Miss-Delectable
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Berkshire Eagle Online - Brave's new world
After only a brief stretching and warm-up period, Taconic senior Wes Ross hits the wrestling mats in a side cafeteria, converted into an all-purpose room for practice.
Ross gets his opponent, teammate Josh Rodman, to the mat quickly as the two spar in front of the team.
Teammates yell out instructions like, "Josh, get up! Build a base!"
Rodman can hear them. Ross can't.
Ross, 19, has been deaf since the age of 4. He initially had total hearing loss in his left ear and just partial loss in his right ear, but a high fever robbed him of his hearing.
It hasn't stopped him, though, from becoming the Braves' top grappler at 189 pounds this season, with a 7-4 record.
This is Ross' first year with the Braves. He transferred to Pittsfield High School this year from the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, Conn., seeking a public-school education as well as an athletic program that fit his physical nature. He'd been wrestling for almost five years, so the new co-op agreement between Taconic, Pittsfield and Wahconah Regional high schools was perfect for him.
"I like aggressive play, more physical things," Ross said, signing in American Sign Language (ASL) through an interpreter. "They didn't have karate at my school, so I joined the wrestling team. It's physical and it's a challenge for me."
The challenges Ross faces on the mat, however, aren't limited to wrestling.
A wrestling referee usually blows his whistle to begin a match. With Ross' matches, the ref must hand-signal the start. If he doesn't, the opponent can get a quick takedown, which is then nullified when the mistake is realized.
MIAA referee Harry Phelps, a 25-year veteran from Chester, has officiated three of Ross' matches this year. He admitted that, even after the first match, he caught himself blowing the whistle rather than signaling Ross and his opponent.
"I've been doing it so long, I'm pretty reactionary," Phelps said. "When I do his matches, I have to pay attention.
"(Last Thursday), I blew the whistle and he got taken down. The coaches reminded me, and I had to take the points away. It's not a big deal; you just have to be mindful."
When you can pin an opponent in 50 seconds, as Ross did in a home dual last Saturday against Granby, there isn't much communicating to do.
Surprisingly, that's not a big deal to Taconic coach Matt Chamberlain during matches.
"If he's paying attention to me, he's not paying attention to what he's doing, and he gets himself in trouble," Chamberlain said. "I've learned to stay quiet while he's wrestling. When he sees me yelling, he tries to figure out what I'm saying, and then stops wrestling. And it's cost him."
#
Ross is used to the initial confusion. What he didn't expect, though, was how quickly his Taconic teammates would bring him into the fold.
None of his teammates know ASL, other than what he's been able to teach them this season. That hasn't really mattered.
"I wasn't sure how to teach him and communicate with him," teammate Ryan Adler said. "It was tough (in the first week). It took me a while to get used to, but he definitely helped me out a lot. He taught me some sign language and let me know how to communicate."
The adjustment wasn't as tough as you might think for Ross, who uses his voice as he signs.
"I've had no problems with them," he said of his teammates. "We get along fine. I use my voice and they understand me most of the time. When they don't understand, I show them with my body language or gestures."
It doesn't take Ross long to understand someone without the benefit of a signer. He's also no slouch in the classroom, a self-described "As and Bs" student despite renting his own room in Pittsfield — his family lives in North Carolina, but Ross stayed behind to graduate — and working at Papa Gino's after classes and practice.
He wants to study marine biology in college, and said he'd welcome a chance to continue wrestling.
"I have so many things happening in my life right now," Ross said. "If I can get a scholarship (to wrestle) in college, I'll be looking into that."
Adler's still amazed at how easy it's become for Ross to communicate with everyone around him.
"He's good," Adler said. "Surprisingly good. I thought he wouldn't try to communicate with everybody, but I usually have conversations with him after every practice. He has said he has some girlfriends."
Adler paused, then smiled and repeated, "Some girlfriends," to emphasize the plural of the term.
#
Different teams have different techniques and methods, and Ross is still learning how to carry his weight after having wrestled at 171 pounds the last three years.
Ross admits he's had to unlearn some habits and pick up some new ones on the mat.
"It's (from) the way I learned and how I moved before," he said. "Coach is very good at giving me feedback. I was surprised at first, being in a public school. In the deaf school, it was a small group. This is a big group now, and I like it."
While Ross welcomes the challenge, it's different for Chamberlain.
"(There were) mistakes that he got away with where he wrestled before, but he can't get away with them here," the coach said. "I tell him to backstep and load the hips, and he doesn't understand what I'm saying. So I show it to him."
So far, the instruction has paid off. Chamberlain's only been able to work with his new senior since meeting him in November, but Ross has already become a solid mat wrestler with a penchant for getting the upper hand quickly.
"He's good on top. That's probably his strongest point," Chamberlain said. "We've been working a lot on the neutral position with the whole team, but with him especially. Getting the correct head position."
His coach isn't the only one who takes notice of the pins Ross gets.
"He's very aggressive, and he can hit those key moves that puts them right to their backs and ends a match just like that," junior heavyweight Joe Pasquarelli said. "He's no pushover."
Like any area wrestler, Ross' ultimate goal is to get to MIAA state competition. If he doesn't, though, it won't bother him.
"I make mistakes, but I've won some and I've lost some," he said. "My goal is to play well. That's all. I just want to do my best. It doesn't matter if I lose or I win, or if I become a champion. I believe in myself."
And his teammates believe in him. To them, he's not Wes, the deaf teammate. He's Wes, the 189-pounder. Just one of the guys.
"He may be deaf, but he's not different," Pasquarelli said. "He's another wrestler. He came into the family. He's no different than me or Gary Burtt, or anybody."
Ross doesn't have to hear his teammates to know how close he is to his team and — a term he stressed — community. He sees it every day.
"Everybody supports each other," he said. "(They have) good attitudes and they have good spirit.
"I have an interpreter, a teacher, a tutor and it's been pretty good. I really like it here."
After only a brief stretching and warm-up period, Taconic senior Wes Ross hits the wrestling mats in a side cafeteria, converted into an all-purpose room for practice.
Ross gets his opponent, teammate Josh Rodman, to the mat quickly as the two spar in front of the team.
Teammates yell out instructions like, "Josh, get up! Build a base!"
Rodman can hear them. Ross can't.
Ross, 19, has been deaf since the age of 4. He initially had total hearing loss in his left ear and just partial loss in his right ear, but a high fever robbed him of his hearing.
It hasn't stopped him, though, from becoming the Braves' top grappler at 189 pounds this season, with a 7-4 record.
This is Ross' first year with the Braves. He transferred to Pittsfield High School this year from the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, Conn., seeking a public-school education as well as an athletic program that fit his physical nature. He'd been wrestling for almost five years, so the new co-op agreement between Taconic, Pittsfield and Wahconah Regional high schools was perfect for him.
"I like aggressive play, more physical things," Ross said, signing in American Sign Language (ASL) through an interpreter. "They didn't have karate at my school, so I joined the wrestling team. It's physical and it's a challenge for me."
The challenges Ross faces on the mat, however, aren't limited to wrestling.
A wrestling referee usually blows his whistle to begin a match. With Ross' matches, the ref must hand-signal the start. If he doesn't, the opponent can get a quick takedown, which is then nullified when the mistake is realized.
MIAA referee Harry Phelps, a 25-year veteran from Chester, has officiated three of Ross' matches this year. He admitted that, even after the first match, he caught himself blowing the whistle rather than signaling Ross and his opponent.
"I've been doing it so long, I'm pretty reactionary," Phelps said. "When I do his matches, I have to pay attention.
"(Last Thursday), I blew the whistle and he got taken down. The coaches reminded me, and I had to take the points away. It's not a big deal; you just have to be mindful."
When you can pin an opponent in 50 seconds, as Ross did in a home dual last Saturday against Granby, there isn't much communicating to do.
Surprisingly, that's not a big deal to Taconic coach Matt Chamberlain during matches.
"If he's paying attention to me, he's not paying attention to what he's doing, and he gets himself in trouble," Chamberlain said. "I've learned to stay quiet while he's wrestling. When he sees me yelling, he tries to figure out what I'm saying, and then stops wrestling. And it's cost him."
#
Ross is used to the initial confusion. What he didn't expect, though, was how quickly his Taconic teammates would bring him into the fold.
None of his teammates know ASL, other than what he's been able to teach them this season. That hasn't really mattered.
"I wasn't sure how to teach him and communicate with him," teammate Ryan Adler said. "It was tough (in the first week). It took me a while to get used to, but he definitely helped me out a lot. He taught me some sign language and let me know how to communicate."
The adjustment wasn't as tough as you might think for Ross, who uses his voice as he signs.
"I've had no problems with them," he said of his teammates. "We get along fine. I use my voice and they understand me most of the time. When they don't understand, I show them with my body language or gestures."
It doesn't take Ross long to understand someone without the benefit of a signer. He's also no slouch in the classroom, a self-described "As and Bs" student despite renting his own room in Pittsfield — his family lives in North Carolina, but Ross stayed behind to graduate — and working at Papa Gino's after classes and practice.
He wants to study marine biology in college, and said he'd welcome a chance to continue wrestling.
"I have so many things happening in my life right now," Ross said. "If I can get a scholarship (to wrestle) in college, I'll be looking into that."
Adler's still amazed at how easy it's become for Ross to communicate with everyone around him.
"He's good," Adler said. "Surprisingly good. I thought he wouldn't try to communicate with everybody, but I usually have conversations with him after every practice. He has said he has some girlfriends."
Adler paused, then smiled and repeated, "Some girlfriends," to emphasize the plural of the term.
#
Different teams have different techniques and methods, and Ross is still learning how to carry his weight after having wrestled at 171 pounds the last three years.
Ross admits he's had to unlearn some habits and pick up some new ones on the mat.
"It's (from) the way I learned and how I moved before," he said. "Coach is very good at giving me feedback. I was surprised at first, being in a public school. In the deaf school, it was a small group. This is a big group now, and I like it."
While Ross welcomes the challenge, it's different for Chamberlain.
"(There were) mistakes that he got away with where he wrestled before, but he can't get away with them here," the coach said. "I tell him to backstep and load the hips, and he doesn't understand what I'm saying. So I show it to him."
So far, the instruction has paid off. Chamberlain's only been able to work with his new senior since meeting him in November, but Ross has already become a solid mat wrestler with a penchant for getting the upper hand quickly.
"He's good on top. That's probably his strongest point," Chamberlain said. "We've been working a lot on the neutral position with the whole team, but with him especially. Getting the correct head position."
His coach isn't the only one who takes notice of the pins Ross gets.
"He's very aggressive, and he can hit those key moves that puts them right to their backs and ends a match just like that," junior heavyweight Joe Pasquarelli said. "He's no pushover."
Like any area wrestler, Ross' ultimate goal is to get to MIAA state competition. If he doesn't, though, it won't bother him.
"I make mistakes, but I've won some and I've lost some," he said. "My goal is to play well. That's all. I just want to do my best. It doesn't matter if I lose or I win, or if I become a champion. I believe in myself."
And his teammates believe in him. To them, he's not Wes, the deaf teammate. He's Wes, the 189-pounder. Just one of the guys.
"He may be deaf, but he's not different," Pasquarelli said. "He's another wrestler. He came into the family. He's no different than me or Gary Burtt, or anybody."
Ross doesn't have to hear his teammates to know how close he is to his team and — a term he stressed — community. He sees it every day.
"Everybody supports each other," he said. "(They have) good attitudes and they have good spirit.
"I have an interpreter, a teacher, a tutor and it's been pretty good. I really like it here."