Partially blind Teeland student wrestles his opponents -- not his condition

Tommy Class enjoys archery and fishing. He is into snowmachining, snowboarding and riding on his families' three-wheeler.

And he loves wrestling.

"Regular 12-year-old stuff," Bill Booth, Class' wrestling coach at Teeland Middle School said.

Class, who is partially blind, has a list of hobbies similar to any kid his age. His condition, retinitis pigmentosa, limits his ability to see, but it does not keep him off the wrestling mat.

Class, who was born without part of his retinas, doesn't lack the complete ability to see.

"I am able to see, I just see smaller," Class said.

Because of the condition, there are certain rules that are a little different, for the matches Class wrestles in. Rules require that Class and his opponent have contact throughout the match. At the start of the match, or when the wrestlers are in the neutral position, Class and his opponent must touch hands -- palms up on one hand, and down on another.

"Every time they break contact, the refs stop (the match)," Booth said. "Other than that the rules are the same."

Wrestlers don't see the rules as a great advantage for either, since contact is a large part of the sport.

Class got his start in the sport as a 5-year-old in the Mat-Su Valley. A family friend and longtime supporter of youth athletics in the Valley, Marge Johnson, got Class interested in the sport by showing him her son's trophies. Class said initially he was just interested in goofing off, but soon got hooked on the sport. He began wrestling in the Mid-Valley and Snow Kids Freestyle wrestling club. Last week the sixth-grader finished his first year of wrestling at the middle school level.

"He does real well as a sixth-grader," Booth said. "He didn't win a lot of matches, but that is not untypical for a big sixth-grader."

Class wrestles in the 133-pound weight class, but hopes to wrestle at 127 during the club season.

Booth said that he certainly sees potential in Class.

"There is a huge difference between sixth and seventh grade, not just for Tommy, but all sixth graders," Booth said. "What's good about Tommy is he keeps coming back for more."

And Class plans on coming back for more, every season. His ultimate goal is a chance to wrestle in college.