By Gary R. Blockus
Of The Morning Call
Like any wrestler, Joey Schwartz is looking forward to the day when he can crack the starting lineup of the varsity team.
Schwartz has a tough task ahead if he wants to move up from the junior varsity lineup. A 17-year-old junior, he competes at Northampton High School, one of the premier scholastic wrestling programs in state.
He knows what it will take, however, and he’s ready for the challenge.
He’s been prepared for challenge all his life.
”It’s a fun season,” he admitted of the physical workload, ”but the hardest part is getting things to go right, getting things to flow. I have to get things going right to win some key matches and hopefully be a varsity wrestler.”
For Schwartz, that’s almost second nature.
Born 14 weeks prematurely along with his fraternal twin brother, Andrew, Joey weighed just two pounds. Andrew suffered a stroke not long after birth. Joey seemed much healthier. For a few days, anyway.
Entering the world so premature and just 12 inches long, Joey’s internal organs reacted to the stress of life outside the womb. A blood clot cut off circulation in his bowel, a condition known as necrotizing enterocolitis, and caused gangrene.
Doctors removed an estimated 80 percent of his bowel as he desperately clung to life.
”When they removed so much of his bowel, they didn’t think he’d live,” said his mom, Mary Ellen, a juvenile probation officer for Lehigh County. ”It turns out he had just enough [bowel remaining] to survive.”
While brother Andrew was discharged from the hospital after three months, Joey remained, eventually spending the first 16 months of his life at St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem under the care of his primary physician, Dr. Andrew Unger, surgeon, Dr. Andrew Walker, and several nurses who steadfastly administered care and love to Joey as he fought not just for health, but for his life.
Joey knows the names of all the nurses who took care of him, and has a special fondness for Ann Tocci, Cindy Slaton, Bonny Hager, Cindy Kalman and Charlotte Becker, who were powerful reasons he survived.
The fight that he exhibited for his life is one he demonstrates daily at wrestling workouts.
”He’s the hardest worker we have,” said Northampton senior Chris Wieller, one of the team’s captains. ”No matter what we do, he’s out there working as hard, or harder, than everybody else.”
”He’s just one of the guys,” added Northampton wrestling coach Terry Daubert. ”He’s one of the hardest-working kids we have. He never misses a workout, whether it’s in-season or out of season with weightlifting or anything else. He’s very respected by his teammates.”
MAKING WEIGHT
Most wrestlers find it difficult to ”cut” weight ” drop the pounds that will allow them to make a lighter weight class where they can be potentially stronger, and better.
Joey Schwartz has a hard time holding onto weight.
It’s what makes him different.
Joey can eat anything he wants. He just doesn’t absorb most of it.
Wrestling Gear
