Wagner Wrestler One Of Four Up For ‘Best Male Athlete With A Disability’
BY JAMES D. CIMBUREK
Wagner’s Ryan Kocer has always been a big-time athlete in South Dakota. Now he will have the chance to be recognized among the best in the world.
Kocer is one of four athletes nominated for “Best Male Athlete With A Disability” at the 2008 ESPYs. Nominations were announced by ESPN, the event’s sponsor, on Tuesday.
A three-time former state wrestling champion, Kocer lost his leg below the knee in an accident prior to the 2007 school year. He returned to wrestling in early 2008, and earned fourth in the state to help the Red Raiders to the Class B state title.
Kocer was informed of the nomination a week ago, and said that it came as a shock.
“I was very surprised when I heard about it,” he said. “I wasn’t even expecting it.”
The nomination also came as a surprise to Wagner head coach Ernie Valentine, who “didn’t know such a thing existed.”
“Ryan is very deserving. That’s for sure,” he said.
Valentine credit’s Kocer’s resolve ” and his teammates’ determination not to let Kocer’s injury dampen their season ” for helping the Red Raiders to the state title.
“When the injury happened, the team did not change their goals,” he said. “Ryan pushed our team to their goals, and they pushed Ryan to his.
“The two went hand in hand.”
The result was Wagner’s first state title since 1994. Valentine was also honored, earning South Dakota High School Coaches Association Wrestling Coach of the Year.
“Winning state aside, this was one of the most memorable seasons I have ever coached,” Valentine noted. “It was because of the adversity we went through as a team because of Ryan’s injury, and how we came together.”
Kocer’s return to the mat and the success he had on it drew regional and national attention, including a story in USA Today. Since the season drew to a close in late February, though, things have slowed down.
“I’ve had a chance to figure things out, get back to the normal things I used to do.”
Among those things he’s figured out is his future. He will be attending South Dakota State this fall and plans to major in nursing, a path he chose in part due to his experiences.
“I was looking at nursing before (the accident), but it made me want to pursue it more,” he said.
As for continuing his wrestling career, Kocer is undecided.
“If I do, I’ll walk on,” he noted.
Also nominated in the category are Matt Scott (basketball), Phil Scholz (swimming) and Marthell Vazquez (soccer).
Scott helped lead the U.S. Men’s Wheelchair Basketball team to the gold medal in the 2007 Paralympic Pan American Games. He posted 13 steals in the six-game tournament, and made a defensive stop on Canada’s Pat Anderson as time expired in the championship.
Scholz set American records in the 50-meter butterfly, 800-meter freestyle and 1,500-meter freestyle.
Vazquez was named MVP of the 2007 World Soccer Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, leading the U.S. squad with four goals in the event.
The 16th annual ESPYs will take place on Wednesday, July 16, at the new Nokia Theater, across the street from Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. It will be televised on Sunday, July 20, on ESPN, beginning at 8 p.m. CT.
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