ROSSFORD, Ohio — As the high school wrestling season winds down, there will be stories of state championships. There will be stories of triumph. But for the Rossford wrestling team, they don’t need a trophy to understand just how special this season is, and that’s all thanks to Markus Santiago.
Just a few short months ago, no one could have imagined seeing Santiago on the wrestling mat.
“I couldn’t stand in a good stance, I couldn’t even jog around the room for 30 seconds, I was that bad,” said Santiago.
In November, Markus came to the Rossford wrestling coaches and was interested in joining the team. He’d never been in a match and was in no shape to compete. He weighed over 350 pounds. He knew he would have to put in a ton of work.
“I decided to put in the extra work before and after practice,” said Santiago. “Before I would go to practice, I would jog at my house or do things outside that would help me get in better shape. Then once I got home, I would do the same thing just to get into better shape. I would just do extra stuff just to always stay in a healthy position.”
As Markus put in the work, the weight continued to fall off. But he had to get down to 285 pounds to wrestle in a match. Last week, that dream finally became a reality. He finally hit his target goal.
“I felt like all the hard work had finally paid off,” said Santiago. “I finally had my chance to show my hard work as a way to show how far I’ve come since November. This is the moment where it counts.”
“He sprinted up and gave me a big bear hug,” said assistant coach DJ Recknagel. “It was a great moment. It definitely brought a tear to my eye. The passion that that kid has for something that’s so new to him, it’s cool. It’s inspiring.”
The result didn’t matter. He didn’t get a win in that match. But no one will remember that. What they will remember is how a kid worked like crazy to drop over 70 pounds in a couple of months because he wanted to be part of something bigger than himself.
“Markus has made the whole season a success,” said Rossford head coach Randy Hussar. “We can never say that we didn’t have a successful season now. At the end of the day, we’re coaching to impact kids. Nobody is going to get rich from wrestling. Nobody is going to be a millionaire. We’re trying to make good human beings, good adults that don’t give up in college or the workplace. I think we’ve done that with Markus. It’s nice to be able to change somebody’s life.”
The other amazing part of this journey is the bond that he built with assistant coach DJ Recknagel. When Markus started, there was no one on the team big enough to wrestle with him. So, Recknagel took on that challenge.
Every day, he pushed Markus to get to this point. And out of that came something more than he could have ever imagined.
“He’s a great kid that works so darn hard,” said Recknagel. “It started out at the beginning of the year where we’d have to take breaks multiple times throughout practice while all the other kids are drilling. It’s gotten to the point where when I release the kids for a drink break, Marky sits back and does sit-ups and push-ups and puts in extra work.”
“He’s a friend to me,” said Santiago. “He’s not just a coach, he’s a friend. Someone who I really care about. He’s everything to me.”