“EAST COUNTY GRAPPLER” WRESTLES PAST AUTISM
by ECM | January 12, 2016 8:53 pm
By Liz Alper
January 12, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) – Having Aspergers myself, I am always on the lookout for stories of children or adults conquering their Aspergers or autism.
Being a sports fan, I am especially enthralled with people with special needs conquering their disabilities on the field, on the court, on the ice, or in this case, on the mat.
Meet 15-year-old Gregory Roberts. Gregory is a sophomore at Santana High School. He was diagnosed with autism in 2013. He is currently in integrated classes where he posts a 2.3 GPA and reads at a seventh grade level. He is on track to earn an official high school diploma.
There’s just one thing that sets this young man apart from every other high schooler with special needs: he’s practically the Tom Brady of wrestling. Oh, and he’s on the varsity wrestling team at Santana High. As a sophomore.
As a freshman last year, Gregory went 30-1 with 30 pins in JV and 7-9 on varsity. He made it to the CIFs, where he went 1-2 in Division 4 at the San Diego Championships in the toughest weight class: 145 pounds. This year, he went 1-2 in the 152-pound class and 6-1 in the 170-pound class for a varsity record of 12-5. To write paragraph upon paragraph about what this kid has accomplished would contain several run-on sentences, so I’ll just copy and paste Gregory’s wrestling and BJJ accomplishments:
- San Clemente Great Western States Wrestling Championship- Gold Medal MS(Middle School) division
- RBV gold medal MS(Middle School) division
- Junior Shark Tank Corona MS division 3rd place
- SDIKWA Mid Season- 3rd place
- SCWAY San Diego Championship (MS) -1st place
- SCWAY California State Championship MS division – 7th place
- High School 30-1 gold medal in every junior varsity tournament(6) 145lbs
- Varsity record as freshman: 7-9
- CIF Division 4 Championship- 1 win 2 losses
- Varsity letter winner as freshman
- BJJ & Submission Grappling Accomplishments in November 2012-June 2014(8th grade – Freshman year)
- Grappling X white belt division gold no gi & gi (13-14yo)
- Grappling X grey belt bronze (13-14yo)
- NAGA silver no gi Advanced division(13-14)
- Grappling X World Champion grey belt (13-14)
- Grappling X silver 15-17yo division(as 14yo)
- Grappling X gold NoGi(14-15yo) advanced
- NAGA Champion yellow belt (13-14)
- 2x Carlson Gracie Temecula yellow belt champion
- Revgear Huntington Beach World Champion yellow belt teen division, Open division, silver no gi teen Advanced division
- Subcon silver gi division.
You might be thinking to yourself: how is this possible? It’s unbelievable, isn’t it? “Through faith and hard work, you can accomplish anything,” Gregory’s father, Greg, said. “ he didn’t win a single wrestling match for almost two seasons,but kept with it and started winning.“
Greg provided East County Magazine with a video of Gregory in action. You can watch it below. This kid is no joke and he’s going to achieve a lot in the wrestling world, the Brazilian jujitsu world, or both.
View video here:
https://s.real.com/6EAKLZ
Source URL: https://webvibrantamerica.com/east-county-grappler-wrestles-past-autism/