Carlson goes to the mat in fight against cancer

Every time Scott Carlson records a takedown, he'll take 2 points. He'll also take 2 cents, 2 dollars, whatever amount you want to pledge in his endeavor to take down the baddest of bad guys.

The opponent?

Cancer.

"I love wrestling," said Carlson, a junior and varsity starter for Wauconda since his freshman year. "What's better than if I can help other people with it?"

If you're like most people, including Carlson, you know someone who's been stricken with cancer and possibly even succumbed to it. A grandparent. A parent. An in-law. An aunt. An uncle. A sibling. A friend. A niece. A nephew.

Carlson knows people close to him who've been diagnosed with breast cancer (his grandmother, a friend), stomach cancer (his great grandmother), lung cancer (his great grandfather, his great aunt), prostate cancer (two uncles), thyroid cancer (a friend).

So, one day last summer, when he wasn't taking down people on the wrestling mat, Carlson was thinking about how he could help take down cancer. Ambitious stuff for a high school kid who won't graduate until 2009.

"During the off-season I was taking kids down a lot, and I had never done that previously," said Carlson, a two-time IHSA sectional qualifier who took fourth in the state in freestyle last summer. "I'd usually just win matches by a few points."

The wrestler came up with a major decision.

He decided he would organize a personal pledge drive to help conquer cancer. He would get people to pledge any amount of money they chose for each takedown he recorded during the high school season.

That's how "Take Down Cancer" started. He handed out sign-up sheets at Wauconda wrestling meets at the start of the season and asked people for their support. He's still asking. All the money goes to the American Cancer Society.

In a three-paragraph letter that he shared with parents of his teammates, Carlson noted, "Per the American Cancer Society, one out of every two men and one-third of women will get cancer. This year alone, over 10,000 children will learn they have cancer. For children under 14, only accidents cause more deaths."

So far, about 20 people have signed up.

Their checkbooks are about to take a significant hit.

Heading into Wauconda's home meet against Round Lake tonight, Carlson has racked up 155 takedowns, 17 shy of the school record shared by Andrew Baker and Darrel Van Horne. He had targeted 100 going into the season.

This season Carlson has blown past Ryan Schoo's school mark for career takedowns (224) and to date has 285.

"He's very good on his feet, which is a significant aspect to the sport of wrestling," Wauconda coach Tom Nance said. "If you take your opponents down, you have an excellent chance of beating them."

Carlson certainly knows how to take down opponents and win matches. He won 35 times as a freshman, 31 times last season and boasts a 25-6 record this winter. He competed at 135 pounds the last two seasons but is wrestling at 145 now.

Whether it's his desire to do as much as he can in his fight against cancer, or just his mental and physical maturity as a wrestler, Carlson, a captain, is having his best season.

"I guess last year I'd get ahead on points and then I'd just kind of coast it out," he said. "Now, if I do take them down, it's like, all right, I'll let them up and do it again. I don't quit until the match is over.

"A lot of times it takes me a minute or two until I get my first takedown. Then when I get the first one, they just keep coming."

Carlson is pretty good at figuring things out. He excels in the wrestling room and in the classroom, too.

Nance had him in honors English last year.

"He's got good character," Nance said, "because he's looking out for people other than himself."

Carlson has good perspective, too. He completely understands if not everyone wants to sponsor him.

"Some parents might not like me because I just beat their kid," he said. "But maybe they can say (to their son or daughter), 'Hey, you can do something like that.' "

It doesn't have to be wrestling. Maybe some student/athlete will get a pledge drive going for a charity of his or her choice and raise money for every point he or she scores, every hit, every strikeout, every kill, every mile ran, every goal.

Scott Carlson will tell you, it's going to take a team effort to conquer cancer.

If anyone is interested in sponsoring Scott Carlson or wants more information about his endeavor to raise money for cancer research, they can e-mail takedowncancer@owc.net.