By TYLER DRUMMOND
of The Gazette
As an athlete, performing under adverse situations is something that is expected.
Last summer Barry Bonds smacked a home run to win a game while his father Bobby was in the hospital.
In December Brett Favre would throw for 399 yards and four touchdowns just a few days after his father died.
This year has been no different as Stevens Point Area Senior High School sophomore Kyle Roth has wrestled his way to the state tournament, all the while knowing that his father Michael is battling for his life.
"It's tough, but he gives me a lot of strength to do what I do," said Kyle. "It makes me want to wrestle harder to win."
Not only does Kyle pull strength from his father, but father is also pulling strength from his son's victories. Michael, 44, has been diagnosed with gastro-esophageal cancer.
"I look forward to every match, every week," said Michael. "He's given me a lot of strength."
Michael grew up on a farm, which is located across the street from his present address.
"I wasn't a wrestler as a child. I just came home and worked on the farm," said Michael.
His work in dairy farming continues to this day as he works on the same farm he grew up on.
Today Michael is married to wife Miranda. They have two other sons, Justin and Ethan.
"These two have definitely been helping each other all year long," said Miranda. "You can just see the pride in Michael's face when he watches Kyle, and now Justin, wrestle."
Getting to the state tournament as a sophomore is an accomplishment in itself, but now Kyle is looking to bring home the championship.
Kyle is going into the state tournament on Thursday as one of the favorites to do well, if not win, but he knows that to do so will mean beating some tough competition.
"There're a couple of guys in the tournament that are going to be especially tough. Everybody is tough because they all made it to state, but some will be harder than others," said Kyle.
Two wrestlers that will provide the toughest competition are Brad Blersch, a sophomore from Oconomowoc, who went 33-5 on the year, and Richie Dunn, a senior from Arrowhead, who went 37-5.
"Those two guys will provide the toughest competition for me," said Kyle.
Not looking past his first round of competition however, Kyle is preparing to face Tucker Pope from Pius XI in the first round. Pope is a freshman and has gone 26-4 on the season.
"I don't know much about him, but I just want to go in and wrestle every match, and take it one match at a time," said Kyle.
Most wrestlers coming off a 34-3 season would carry an aura of invincibility, but not Roth. In fact, Roth almost seems shy about accepting the accolades of this season.
"He's always been shy," said Michael. "The way you can tell that he isn't cocky is that he's got this walk, a goofy walk when he walks out to the mat. Most wrestlers run to the mat to get psyched up and some saunter with cockiness, but not Kyle. He has the same walk to the mat as he does down the halls at school."
"He's a good wrestler, but I don't like bragging," said Miranda. "It's a whole lot different watching other wrestlers such as Steve Bachinski and Grey Pope from last year wrestle successfully. But when it's actually your son, it just fills you with pride."
Roth is a household name in the SPASH wrestling system. Not only that, but Miranda's side of the family also has put forth state winners.
"It's tough on him because he knows how successful his name is," said Miranda. "It's not something we press on him about, but you can tell it with people who come to the meets - they see he's a Roth and expect him to win."
"I just want to live up to the expectations and be successful," said Kyle.
Going down to watch the state tournament is something that the Roths do even if no one is competing. Michael, Kyle, Justin, Ethan and, occasionally, Miranda have made it a point the last five years to go and watch the state wrestling tournament.
"I could sit there and watch these guys wrestle all day," said Michael. "It's something we've done the past five years not only to really enjoy some great competition but to also show Kyle and the other boys exactly what they can do with hard work and a goal."
This year has been more special than past years with everything going on in the family plus Kyle's trip to state.
"This year has definitely been more special for us because we don't know how much longer we all have together," said Miranda. "We're all pulling for Kyle, hoping that he'll do good."
"There's no feeling in the world like watching your child compete," said Michael, with a tear in his eye. "You dream about it, but there are no words to describe it. It seems like just yesterday he was in kindergarten.
"If there's one piece of advice I can give, it's to take every opportunity you can to watch your children compete in their sports, because you never know how long you have or when it could all be over," said Michael.