A simple act of sportsmanship between two young Arizona wrestlers goes viral online
SHOW LOW, Ariz. (3TV/CBS 5) - Trigg Brewer is a junior high student at Show Low Junior High School who’s overcome several obstacles to become a member of the varsity wrestling team. The eighth grader had two strokes as a baby, which left him unable to use his right hand. That’s made it hard at times to wrestle, but at a recent wrestling tournament, it also led to a special moment of sportsmanship.
Before a match, each wrestler puts a different colored strap on their ankle for scoring purposes, but a referee usually puts it on for Trigg. Round Valley middle schooler Emmit Mousaw had other ideas. “I knew his arm, well, his hand, wasn’t working,” Mousaw said. “And I thought it would be a good idea.”
As Mousaw and Brewer prepared to face off on the mat for the second time, Emmit didn’t really know Trigg. But he respected him. “I would have never have guessed that he’s able to wrestle without the use of one of his hands,” Mousaw said. “That just really shocked me.” “I can only do like certain things with my body,” Brewer said. “So it’s really hard.”
One of the biggest challenges for Brewer is putting on his ankle strap before the match. So Mousaw stepped in. “It felt really good about him helping me and stuff,” Brewer said. “Because I don’t think I would have done that by myself.”
“It is pretty nice to be kind of close with your opponents you have to wrestle,” Mousaw responded.
For Mousaw, helping others is nothing new. His younger brother Eli has been dealing with life-threatening seizures for the last couple of years. “Emmit’s always been a big supporter towards Eli,” mom Virginia Robberts said. “When Eli’s cleat is untied on the field, or they’re at a wrestling match, and I can’t be there to help him, Emmit, without a thought, always jumps in to help his brother.”
What is new for both Emmit and Trigg is the response across Northeast Arizona and beyond to a photo posted on Facebook showing Emmit helping Brewer with his ankle strap. It receives hundreds of likes and dozens of comments. “I didn’t expect any of that to happen,” Emmit said. “I just want to show an example for the people like me,” Brewer added. “If I can do it, they can do it.”
So far, Emmit has won both of his showdowns with Trigg, though the last one went to overtime. But the biggest victory? It might be how two opponents turned into friends. “They ended up becoming little buddies after that,” Trigg’s mom Kira said. “They exchanged phone numbers.”
“They’re supposed to see each other at a tournament this weekend,” Robberts added. “So Emmit’s looking forward to that.”
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