Miss-Delectable
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Ohio.com - Deaf wrestler pinning hopes on a title
Cody Sherman has five years of wrestling experience, and as it is with most sports, communicating with the coaches is key.
The coaches like to shout out encouragement or instructions, but with Sherman, they can't.
Sherman, an 18-year-old senior at Ellet High School, is a deaf wrestler. He lost his hearing at age 8.
But that hasn't stopped him.
Sherman reads people's lips or gets help through his interpreters, Ron Mohlmaster or Linda Howard. His coach, Mike Laktash, even uses a white board to get his point across.
Whatever it takes.
''I got sick with a disease, meningitis,'' Sherman said with the assistance of Mohlmaster. ''It's hard, but I manage to get through it. At times, it's hard to have a conversation with people.''
His 16-year-old brother Tanner is there for him, too.
''When he first went deaf, it was hard to understand him,'' said Tanner, a sophomore on the Orangemen team. ''Now, he is just like a regular person. He uses the interpreter and he can read lips. The only thing he has a problem with is talking fluidly.''
Cody Sherman, 5-foot-3 and 119 pounds, wrestled during his seventh- and eighth-grade years at Hyre Middle School and as a sophomore, junior and senior at Ellet. When he is not working on his wrestling, he is a successful student, carrying a 4.11 grade-point average and a score of 30 on his ACT. He also works at Acme No. 2 in the Ellet neighborhood.
''There are so many things I love about wrestling,'' Sherman said. ''I have met so many friends through it. It's a great way to get into shape, and the best part is at the end of a match when the ref raises your hand and you get a shiny medal.''
Sherman, a tri-captain with junior Nate Brown and sophomore Adam Hayhurst, is hoping to earn a title Saturday during the City Series Dual Meet Championship Tournament at Firestone High School.
Hard worker on mat
Laktash, in his second season as Ellet's wrestling coach, has seen Sherman put in countless hours practicing, conditioning and competing in matches .
He marvels at Sherman's competitiveness and mat awareness.
''His work ethic definitely sticks out,'' Laktash said. ''He is always the first one at practice. He's definitely one of the hardest workers on the team.
''I think he has a special ability to know his restrictions, as far as how his body can move. When he is out there on the mat, he can't communicate and look over to us very much. He uses the other wrestlers' momentum against him, and he has a special instinct that he is able to use his body in certain ways. He is a pretty energetic kid and a lot of times he gets excited and you have to slow him down.''
Laktash also coached Sherman in eighth grade and has learned to embrace the challenge of coaching a deaf athlete. Laktash said he does not know sign language, but he and assistants Dave Ashby and Tony Laktash use hand signals to demonstrate moves.
''He can somewhat communicate, but it's difficult to understand him at times,'' Laktash said. ''Sometimes even his interpreter just doesn't understand him. When we try to communicate a move, sometimes he doesn't understand it, and sometimes the interpreter will not understand because they are not as familiar with wrestling.
''The OHSAA approved a white dry-erase board that we can use during matches. If we see something that he can use to make a move, or we have some defense idea, we write it down and get it to him. We explain it to him by using abbreviations and symbols.''
Laktash said he relies on Sherman (9-10 at 119 pounds), Brown (15-11 at 189), Hayhurst (18-10 at 145) and junior George Pointer (14-8 at 285) for their leadership and production.
''His record doesn't reflect how he wrestles,'' Laktash said of Sherman. ''He has lost a lot of close matches to district qualifiers.''
Laktash is concerned about Sherman's safety at times.
''Before every match we have to remind the official that he is hearing impaired,'' Laktash said. ''When they blow the whistle to start the match, they have to signal to him, and when they blow the whistle to stop the match they have to tap him.
''He is not only one of the hardest workers we have, but he is also one of the tougher kids on the team.''
Facing adversity
Being deaf is not the only difficult thing Sherman has had to face in his life. His mother, Tammy, died in 2000. His father, Carl, lives in the area and stays in touch with his children on the weekends.
Sherman said he and Tanner, 5-5 and 112, are being raised by his great aunt and great uncle, Jodie and Russell Gross.
''They have basically helped me with everything,'' Sherman said. ''They have been my parents.''
Laktash and interpreter Mohlmaster said Sherman's personality is a big reason he has been able to succeed in wrestling, academics and life.
''It's been interesting to see the transition, and see how he is doing in high school,'' said Mohlmaster, who has worked with Sherman since he was in seventh grade. ''Cody is pretty independent. I think that has helped with his hearing loss. He is a confident kid that feels capable. He's a smart kid and he has a real good sense of humor.''
Ambitious goals, future
Sherman still thinks he has goals to fulfill this season.
''My most important goal is to go to state,'' he said. ''First, I have to go through city, sectional and district.''
Then, he plans on heading to college.
''I plan on going to Kent State in the fall and I would love to wrestle there,'' he said. ''I want to basically get into anything with computers and graphic design. I would love to get into something involving video games, either making games or systems. You gotta have a dream. You can get rich doing that. The guy that started Nintendo is rich.''
Cody Sherman has five years of wrestling experience, and as it is with most sports, communicating with the coaches is key.
The coaches like to shout out encouragement or instructions, but with Sherman, they can't.
Sherman, an 18-year-old senior at Ellet High School, is a deaf wrestler. He lost his hearing at age 8.
But that hasn't stopped him.
Sherman reads people's lips or gets help through his interpreters, Ron Mohlmaster or Linda Howard. His coach, Mike Laktash, even uses a white board to get his point across.
Whatever it takes.
''I got sick with a disease, meningitis,'' Sherman said with the assistance of Mohlmaster. ''It's hard, but I manage to get through it. At times, it's hard to have a conversation with people.''
His 16-year-old brother Tanner is there for him, too.
''When he first went deaf, it was hard to understand him,'' said Tanner, a sophomore on the Orangemen team. ''Now, he is just like a regular person. He uses the interpreter and he can read lips. The only thing he has a problem with is talking fluidly.''
Cody Sherman, 5-foot-3 and 119 pounds, wrestled during his seventh- and eighth-grade years at Hyre Middle School and as a sophomore, junior and senior at Ellet. When he is not working on his wrestling, he is a successful student, carrying a 4.11 grade-point average and a score of 30 on his ACT. He also works at Acme No. 2 in the Ellet neighborhood.
''There are so many things I love about wrestling,'' Sherman said. ''I have met so many friends through it. It's a great way to get into shape, and the best part is at the end of a match when the ref raises your hand and you get a shiny medal.''
Sherman, a tri-captain with junior Nate Brown and sophomore Adam Hayhurst, is hoping to earn a title Saturday during the City Series Dual Meet Championship Tournament at Firestone High School.
Hard worker on mat
Laktash, in his second season as Ellet's wrestling coach, has seen Sherman put in countless hours practicing, conditioning and competing in matches .
He marvels at Sherman's competitiveness and mat awareness.
''His work ethic definitely sticks out,'' Laktash said. ''He is always the first one at practice. He's definitely one of the hardest workers on the team.
''I think he has a special ability to know his restrictions, as far as how his body can move. When he is out there on the mat, he can't communicate and look over to us very much. He uses the other wrestlers' momentum against him, and he has a special instinct that he is able to use his body in certain ways. He is a pretty energetic kid and a lot of times he gets excited and you have to slow him down.''
Laktash also coached Sherman in eighth grade and has learned to embrace the challenge of coaching a deaf athlete. Laktash said he does not know sign language, but he and assistants Dave Ashby and Tony Laktash use hand signals to demonstrate moves.
''He can somewhat communicate, but it's difficult to understand him at times,'' Laktash said. ''Sometimes even his interpreter just doesn't understand him. When we try to communicate a move, sometimes he doesn't understand it, and sometimes the interpreter will not understand because they are not as familiar with wrestling.
''The OHSAA approved a white dry-erase board that we can use during matches. If we see something that he can use to make a move, or we have some defense idea, we write it down and get it to him. We explain it to him by using abbreviations and symbols.''
Laktash said he relies on Sherman (9-10 at 119 pounds), Brown (15-11 at 189), Hayhurst (18-10 at 145) and junior George Pointer (14-8 at 285) for their leadership and production.
''His record doesn't reflect how he wrestles,'' Laktash said of Sherman. ''He has lost a lot of close matches to district qualifiers.''
Laktash is concerned about Sherman's safety at times.
''Before every match we have to remind the official that he is hearing impaired,'' Laktash said. ''When they blow the whistle to start the match, they have to signal to him, and when they blow the whistle to stop the match they have to tap him.
''He is not only one of the hardest workers we have, but he is also one of the tougher kids on the team.''
Facing adversity
Being deaf is not the only difficult thing Sherman has had to face in his life. His mother, Tammy, died in 2000. His father, Carl, lives in the area and stays in touch with his children on the weekends.
Sherman said he and Tanner, 5-5 and 112, are being raised by his great aunt and great uncle, Jodie and Russell Gross.
''They have basically helped me with everything,'' Sherman said. ''They have been my parents.''
Laktash and interpreter Mohlmaster said Sherman's personality is a big reason he has been able to succeed in wrestling, academics and life.
''It's been interesting to see the transition, and see how he is doing in high school,'' said Mohlmaster, who has worked with Sherman since he was in seventh grade. ''Cody is pretty independent. I think that has helped with his hearing loss. He is a confident kid that feels capable. He's a smart kid and he has a real good sense of humor.''
Ambitious goals, future
Sherman still thinks he has goals to fulfill this season.
''My most important goal is to go to state,'' he said. ''First, I have to go through city, sectional and district.''
Then, he plans on heading to college.
''I plan on going to Kent State in the fall and I would love to wrestle there,'' he said. ''I want to basically get into anything with computers and graphic design. I would love to get into something involving video games, either making games or systems. You gotta have a dream. You can get rich doing that. The guy that started Nintendo is rich.''