Wrestler Without Legs Lives Life With ‘No Excuses’

 

NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio – It’s Sunday worship at New Greater Peace Church in Canton, Ohio. Music and Faith are the cornerstone of 20-year-old Zion Clark.

“It is a really big part in what I do because God sent me through different trials to build me into the man I am today,” Zion told WJW.

“I baptized him in the name of Jesus in one of our services and he’s a great kid, he’s a phenomenal kid, he’s one of our drummers that we use during our services,” Pastor Bernard Manson of New Greater Peace Church said.

Zion has always been a fan of the drums.

“He has a drum set up in his room at home, so I would hear him upstairs banging, doing his thing he would say, ‘Mom I’m getting ready to practice,’ and he would go upstairs and be on those drums for hours and hours,” said Zion’s mother, Kimberlli Hawkins

When Zion is not perfecting his love of music, he’s attending class at Kent State University’s Tuscarawas Campus building up his knowledge of business management.

“I definitely want to help run a sports team or something like that,” Zion said.

That’s not the only thing Zion is building up these days. Outside of the classroom, he’s busy in the gym building up his muscles. His future relies on it.

“I’ll be a junior by 2020, and that’s the 2020 Olympics, and hopefully I make it out of the Trials and bring home some hardware,” said Zion.

It won’t be easy for Zion … nothing is. That’s why he believes in his motto, a motto now tattooed on his back.

“It says, ‘No excuses,'” Zion said.

It’s fitting.

Zion was born with a condition called caudal regression syndrome.

“It caused me to be born without legs,” said Zion. “My arms and my chest and everything have to be insanely in shape because if it wasn’t, there is no way I could do some of the stuff that I do.”

What he does, is compete. Zion is a wrestler at the Kent State University Tuscarawas Campus.

“My arms are my legs and my arms so I have to figure out how to get in on their legs, still drive forward with one arm, or get the type of angle or leverage to get where they can’t stop what I’m doing,” said Zion.

He wrestles in the 125-pound weight class but he barely tips the scales at 100 pounds.

“It is a challenge, and quite frankly, it scares some of the guys,” said Zion’s wrestling coach Dave Schlarb.

“They don’t care who you are, what you look like, what kind of disability you have, if you step out on the mat, you step out there as equals,” Zion said.

Zion is 11-16 in his freshman season heading into the final tournament of the year. He means a lot to the Golden Eagles wrestling team.

“He’s just an inspiration for all of us,” said Schlarb. “Just a great guy to have on the team. If everyone is feeling down, we look at him… he brings us all up.”

 

Courtesy of  Tribune Media Wire

 

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TRANSGENDER WRESTLER, MACK BEGGS, WINS STATE FOR SECOND TIME!

Courtesy of US Today HSS

American Wrestler
Mack Beggs Transgender Wrestler

Euless Trinity (Texas) transgender wrestler Mack Beggs won his second straight state title Saturday evening to a chorus of boos.

Beggs (36-0), who won last year’s Class 6A girls championship in the 110-pound division, won by decision 15-3 against Chelsea Sanchez of Katy Morton Ranch.

Last year, the 18-year-old beat Sanchez for the championship.

Texas transgender teen Mack Beggs wins regional wrestling title amid firestorm of opposition

Beggs was the center of both praise and criticism in 2017 when a parent filed a lawsuit to try to keep him from wrestling in the female division.

A few years ago, Beggs began transitioning from female to male. The lawsuit’s argument centered around Beggs’ use of testosterone to help with that transition.

But, according to the UIL, it’s not a banned substance since it comes from a physician.

A UIL policy also says that student-athletes in high school must compete as the gender that’s on their birth certificate.

Beggs wants to wrestle boys and said he would if that law didn’t exist. Though the UIL has said publicly that it has never received an official request from Beggs or his school asking to wrestle boys.

Marco Karem, Beggs’ father, said that his son’s story should bring encouragement to others.

“He inspires a lot of people, and if he can help just one person—then it’s worth it to Mack,” Karem said.

WFAA spoke with a number of parents, and all seem to support Beggs’ choice to be transgender. However, many voiced that he should be wrestling boys or not wrestling at all.

Beggs shrugged off the jeers and told WFAA, “I don’t care, I gave my all in that match.”

“You put me in front of anybody and I’ll wrestle them,” he said. “Each time I read comments, they all say the same thing about steroids. It all comes down to technique and who has the most heart.”

Beggs wants to wrestle in the NCAA and is entertaining a scholarship offer from an out-of-state school.

He also wants to train for the Olympics.

Both the NCAA and the Olympics have rules in place that allow athletes to compete as the gender they identify with.

Beggs is also working towards a gender reassignment surgery.

At the end of the day, the teen said he’s glad to close this chapter of his life–and hopes the state reconsiders many of the rules that brought him to the center of controversy.

“I wanted to come out on top, and in my heart–I feel like a champion,” Beggs said.

 

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