Wrestler has a grip on beating odds

BENSON -- Jim Morrison offers a simple, heartfelt answer when asked to assess Zach Morrison, a 195-pound junior wrestler at West Johnston High.

"Zach is just amazing."

Of course, that's the expected reply from a father who is proud of a son and his accomplishments.

And Zach's accomplishments are many: a first-year varsity wrestler on the Wildcats' 2012 conference championship squad, a record of 21-18 with 17 pins and an almost-certain berth in the upcoming 4A Eastern Regional tournament.

Not bad.

But Morrison is not your average high school wrestler. He is not even your average high school student. Ten years ago, he was diagnosed as autistic.

"Twelve years ago, Zach used to get sick at least once a month," Jim Morrison said. "At first we thought it was a virus, but it kept happening on a regular basis."

Soon after, Morrison suffered a seizure. Further tests led to the discovery that he had epilepsy. Months later, Jim and his wife, Jane, learned their son had autism.

Morrison no longer endures the seizures of epilepsy, but he still deals with shyness, though his father notes that his son now is "high-functioning on the autism spectrum."

Since becoming a member of the West Johnston wrestling program as a freshman, Morrison has become more confident in his ability to hold a conversation..

"Being a wrestler made me communicate with people better, " Morrison said. "And it has helped me make a lot more friends. It has helped me talk to people better and have better conversations with others than I ever could before."

Being able to converse is just one of the benefits Morrison has received from wrestling. He has built camaraderie, faith and trust in others.

Family encouragement

Morrison became interested in wrestling through watching professional wrestling on television.

Wanting to encourage his son's interest in something he was able to focus on for long periods, Jim Morrison approached his son with an idea.

"That's not real wrestling," the father told his son. "Why not try out for high school wrestling?"

Morrison proved a hard sell. "It took a lot of persuading," his father said.

But with encouragement from other family members, Morrison eventually bought in. Two cousins in Wisconsin had wrestled, and another cousin now coaches wrestling at Eden Morehead High.

Zach also has a twin brother, Adam, who wrestles at West Johnston, though he is out for the season, resting an injured shoulder.

Before his first semester at West Johnston, in the summer of 2009, Morrison learned of a wrestling camp. "I heard they had open matches during the summer," he said. "And I decided to come out and try it. It was pretty hard on the body, but after a while, you got used to it."

Jim Morrison said the camp was instrumental in building Zach's self confidence, which enabled him to make the team.

Zach Lychalk, who wrestles at 182 pounds, is one of Zach's teammates.

"We treat him like one of the guys," Lychalk said. "We all know he has autism, but we know we can put him in a position to win a match for us. He comes through for us, and we're all behind him with our support.

"... In his freshman year, he was real quiet. Wrestling helped open him up."

West Johnston's David Prendergast said Morrison is a coach's dream. "He does what he is asked to do and knows on the mat what he has to do," Prendergast said. "He never questions what is being taught or what to do - he just works his butt off in the wrestling room."

On the mat, Prendergast said, Morrison is able to sense pressure, which enables him to adjust accordingly: "He doesn't like to be touched, but he feeds off the pressure applied to him in certain places," the coach said. "He will look like he's slowing down or stopping, but what he is doing is trying to feel which way to go.

"He just has that uncanny sense of pressure and an awareness when he is on the mat."

'B' average in classroom

With 250 wins as a coach, Prendergast has seen a lot of great wrestling moves. But Morrison can be amazing, the coach said, referring in particular to a match in which he threw an opponent over his head and put his back on the mat.

"That would have been a sure five-point move in freestyle wrestling," Prendergast said. "Then, against Harnett Central, he used a standing, spinning cradle for a pin."

Morrison performs well in the classroom too, holding a B average.

"He wants to work in cooking, maybe be a chef," Jim Morrison said. "But that is not set in stone yet. He also is considering going to college. He would like to wrestle, possibly at UNC Pembroke."

For now, Morrison will enter Saturday's individual regionals with the same goal as every other wrestler - a spot in the state championship.

"He's the type of guy you want to work with in your program," Prendergast said. "He's going to work hard, be there at practice every day.

"Even if he never wrestled for us at the varsity level, it's still good to have him in the program."