Hereford wrestler Taylor Gload, who earned Baltimore Sun Boys Athlete of the Week honors yesterday for his performance at the Maryland Public Secondary Schools state wrestling tournament last weekend, is different in ways you'd never expect.
Gload, who wrestles at around 198 pounds, won the heavyweight (285-pound) class.
Unusual enough. He was undefeated in that weight class for two full seasons (42-0), which is very unusual. His only loss came in the 215-pound class, which should be his normal weight class. Distinctive.
And the senior has unusual determination to stay with difficult things. To get stronger for wrestling and football -- he's a defensive end for the Bulls -- he goes to the gym and lifts weights relentlessly. He bench presses 280 pounds, squat lifts 450, power cleans 270 and dead lifts nearly three-times his weight -- 530 pounds.
But perhaps the most unusual thing about him is not his strength, but his strength of character. Wrestlers as a group are strong-willed. But when a teenager says he is going to give up his cell phone -- and that means the texting that goes with it -- for Lent and then does it, well, that might go beyond unusual.
Lent is a 40-day period from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. In 40 days, my stepson could send and receive nearly 20,000 messages, and he's not unusual among his friends. He would be if he gave up his cell, which isn't going to happen.
Why did Gload decide to do it?
"One of my friends on the wrestling team who had been having a really good season gave up soda for Lent," Gload said. "But at the regional tournament, he forgot and drank a soda. Then he failed to qualify for states. Seeing that, I just decided I should give up something and stick with it."
So far, the results have been great. He pinned his state final opponent in 3:11 to win the one and only state crown of his career.
"It was a big deal," Gload said of winning the title (not giving up the cell). "It was like the culmination. It meant I ended my high school heavyweight career undefeated, set the school record for wins in a season [41] and reached the goal of winning a championship.
"I didn't show much emotion when I won during the season because I was always thinking about the next match. But I was emotional after the championship win because it was the last one. There was nothing more to think about."
-- Sandra McKee