired wrestlers find help from a rule adjustment.
“There’s this rule that says you can’t break contact, and that helps,” TSB sophomore wrestler Carlos Medrano said. “Because if you break contact, you don’t know where the opponent is or where he is going to go.”
That rule really levels the playing field, according to Medrano.
“On the mat, you really don’t know if they can see or not,” he said. “You’re not going to break contact so it all comes down to what you know and what you don’t know.”
But just because a wrestler can see, it doesn’t necessarily give him the upper hand.
“I went out there once and I thought I might just be able to get the guy in a headlock,” DCA freshman wrestler James Geiger said. “But he was faster than I anticipated and he had me on the ground before I knew what was happening.”
“People that are sighted can also mess up and get in a weird position that requires more energy to get out of,” Medrano said. “Sight doesn’t really matter. It all comes down to skill.”
And without the ability to clearly see their opponent, visually impaired wrestlers must rely on other instincts.
“It’s more of a feeling,” said Medrano, who placed first in this year’s TSB/DCA Invitational Tournament in the 126-pound division. He placed third in the 113-pound division at last year’s NCASB Conference Championships.
“I don’t know what he’s going to do so it’s more about how your opponent feels. If an opponent is right in front of you and you feel him go down to shoot for a leg and take you down, your natural instinct is to try to sprawl and kick your leg back.”
Tori Harrison, 15, adjusts her headgear before a wrestling match against Greenbrier High School at TSB on Jan. 12.
Something for everyone
As far as the reasons they choose to wrestle, each has a different answer.
“Anytime we have meets and get to stay on a campus over the weekend to wrestle other schools, that’s great,” TSB sophomore wrestler Garrett Meeks said. “I like that because growing up we never went out of the state, we barely went out of the county, and it’s an experience just going out to other states.”
Some, like freshman wrestler Tori Harrison, enjoy wrestling to let out possible frustrations from a tough day at school.
“You get to hurt a lot of people,” she said with a laugh.
Having tried cheerleading, Harrison said wrestling is more her style.
“I did cheerleading last year and we got first place,” she said. “But I didn’t really like it. I’m more of a tomboy.”
Medrano loves the excitement that comes during matches.
“It was just really cool with the atmosphere,” he said. “I loved it.”
School culture
That atmosphere is one created out of the TSB’s dedication to wrestling, and the support from parents and fans.
“They’ve really built the program up and created a culture of wrestling that’s very helpful for a new coach like me,” Humphreys said. “Here at Tennessee School for the Blind, wrestling is every other school’s football. Our top athletes wrestle, so all the hype goes into wrestling as far as pep rallies and that type of thing.”
That support and culture has led some students to take an interest in wrestling after previously having no interest in athletics.
“My best friends are wrestlers,” said Meeks, who finished second in this season’s TSB/DCA Invitational Tournament in the 220-pound division after finishing second in the NCASB Conference Championships in the 160-pound division last season. He didn’t gain 60 pounds in a year (more like 30 pounds over approximately 18 months), but the gap in weight divisions forced him to compete in a heavier class.
“I didn’t really like it when I first started but I stuck with it because all of my friends wanted me to. Once I got my endurance up and began to learn more and more things I started to really like it and get into it.”
Once into wrestling, visually impaired athletes can use the sport as a means to learn life lessons that will benefit them long after they’ve left the mat.
“There’s no better allegory for life than wrestling,” Humphreys said. “You get out there and it’s only you on the mat. You don’t get any timeouts and you don’t get to lean on anybody else.”
Reach Sam Brown at 615-259-8232 and on Twitter @SamBrownTN.