Takedown Report

Rosewood’s mat magician pins obstacles like he does opponents

By Jared Fialko, WRAL Sports multimedia journalist
Putting in the work tends to frighten some athletes off, but not Timothy Decatur. He fully embraces the grind. “Whenever I want something I get it, I don’t stop until I get it,” says Rosewood senior Timothy Decatur. “If I want to be the best at something, I won’t stop until I’m the best at it.” Win-loss-wise, he’s exactly that. A back-to-back WRAL Invitational Wrestling Tournament Champ, Rosewood’s mat-magician capped his high school career with a 57-1 record and a third individual state title, in the process, becoming the NCHSAA’s all-time leader in victories.

“In all the years I’ve been around sports and wrestling, I’ve never had a kid that’s had the drive and the determination to not just improve but excel in his sport,” says Hal Kilpatrick, Rosewood high school wrestling coach. That one loss, by the way, came when Decatur was bumped up two classes above his natural weight. What the 132 pounder achieves: unprecedented. How he does so: inspirational. Doctors declared Timothy legally blind in his left eye at age six, and diagnosed him on the Autism spectrum. “It doesn’t stop me from being who I can be,” Timothy persists. “I’m not going to let that stop me, nothing’s going to stop me.” “His whole life he’s been doing everything I can do, most of the time better than me,” smiles Decatur’s brother Christian. What some view as his weakness, Timothy says is his strength. Rest of the story at https://www.highschoolot.com/rosewood-s-mat-magician-pins-obstacles-like-he-does-opponents/18208199/

June 5, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized