Humble off the mat, humiliating to foes on it

Hasaan Hawthorne is shy about receiving attention, but how the double amputee performs on the wrestling mat deserves it.

Hawthorne, who was born without tibias and had both legs amputated at the knees at 4 months, will wrestle for North Idaho College next season.

"I started in the sixth grade and was not good at first," the soft-spoken Hawthorne said. "A few times I thought about quitting."

These days Hawthorne is laser-focused on getting even better on the mat, amazing coaches, fans and other wrestlers along the way.

Hawthorne went 37-0 his senior year at Pelham (Ala.) High en route to winning the class 6A state title (second-largest classification in that state) in the 145-pound weight division. During his junior year, he was 39-3 and finished third at state in class 7A. As a sophomore, he went 55-12 and as a freshman 20-12.

"His dad (Demond) said Hasaan wanted to go somewhere where he would win national championships," said Pat Whitcomb, NIC's wrestling coach. "He does not like to lose."

Neither does NIC, which has won 14 national titles and has had 54 national champions.

Whitcomb said he's elated that Hawthorne chose NIC over several two- and four-year schools including the likes of Notre Dame, Ohio and Eastern Michigan.

"What we're excited about is not just Hasaan as a wrestler," Whitcomb said. "We want him to bring to the team inspiration on how to overcome obstacles. The community will be much richer for having Hasaan here for a couple years."

Hasaan, who plans to major in communications, said he connected with the NIC coaches and liked the college campus.

"It's just a good fit," he said.

Whitcomb said that, for an 18-year-old, Hasaan's maturity is beyond his years. The coach said he noticed that when he visited with him for the first time at a national tournament.

"He can come in and make an immediate impact for us," he said.

Demond said the family "blew off" NIC at first because it is 2,287 miles from Pelham and they didn't know about Coeur d'Alene.

"But Pat was pretty persistent about us coming out," Demond said. "You could tell that he wanted Hasaan to be a part of the program. He was genuine from the start."

Demond also thought it would be a good idea for Hasaan to start at a two-year school such as NIC to see how his body can hold up to a college program before inking with a four-year school.

To Hassan, achieving remarkable success on the mat as a double amputee isn't unusual since he's been striving for it for so long.

"I don't see it as a challenge," he said. "I'm used to it now."

But the fanfare in his community and at wrestling events has been unavoidable. He earned Alabama's Most Valuable Wrestler award for class 6A.

"Wherever we go, whether it's in an elevator or walking to the store, people ask, 'Are you the kid who is the state wrestling champion?'" said Felecia Hawthorne, Hasaan's mom. "He doesn't like attention, which I think is great as an athlete. It speaks to the type of person he is. It's not a surprise to him that he won state. It's not a surprise to him that he's accomplished so much."

Demond said Hasaan is at a disadvantage in several ways on the mat.

"He has to use his arms against their legs, which are the strongest parts of the body," Demond said. "In wrestling, it's all about leverage and a lot of power comes from your hips and legs. Without that, it's harder for him not to have that leverage."

Hassan also can't afford to make a mistake because, if he gets on his back, he doesn't have legs to bridge or push himself out.

When opponents are leading Hawthorne, they oftentimes try to avoid contact with him without being called for stalling. However, that technique can backfire on the opponents, Demond said.

"He's very quick and fast, which surprises people," Demond said. "His arms are so long that they can get to their legs."

Demond said most of Hasaan's wins are by decision.

"He has a hard time pinning people, especially really good wrestlers," Demond said. "But he still does pin some."

Both Demond and Hasaan said some wrestling observers comment that Hasaan has one advantage over his foes because he's lower than them, but the two don't buy it.

"There are no advantages," Hasaan said. "I have no legs."

Even with the challenges, Hasaan said he considers himself an upbeat person and doesn't ask, "Why me?"

"I'm so used to this," he said.

Hassan doesn't use any special equipment to train. He uses prosthetics to walk when he's not wrestling, but doesn't use them on the mat because the metal could hurt opponents.

Hasaan tried other sports, including baseball, football, track and swimming.

"Baseball was his first passion, but when he got on the wrestling mat, everything fell off the list and he concentrated on wrestling," Felecia said.

Demond said Hasaan's true wrestling ability seemed to shine between his sophomore and junior years. Hasaan endured his entire sophomore year with a shoulder injury. He had surgeries on an arm and a leg within six weeks of each other and became wheelchair-bound at one point.

"He was doing so much wrestling that one of his upper legs was really taking a beating from the pounding," Demond said. "But he came back from those and got better and stronger. Coming back from that was pretty impressive. I think that's when we realized he's pretty good at this and he can still get a lot better."

Felecia said many people comment on how gutsy Hasaan is after watching him wrestle on YouTube.

"He doesn't let his disability define him and people are really drawn to that," she said. "It's a respect factor, especially after how many times he's gone out there and won."

Felecia said Hasaan has not only been an inspiration to teammates and opponents, but kids in the community. He plans to continue such an outreach in Coeur d'Alene when his teammates give back to the community here.

"He's very humble, but he also likes to spend time with people," Felecia said. "He's a great guy who can get along with anybody, but he's one of the most ferocious competitors on the mat."