Born without legs, Adonis Lattimore wins state wrestling championship in Virginia
A Virginia high school senior who was born with no right leg and a left leg that ends at the middle of his thigh took home a state wrestling championship, surprising everyone but himself.
"Really if you work hard, you can do anything - even win a state championship without legs," Adonis Lattimore said Saturday, after winning first place in the Virginia High School League Class 6, 106-pound weight class at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.
The Virginian-Pilot reports that the Landstown High School senior, who also has just one finger on his right hand, had Eagles coach James Sanderlin cheering wildly while the crowd roared its approval during the final seconds as he defeated his opponent.
"Amazing," Sanderlin said. "He did all the work. I just get to be a part of the journey. It's an amazing feeling to watch him do it and have the support of the crowd. It was awesome. He's a hard-working young man. I'm just speechless."
Lattimore was a region qualifier as a freshman but didn't stay long and missed the region tournament as a sophomore. The coronavirus pandemic forced cancellation of wrestling last year. Lattimore improved to 32-7 this season.
"I've been dreaming of this since I knew what it was, and to finally have it happen is just - I don't know how to explain it," said Lattimore.
The Landstown High School senior has been wrestling since he was in second grade and has put in the time to climb to the top, CBS affiliate WTKR reported.
"At one point I was on a losing streak for about a year," Lattimore recalled. "Sometime in middle school I hit my stride and brought it into high school."
Teammate Kristopher Velez remembered the first time he wrestled Lattimore back when both were in elementary school.
"I definitely was like 'I'll get this, this isn't going to be too bad,'" he told the station. " "Then I went out there and he grabbed me and I couldn't move."
Lattimore has the support of not only his team, but of the community and other teams and fan-bases as well.
"That's been amazing," Lattimore told WTKR. "It's really a great community that's been behind me this whole time with training, support."
"Any school you go to, everybody knows Adonis, everybody loves him," said Landstown senior Thomas Keyes. "I think part of that is he's got a great personality. He's always smiling."
