Middle School Wrestler with Down syndrome

By Christopher Drexel
Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (2 a.m.)
A Passion For Wrestling
Billy Wolfbrandt can't stop smiling as he goes through wrestling practice with the rest of his Faith Lutheran Jr/Sr High School teammates.
It doesn't matter if he is conditioning, stretching or learning new moves, if he makes a mistake, his teammates tell him. If Wolfbrandt, an eighth grader with special needs, requires more time to learn moves, the coaches work with him. When he scores points, cheers and high fives are aplenty.
Wolfbrandt is arguably the most-liked person in the wrestling room. He is inspired by the competition but likely not as much as those around Wolfbrandt are inspired by him.
Neither Wolfbrandt nor Faith Lutheran will allow his Down syndrome stop him from pursuing his passion for sports, particularly wrestling.
"It's been a thrill seeing him wrestle," Wolfbrandt's father, Lew Wolfbrandt said. "Everyone has been so accepting of him and he's just had a blast doing it. Part of what works with him is he feeds off the hard action of wrestling. The soft-touch and delicate sports doesn't do with him."
Billy Wolfbrandt is one of four students at Faith Lutheran Jr/Sr High School's middle school involved in the Mark 10:14 Program, which includes special needs students in regular classroom environments and in extracurricular activities.
Other students in the program have participated in the school's art club, computer club, choir, and basketball and track teams. Billy Wolfbrandt decided to play football and wrestle.
"He's always liked sports," Lew Wolfbrandt said. "He likes watching it on TV. He's a hard one to sit and watch a football game with because he's yelling at the TV the whole time."
As a seventh grader, Billy Wolfbrandt played flag football and wrestled. This fall, he played on the Crusaders' eighth-grade tackle football team, seeing game time as a defensive tackle and on special teams.
Though he was somewhat uncomfortable at the beginning, Billy Wolfbrandt grew accustomed to being knocked down and wearing heavy pads. Teammates would make a habit of forming a circle around him and cheering.
But he has made his biggest strides in wrestling, his father said.
Last season, Lew Wolfbrandt said, Faith Lutheran wrestling coaches would inform opposing teams of his son's condition. His opponents would compete at half speed, allowing him the opportunity to execute moves he had learned.
But this year, Wolfbrandt has advanced enough that opponents wrestle him the same as any other match.
Faith Lutheran coach David Keavin still periodically teaches Woflbrandt moves at a slower pace than the rest of the team, but the coach said Wolfbrandt has improved "three fold" from a year ago.
"Last year, he was new to it and didn't know how to control himself in the wrestling room, but he's gotten a lot better," Keavin said. "He's got the fundamentals down now. It's easier trying to teach him a move when I say certain wrestling terms. Now he understands them and he'll do them right away."
Keavin said Billy Wolfbrandt, who wrestles at 140 pounds, is one of the strongest wrestlers Faith Lutheran's team has and opponents struggle to take him down. The coach hopes he will continue to wrestle at the high school level.
"I hope to see him there," Keavin said. "I've talked to the (high school) varsity coach. He's glad to have Billy when he gets to the high school level. They'll get him matches just like I do, and he should have the same fun he has up there as he does with us."
Lee Segalla, who is in charge of the Mark 10:14 Program, said Billy Wolfbrandt has continued to progress since joining the program, adding participating in athletics in a big reason for the success.
Before he joined the Mark 10:14 Progam, "he didn't know many kids or know much about school, but now he knows almost everyone by name and he does very good in class," said Chase Povlov, one of Wolfbrandt's classmates. "It's good he's trying to do what everyone else is doing, and I think it's really nice he's on the wrestling team."
Lew Wolfbrandt said one of the biggest rewards about his son's participation in sports is watching how much teammates, coaches, opponents and fans have welcomed his son.
"He hasn't won a match, but if you ask him, he's won every one of them," Lew Wolfbrandt said. "Last week, he scored a bunch of points and at the end of the match the whole crowd cheered because when he gets up — win, lose or draw — he puts his hands in the air with a big grin and was happy he was able to compete."

Karate

Karate a passion for a Cooper City disabled man
In Dave Pancallo's karate class at the Cooper City Community Center, the sessions are not for the faint of heart.

To the outside world, Dave Pancallo, 34, of Cooper City may be just a man with Down Syndrome. But to the karate classes at Cooper City Community Center, Pancallo is "Mr. Dave." He has taken classes for about three years with the USA Goju Federation at the center, and helps lead workouts for the adults and children who take twice-weekly classes there. Here, Pancallo leads a training exercise.
JULIE LANDRY LAVIOLETTE / FOR THE MIAMI HERALD
Photo
BY JULIE LANDRY LAVIOLETTE
Special to The Miami Herald
To the outside world, Dave Pancallo, 34, of Cooper City may be someone with Down syndrome and that's that. But Pancallo is filled with surprises.
To the people taking karate classes at the Cooper City Community Center, Pancallo is Mr. Dave -- the guy who helps lead workouts for the adults and children who take twice-weekly classes there.
Pancallo is a regular at the center's USA Goju Federation karate lessons. He offers no mercy and no apologies for his exercise regimen, leading karate students in a series of leg lifts, push-ups and jumping jacks that sometimes leave them gasping for air.
TOUGH TRAINER
''You can take a break and go to the bathroom or get some water, whatever you want,'' Pancallo called out to the students after one particularly grueling session.
''How about a defibrillator?'' one student shot back -- only half in jest.
Karate teacher Christina Brownlow said she remembers when Pancallo first started coming around.
''He was in the adult class, but he would come early and observe,'' she said. ``One day, I asked him if he wanted to help.''
Pancallo has taken ownership of that request. He arrives early for the Monday and Wednesday sessions to set up chairs along the room's perimeter. He helps line up the younger kids and watches over the children, Brownlow said.
''He brings honor to this class,'' Brownlow said. ``You can trust what he says because he never lies and he always does his best.''
To the children, he is another class leader, Brownlow said. They make sure he is always recognized as an adult.
That's how Pancallo has lived his life, said sister Becky Hinson of Fort Lauderdale. ''He doesn't know anything's wrong with him,'' she said. ``He has always been treated so normally.''
HAS DAY JOB
Pancallo, who works five days a week as a dishwasher at Uncle Al's restaurant in Weston, has always been independent, Hinson said.
After being diagnosed with diabetes some years ago, he put himself on a daily exercise schedule that included jogging on a treadmill. It led to a 100-pound weight loss and the elimination of his diabetes medications.
''Now I'm much healthier,'' Pancallo said. ``I work out every day and control my eating.''
A brown belt in karate, Pancallo is working on his black belt.
''I do karate because I'd like to protect my family,'' he said. ``I'd like to teach a class one day.''
Karate is a good outlet for someone with disabilities, Brownlow said, because everyone is considered equal.
''In karate, no one is singled out as weaker or stronger,'' Brownlow said. ``You work only to achieve the highest level you can achieve.''