This is Home - Wrestler Braxton Amos looks to future after historic high school career

Merriam-Webster defines ‘perfection’ it as the condition, state, or quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws or defects. Some people go as far as to say that perfection is unobtainable.

Those people have never seen Parkersburg South’s Braxton Amos wrestle.

“My daycare had flyers passed around of a local wrestling club,” Amos said, remembering how he got involved with the sport. “My dad wrestled, and I came up to him and I was like ‘hey, I really want to do this.’ I started, and I fell in love.”

That love blossomed into a high school career with 142 wins and multiple state and national titles where he never surrendered a takedown, near-fall, or reversal. But that success didn’t come without adversity. For Braxton, that moment came the summer before high school.

“I was in that National Finals, and I felt a pop. I was halfway through the match, so you ignore it and keep going. When I started training again in the fall, my ACL completely blew out.”

After surgery, months of physical therapy, and a lot of determination, Braxton was back on the mat.

“I was back in 8 months winning another national title,” he remembers.

Through that hardship, came grit and perspective.

“When anything starts getting tough, I can look back and say, you know what, this isn’t anything compared to where I was Freshman year, laying in a bed. I [couldn't] get up and make a sandwich without someone helping me. It helps a lot whenever things get tough and you have to dig in, you know this guy hasn’t went through what I’ve been through.”

Despite his successes, Braxton is hungry for more.

“There’s always bigger goals,” he said. “I got a silver in Guatemala. There’s one goal. There’s at least one other guy better than me in this hemisphere. That’s kind of the mentality of getting better. Find a gap in whatever you’re doing, fix it. Find another gap, fix it. Find another gap, until you can’t get scored on by anyone in the world. My goal is to win an Olympic title eventually.”

Growing his craft, while remembering his roots.

“I’ve loved growing up in this area, and I love getting this area attention. I’m not the only one. We have John Martin Best, Brayden Roberts, are just two of the other wrestlers getting this area attention. The three of us have made a lot of noise for a very small town. I’m proud to say I was part of that group that brought us attention.”