Dec. 21, 2004: Uintah Basin Standard

Second Year On The Team: Blind Matman, Lewis Burdette Battles Out On the Mat for Union
by Aldon Rachele

Lewis Burdette is just like any normal wrestler. He likes to battle out on the mat for takedowns, reversals, escapes and most important of all–the almighty pin. The only thing that sets him apart from other wrestlers is that he is blind.

Burdette has type of blindness called “Retinitis Pigmentosa” (Hereditary retinal diseases characterized by progressive loss of visual field, night blindness and reduced or absent electroretinogram recording, which indicates that a large portion of the retina is damaged.)

Union’s Burdette doesn’t let his blindness get in the way of his passion for the sport of wrestling, which he took up when he was in grade school. In an March 28, 2000 interview by Aldon Rachele in the Uintah Basin Standard he said, “I would like to be on the high school wrestling team.”

He reached that goal last year as a freshman and is now a second-year member of the Union High School team as a tenth grader.

“This is my seventh year overall of wrestling. (He started the sport as a Tiger Leaguer.) My goal is just to get better,” Burdette said. “It is just a regular wrestling match with takedowns, reversals, escapes, pins, etc. I don’t have any favorite hold–I just like them all.”

Many of the holds, moves and other items are the same, but there is one major difference and that is “contact”. There has to be constant contact when a sighted matman wrestles a blind competitor.
“They have to stay in contact. If they break contact, they are restarted by the official. You can’t release his hand and take a low single leg. You can’t do that,” said Union High School mat coach, Phillip Armstrong. “He (Lewis) has been doing this sport a long time. He knows the moves.”
In a neutral or standing position, both participants start facing each other, with hands touching. In the referee’s position there is no problem because body contact is already made.
Burdette is a talented wrestler, and Coach Armstrong added, “Lewis is doing really well. He has a winning record. He took first at the Carbon Tournament. He initiates contact, but is generally more defensive.”

One of Burdette’s teammates is Garrett Cloward, a fifth placer at last year’s state meet. Cloward stated, “He (Lewis) is doing good. He is real strong.”

Recently Cloward pinned a Morgan matman in the Cougar Classic and he said, “I got him with the half. I just squeezed him down, put his shoulders in position and waited for the ref to slap the mat. Burdette is part of our young Union team that is three-fourths freshmen and sophomores this year. We only have a few seniors.”

Ace Davis is a former Union High School wrestling coach, who now simply watches the young wrestlers and especially enjoys viewing the mat talent of Burdette.

“You can’t separate them. They have to have contact all the time. Hands have to be touching and they (blind wrestlers) can tell if they are being put in a pinning combination just from their years of on the mat,” he said.

Recently, Burdette took on a senior member of the defending state championship, Wasatch High School team, Brad Broadhead in a dual meet in Roosevelt.

Burdette did quite well for most of the match and opened the bout with a takedown, but fell behind 5-2 after one round. Burdette rallied for a 10-9 lead, which included a near fall. However, Broadhead came on in the third round and won on a pin.

When he was featured in 2000 article in the Standard, Burdette said that he enjoyed the “arm throw” for a takedown and the half nelson or cowboy finish (a bulldog move) for pin falls, and added, “I have to react quickly and counter his moves. I can hear my opponent moving toward me some what”

According to Dr. Bill Welker in article called: “West Virginia Mat Thoughts” on the Internet, wrestling is the only contact sport that offers blind athletes the challenge of competing with their sighted peers.

Dr. Welker added that to learn mat skills, the tutor must physically place his sightless matmen in the proper positions (step-by-step) for each maneuver. Of course, it takes longer than the “demonstration technique” used for those who can see, but they learn fast. After a move is taught, they “drill, drill, drill” it to perfection.

There have been state champions in Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas (a two-time state winner), Texas, Arizona, Indiana, Kentucky, Florida and Lewis Burdette would like to someday add Utah to the list.