The high school senior took first place in Virginia’s Class 6 wrestling championship.
Adonis Lattimore, a Virginia Beach, VA high school senior, won his state’s Class 6 wrestling championship (106 lb division) last weekend. Lattimore, of Landstown High School, was born without a right leg and with a partial left leg. He was also born with a single finger on his right hand.
After he won the state championship Lattimore told The Virginian-Pilot, “I’ve been dreaming of this since I knew what it was, and to finally have it happen is just — I don’t know how to explain it. Really if you work hard, you can do anything — even win a state championship without legs.”
See the video below for footage of Lattimore’s championship winning effort, as well as an interview with the student and his father and coach.
Lattimore’s win at the weekend took his season record to 32-7. The win was his first state championship. In his sophomore year Lattimore missed his region tournament. During his junior year his wrestling program was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to winning the state championship last weekend, Lattimore narrowly missed out on a regional championship, where he finished runner-up.
The 17-year-old told ABC 7 News that winning the state championship “has been my goal for about six years.” When speaking to WAVY 10, Lattimore said winning the championship “felt like a blur”.
When it comes to those who doubted he could ever wrestle, Lattimer added: “(It’s) pretty motivating just to prove them wrong, and just to prove to myself that I can do anything I set out to do.”