When Cason Romero was young, doctors told his parents he would never be able to box or play football. Romero has hydrocephalus, which affect the ventricles in his head. In a healthy person, the ventricles allow cerebrospinal fluid to drain, but Romero’s didn’t work, forcing doctors to insert a shunt in his head to allow the fluid to drain and relieve excess fluid from pressuring his brain.
Romero also has some cerebral palsy, resulting from a brain bleed.
However, he is also pretty competitive, his dad Calvin Romero said. This winter, he told his parents he wanted to wrestle.
Romero, 13, had participated in Boy Scouts and karate before, but never represented his school in sports.
That changed this winter as the seventh grader participated with the Miller Middle School Angels wrestling team.
“I think he really enjoyed that team atmosphere,” Calvin said, noting that the kids he wrestled with were never too rough with him. “The kids were great, and the coaches too.”
Romero’s coach would find him similar sized opponents for exhibition bouts during the team’s dual meets and tournaments. The wrestlers would engage Romero and roll around with him. In the second period, however, Romero would inevitably pin his opponent. He went a perfect 12-0 on the year.
“They’re just old enough to get it,” Calvin said about the empathy the other wrestlers showed Cason. “It’s probably the first time they wrestled a kid with disabilities, but you could see them come away smiling or they’d give Cason a hug. It was really neat.”
After the matches, kids and adults would congratulate Romero, often making his day.
“Wrestling has been a super uplifting experience for Cason where kids, and even parents, get to recognize him for more than a kid with disabilities,” Calvin said. “His victories are usually cheered on by the whole gym by adults and kids energetically cheering him on. He is often stopped in the gym by adults and kids who congratulate him on his wins. This is the highlight of his day, and usually his week, as normal kids recognize him as a peer and make him feel included. This of course can bring a tear to a father’s eye as we all strive for our kids acceptance … especially among their peer groups but even more so strangers who don’t know him.”
Wrestling gave Romero a chance to compete, just like a normal kid.
“This year was so cool,” Calvin said. “I think his first match was in Bayfield and the whole gym blew up in applause. The kids were supporting him and seeing him as more than a kids with disabilities … it really elevated him quite a bit.”
“We wanted to express our most heartfelt thanks to everybody that made this season special,” Calvin said. “We haven’t been a wrestling family in the past but now we understand just how tight knit and supportive the wrestling community is …”
