VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Adonis Lattimore has made a habit of reaching his goals, no matter how seemingly unreachable.
On Saturday, the Landstown High School senior checked off another.
Lattimore, born without a right leg and with a partial left leg, defeated Lake Braddock’s Korlan Tran 5-1 to win the Class 6 wrestling championship at 106 pounds on Saturday at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.
“I’ve been dreaming of this since I knew what it was, and to finally have it happen is just — I don’t know how to explain it,” said Lattimore, who also has just one finger on his right hand. “Really if you work hard, you can do anything — even win a state championship without legs.”
Lattimore improved to 32-7 this season and capped his high school career with his first state championship. He was the runner-up in last week’s Region A tournament, losing in the final to Kellam’s Ian Arnett.
On Saturday, Lattimore won 4-3 in the semifinals against Caden Smith of Robinson, while Tran defeated Arnett 8-2.
During the final, Eagles coach James Sanderlin cheered wildly in the final seconds, while the crowd roared its approval.
“Amazing,” Sanderlin said. “He did all the work. I just get to be a part of the journey. It’s an amazing feeling to watch him do it and have the support of the crowd. It was awesome. He’s a hard-working young man. I’m just speechless.
“It was a goal four years ago, and this year it finally came to fruition. It was a long journey worth everything that we did.”
Lattimore was a region qualifier as a freshman but didn’t stay long and missed the region tournament as a sophomore. The pandemic forced cancellation of wrestling last year.
This season, Lattimore headed into the postseason ranked second in Hampton Roads at 106 pounds. After missing out on his goal of a region title last week, he won 7-0 and 12-1 decisions to reach the state semifinals.
In the final, the first period ended in a scoreless tie. Lattimore led 2-1 after the second period. He escaped to start the third for a 3-1 lead, then clinched it with a late takedown for two points and the final 5-1 margin.
How was Lattimore feeling after his championship run?
“A little exhausted,” Lattimore said, “but great.”