Capitalbay Information Portal: The Touching Moment a Middle School Wrestler Lets Boy With Cerebral Palsy Win His First-Ever Match

The Touching Moment a Middle School Wrestler Lets Boy With Cerebral Palsy Win
His First-Ever Match
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Erin B on 12/06/2012 09:40:00


With one heartwarming gesture of sportsmanship, a teenage boy has become an
internet sensation after letting a severely disabled opponent defeat him in a
wrestling match.
Video posted online shows cerebral palsy sufferer Jared Stevens, 13, fulfill his
dream to fight in a competitive wrestling match and beat big-heated Justin
Kievit in front of his cheering classmates in Nolensville, Tennessee.
With over 100,000 views on YouTube and Facebook so far, the video shows the
moment the two boys meet for the first time and show the 'bigger message'
according to Phil Stevens, Jared's father.
'It’s what — a minute, minute and a half maybe?' said Jared’s dad, Phil
Stevens to The Tennessean. 'But it’s the echoes of it that make the
difference.'
Physically, Jared is equivalent to a six-month old but intellectually he has no
difficulty and the teen practices with the Sunset Middle School wrestling team
every day - but has never competed until now.
'The first time he met Jared was when he shook hands with him before the match.
So it really was spontaneous. They just picked this kid,' said Craig Kievit,
Justin's father.
'If you watch the video, he just did an amazing job. There's not many adults
comfortable putting hands on a disabled kid, much less another 13-year-old.'
During the incredible video, Justin shakes hands with Jared and then helps Jared
pull his arm over his own body so he can be pinned on the floor.
'It felt good,' Jared said about his first wrestling experience to the Franklin
Home Page
'I think a lot of people are scared to put kids like me on the mat, but they
don’t need to be.'
One of three triplet brothers, this is not the first time that the keen
sportsman has taken to the sporting field.
'Last year he tried football, then he decided he wanted to try something
different,' Phil Stevens said.
When Jared expressed that he wanted to participate in a wrestling match, Mayes
said he called his friend Randy Stevens (no relation), a coach at another middle
school.
'It wasn’t about weight class,' Mayes told the Tennessean. 'I told him to
point me toward the kid who has the kindest heart.'
For his part, when Justin accepted the challenge he was a little apprehensive.
'I was a little nervous,' said Justin. 'Then I kind of figured out what to do.'
The Stevens family who moved to Tennessee from Florida last year have always let
their disable son try whatever he wants, including ziplining with the Boy
Scouts.
'We’re all pretty physical at home,' he says. 'And he’s always talking smack
around us. He’ll say, ‘You want to go, Dad? I’ll bust you up.’