Takedown Report

Lawrence North wrestler slept on floor in a shelter. Had no desk. Now he’s planning on college

INDIANAPOLIS — Lawrence North wrestler Michael White cried as his Utah-bound flight ascended into the Indianapolis skies in June, terrified as he watched the Earth disappear. “The plane, like the gravity felt unfamiliar,” White said. “I didn’t know what to do. I just looked out the window, and I just went up so fast.”
The trip was among many he took to wrestling tournaments in North Carolina, Virginia and North Dakota over the summer. All to face the best in the country, to grow as a wrestler, to make waves in front of college coaches.
The plane was new to White. Quick ascents, however, were not. Less than two years prior, White was a wrestling novice. He took up the sport as a freshman at Lawrence North, going through the most tumultuous experience of his life: Bouncing from hotel to hotel with his family before staying in a Wheeler Mission shelter for six months. It started, he said, when his family was evicted from their apartment after his mom took their landlord to court over mold.
White quit football because he was unable to make practice early in the morning with a single mom and siblings at multiple schools with different start times. But he was determined to join the wrestling team. White and coach Jacob Aven, whom White had for study hall, quickly built a connection over his interest in the sport. White told Aven his goals, including wrestling for a Division I program and winning a state championship. … more at … https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2024/12/09/homeless-lawrence-north-wrestler-state-title-college-michael-white/76706709007/

December 15, 2024 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | news, sports, wrestling