Young wrestler defeats handicap

Press, 24 February 1986, Page 44

Young wrestler defeats handicap

NZPA-AP Almont, Michigan Steve Manko has only one hand, but neither the Almont High School wrestler nor any of the 17 opponents he has defeated so far this season consider him to be handicapped. The 17-year-old also is one of the school’s top tennis players and, helped by a hook attached to his forearm, plays drums in the marching and jazz bands.

“There are probably some things that I can’t do,” said Manko, “but I’ve never found anything that I wanted to do that I couldn’t.”

Manko credits his Ukrainian immigrant parents with helping him overcome the loss of his right hand, severed at the wrist nine years ago when it became caught in bagging machinery at the family’s mushroom farm. “A lot of things went

through my head after the accident,” Manko said, “but my mother always encouraged me to keep playing sports and got me started in the drums and piano.” As a wrestler, Manko has a 17-8 record and finished third last week in the 66kg weight class at a district tournament. Manko said he could master most wrestling moves with one hand — and he has used his stump in some matches to slide it through an opponent’s defences when a hand and wrist would not fit.

Manko also plays soccer, baseball and basketball.

Tennis presented a challenge when he learned to serve by throwing the ball into the air with the same hand that holds the racket, but he and his team-mate posted an 11-1 record as the school’s No. 1 tennis doubles team.