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[sports announcer] As we go into the second period.
Narrator: A college wrestling match is intense.
It’s physical.
And loud. [crowd cheering]
But when Wyoming’s L.J. Helbig takes the mat, everything changes.
Mark Branch: The hardest kid I have ever coached.
It’s frustrating and hard to coach him. It’s rewarding to coach him,
I mean, it’s everything.
Narrator: LJ was born deaf, he communicates
with the help of a cochlear implant.
L.J. Helbig: Take it off, put it back on.
Narrator: But when he hits the mat,
his aid comes off and LJ wrestles in complete silence.
Which makes communicating with coach a challenge.
For the longest time I did it just
like I did anybody. I screamed and yelled.
It took me forever to realize it wasn’t working.
Narrator: But with patience and persistence
LJ and Coach Branch have perfected a partnership that’s
helped to break down the sound barrier.
Every time the match stops or every time we’re out of bounds,
I run back to center, I always look to Coach Branch. Always every time.
I have to have your attention when I can get it because I can’t get
it very often, I also find myself running around you know different
parts of the mat and waving to get you know flagging him down to get
his eyes on me while he is wrestling. Which is something I probably get away with,
you're not supposed to do. I mean I can’t, you know you can’t, just
run all over the place but I’ve never had an issue with it,
I think the officials understand what we are dealing with.
So sometimes I gotta run over, sometimes I gotta
get out a little bit on the mat. You know sometimes I stomp on the
mat to try and get a vibration through to him. Something, if he feels something
he can look up and know that I am trying to get his attention.
Narrator: The message has been heard loud and clear.
L.J. is not only one of the top wrestlers on the team; he is a
former West Regional Champion an NCAA Tournament qualifier.
I know I did put in a lot of time put a lot of hard work into this
sport but that is what this sport is all about. You know you give it all.
I know he has some frustrations trying to coach me, it’s hard to
communicate in terms of wrestling but I am glad that Mark Branch is my coach,
because I feel like, I actually feel like he is one of few coaches that
will spend extra time to make sure he looks for different ways to
communicate with me so I can actually understand 100%.
Narrator: This partnership has not only made
L.J. Helbig a better wrestler but it has made Mark Branch a better coach.
Even though it is different, its unique to the other 30 guys on the team.
it does make you understand that every kid has their own individual
obstacle and you gotta figure out what that is.
And when the obstacle is cleared and it’s time to wrestle
for L.J. and Coach Branch -- silence is golden.
In Laramie Wyoming I’m Jessie Kurtz for the Mountain West Digital Network.