Wrestling match gives student with cerebral palsy first win - KAIT-Jonesboro, AR-News, weather, sports

Wrestling match gives student with cerebral palsy first win

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BRENTWOOD, TN -

(WMC-TV) - A teenager with cerebral palsy competed in a wrestling match, and even won thanks to the kindness of his opponent.

The moment was not rehearsed as the audience watched as 13-year-old Jared Stevens was carried onto the wrestling mat at Sunset Middle School.

Jared has severe cerebral palsy. 

Physically, he is like a 6-month-old, but intellectually, he is very much like any other kid his age.

"He asked one day if he could get on the mat and they kind of looked at me and I'm like, 'Let him out there,'" said Jared's father, Phil Stevens.

With his opponent standing over him, Jared lifted his hand up to his opponent and the match started as the referee blew the whistle

And right before the audience's eyes, Jared was in a real wrestling match for the first time.

The boy selected from the other team flailed his legs as he took Jared by the arm, pulling the 13-year-old on top of him.

Red-faced and defeated, he gave Jared the chance to feel like one of the guys.

"It felt like I was fighting with my older brothers," said Jared.

The coaches who took the time to make the match happen, and the 13-year-old opponent with a lot of heart, made a dream come true for Jared Stevens.

"Coach Mayes had gone over there and said, 'Tell me the kid you have with the most heart,' and the coach picked him out and this kid did a phenomenal job and performed that way and that's what's amazing about it. I said, 'You've got some skills,'" said Phil Stevens.

Days after the match, Jared is all smiles. There is no telling what is next for this young man with no limits.

Before wrestling, Jared also got the chance to go on the football field and play with the team in his wheelchair. 
  
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