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Montana high school wrestler lets special needs opponent claim first victory

Feb 19, 2012, 12:34 PM EDT

10 Comments
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In life, there are classy moves and then, there is what high school wrestler Clancy Ludvigson did during a senior night wrestling event at Townsend high school in Montana last week.

The sophomore wrestling talent from Cascade high decided to ask wrestling officials to let him wrestle a specific opponent on this night after his other scheduled matches.

That opponent ended up being a special needs wrestler, senior Troy Spurlock of Townsend who hadn’t recorded a victory during his entire high school wrestling career.

Then in a selfless act during one of the final matches of the night, Ludvigson allowed Spurlock to pin him and claim his first ever victory that wasn’t a forfeit. Afterwards, both wrestlers were pleased with the result:

“I picked the kid up and threw him on the mat and my face like burst into flames, like, I had him! That was the best moment of my life,” Spurlock told KRTV. “The best moment of my life, getting that first win. [Townsend wrestling coach John] O’Dell is always saying ‘Don’t give up, try your best and don’t have bad sportsmanship, always have good sportsmanship.’”

This match will stand out in my mind forever,” Ludvigson told KRTV. “I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed losing that much in my life.”

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Montana wrestler volunteers loss so opponent can win [Prep Rally]

Montana wrestler lets special needs opponent win [KRTV]

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  1. Dirty D Fo - Feb 19, 2012 at 1:40 PM

    This is the kind of stuff I like reading… Good on that kid to make someone’s day… Both youngmen will remember this for the rest of their lives.

  2. saints97 - Feb 19, 2012 at 2:56 PM

    It’s good to know that this world might have a chance when we adults get done doing our best to ruin it.

  3. dbeehner - Feb 19, 2012 at 3:24 PM

    A good kid who is well on his way to becoming a good man.

  4. dlmasters - Feb 19, 2012 at 4:22 PM

    Yes, he is a good kid. But with the media getting hold of it, how long until the special needs wrestler knows about it?

    • seeptermean - Feb 19, 2012 at 11:05 PM

      Why would he have wins by forfeit if he couldn’t win a match on his own? I think this kid could have won on his own and didn’t need this selfless act to get a win. I hope that he doesn’t find out that this was all basically an act.

      • seeptermean - Feb 20, 2012 at 11:00 AM

        Okay so there are negative comments because I said I think the kid could have earned his first victory on his own and that he didn’t need to be given it. I guess encouraging someone to earn something is looked down upon as opposed to just giving someone something. Explains a lot about this country now-a-days…

      • term3186 - Feb 20, 2012 at 12:56 PM

        He has wins by forfeit because people refuse to wrestle the special needs kid.

      • mckludge - Feb 20, 2012 at 3:32 PM

        Probably he wins by forfeit if the other team has no wrestlers in that weight class.

  5. seanthegreatest - Feb 20, 2012 at 2:46 PM

    “Okay so there are negative comments because I said I think the kid could have earned his first victory on his own and that he didn’t need to be given it.”

    It was senior night, so this was his LAST chance to get a “win on his own”.
    He likely got his forfeits due to the other guys not making weight, not because kids refused to wrestle him.

    • seeptermean - Feb 20, 2012 at 9:39 PM

      Yes, I looked at a video of this and saw it was his last chance, except for state tournament. I wrestled in high school, I just find it hard to believe that no team in 4 years was able to field someone that he could beat even if they were lighter. Granted he wrestled at 115 and there’s not much below that, but even throwing a freshman out there who weight 100 pounds is better than just staging a fake match in my opinion.

      Maybe he would have never won, since it was his last match of regular season. It’s a sensitive subject, but he won out of pity, I have no ill will towards the kid, someone was matched up against him and he won. I just don’t think it should be supported to let some one win. Imagine how you would feel if you finally beat your dad at basketball and at dinner you find out he let you win.

      Again, nothing against the kid, I’m just against the whole act of letting someone win.

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