Cyrus, Sammie WY & Hawthorne, Hasaan AL: Obstacle into Opportunity
True Ability Comes from Within
Sammie Cyrus (Wyoming) & Hasaan Hawthorne (Alabama)
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By Bill X. Barron
Step inside the circle of life. Immediately, it demands: What are you willing to sacrifice to the quest? What will you give back when you leave the arena? Who will be next to step inside your shoes?
Wrestling mirrors how one lives life. Each wrestler is measured by his or her willingness to take risks, the courage to confront challenge, and the discipline to respond with determination regardless of the score or the odds.
Born without shin bones, a condition called tibial hemimelia, Hasaan Hathorne’s legs were amputated above his knees at 3 months. Now on a wrestling scholarship at Hastings College (NE), Hasaan wrapped up an undefeated senior season at Pelham High School with the 2016 Alabama state championship at 145 pounds and was named Class 6A Outstanding Wrestler.
At 10.5 months, Sammie Cyrus came down with meningitis, resulting in the amputation of his right foot at age 3 and his left foot at age 8. Now in his second year of wrestling, Sammie is an RMN Wild West rookie champion, after “building upon moves and improving body position and strength.”
While current 7th grader Sammie Cyrus of Dubois, Wyoming and college senior Hasaan Hawthorne of Pelham, Alabama are of different ages and from opposite sides of the country, the wrestling family brought them together in 2019 as training partners who share a common desire to transform obstacle into opportunity.
Deep South Alabama seems far away from northern Wyoming’s Fremont County, less than a hundred miles south of Yellowstone with a population of a thousand. But Dubois Rams Coach David Trembly understood that Sammie needed to learn from someone who had experienced life from a similar perspective. “He was going to have to develop his own style.”
Coach Trembly “read an article about Hasaan and sent an email to his North Idaho College coach, Brandon Richardson, thinking they might give me a few hints. Well, they both came to Wyoming and spent almost 8 hours, not only working with Sam on his wrestling skills, but also talking with him about taking on challenges.” At that time a junior at NIC, Hasaan was ranked 5th nationally, before injury sidelined him prior to Regionals.
Responding to his challenges with creativity, Sammie has taken advantage of a lower center of gravity and a powerful upper body to seize a double leg tackle, execute an ankle pick, perform a sit-out smash, or wrap up an unbreakable nearside cradle. Sammie has turned disability into a unique ability to succeed in his own way. As Sammie repeats to himself: “Stay in the mindset.”
Similarly, Hasaan has had to figure out what technique works best, so he could always be in the best position to score. He relates: “I had to protect myself by staying one step ahead of my opponent. I also quickly learned to wrestle mistake-free – I couldn’t bridge off my back without legs. So, I adapted, learning to control wrists and ankles.” For Hasaan, his mantra is: “Make it yours, then kill it!”
As he matured, Hasaan states that “wrestling taught me how to become a man by chasing a dream I believe in and to value working hard. Wrestlers don’t need extra equipment or even eyes or legs. I grew up with the confidence to be me and the perseverance to get up on my own. Wrestling allowed me to be me.”
In Sammie’s life, “wrestling built me to be mentally strong, how to rely on myself, not the team. It developed my character. Whenever I start to feel sorry for myself, I remove that feeling as fast as I can. I have learned that I cannot seal myself off if I lose; I have to get out of that state of mind and take on the next opponent.”
Sammie’s journey began early on “when I learned that I could get around the house faster by walking like a gorilla on my knuckles without the aid of prostheses. Now I am stronger than most others on my wrestling team. In a way, I accidentally prepared myself to become a wrestler.”
Hasaan acknowledges that he has seen his way through tough times by developing “a positive outlook and learning how to get through them. I can relate to those who have gone through the exact same thing. I want those I help that they have someone who knows the journey, even when it’s not always happy.”
“I want to give back to all kids!” exclaims Hasaan, a communications major with a goal to own his own business and to become a motivational speaker.
“Kids should experience joy before life hits them and it’s all stripped away,” Hasaan asserts. “I can mentor them, help them realize their deep-down potential. They should live life to the fullest, fulfill their purpose, achieve their dreams as I did.”
Sammie relates: “I never thought I would earn a 1st place trophy. My first RMN tournament was the Wild West in Gillette where I was blown away by the level of competition and all the ceremony. But I put in a lot of work, including summer camp and what I learned through training with Hasaan, and it paid off. A year later, I was a champion wearing an outsized gold medal around my neck!”
Winning high school state was Hasaan’s “goal from an early age. I kept up the struggle despite not winning many matches the first few years and later after I went through several surgeries. Literally, it was constant work, but I kept going.” After finishing 3rd in state his junior year, Hasaan achieved that pinnacle atop the championship podium in his final year of high school.
Before winning state in wrestling, Hasaan made the all-star team in baseball and played football. After his state title came an ESPN special feature, local news interviews, and Hasaan’s YouTube video. In his words, “it’s been a crazy journey, but it has led to some cool opportunities.
“I remember Hasaan,” Trembly relates, “telling Sammie several times: ‘Make them come to your level, then climb on.’ Hasaan and Coach Richardson gave Sam hope – not just for the mat but for life. Two years ago, kids at meets would look at him and stare. Now, because of Sammie’s heart and love of the sport, kids crowd around to say ‘hi’ and to cheer him on.”
"The guy is a double amputee; he shows up every single day and his body hurts every single day," Hastings College Wrestling Coach, Tyson Springer, says of Hasaan. "It just shows other kids that you can't have excuses. You got to put your head down and go. He is one of those younger kids that you want to see and look up to."
Early in his life, a rare form of meningitis turned Sammie’s skin black and put him in a coma for 10 days. His mother Kelly says: “At age 3, we made the choice for him, a Syme amputation through the ankle joints. When he was 8, and in so much pain, the other foot was Sammie’s choice – incredible for someone so young. Now I am so exuberant that he calls himself a champion!”
In Kelly’s view, “wrestling has given Sammie an acceptance of who he is and a sense of belonging. He has never given up; never said he can’t do it.” Team Mom Adria Trembly adds: “Wrestling rewards those who have desire paired with the willingness to work hard. Sammie is proof of that.”