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TEMPERANCE, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan teenager is helping his younger brother learn to wrestle months after the teen walked 40 miles with the 8-year-old boy strapped to his back.
Braden Gandee has cerebral palsy and is learning the sport in the wrestling room at Bedford Junior High School with the help of his brother, Hunter, 15, the Monroe News (http://bit.ly/1sJ10KL ) reported. The high school freshman, a member of the Bedford High School wrestling squad, is modifying the drills to accommodate his brother's muscular disorder.
Although Hunter admits he's not entirely sure what he's doing, he's trying his best to help Braden.
"Something will pop in my head as we're on the mat and I'll try it. What could go wrong?" Hunter said.
When Hunter found out Braden was joining the Great Lakes Wrestling Club, which practices at the school, he asked his coaches at Bedford if they had any ideas about training a wrestler like Braden.
"I tried to talk to people and get ideas but everyone knew as much as I did," Hunter said.
He hopes some contacts he's made outside of the school will be able to give him some tips.
The brothers set off from the school, walking 40 miles to the University of Michigan's Bahna Wrestling Center, on their previous athletic challenge in June. They took on the trek, called the Cerebral Palsy Swagger, to show young people the face of cerebral palsy and the need for new ideas in mobility aides and medical procedures.
Braden said he's enjoying his new sport and is glad to be following in Hunter's footsteps
"I like the hard work," he said of wrestling. "It's awesome."
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Information from: Monroe News, http://www.monroenews.com
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