The Observer

Issue date: 12/5/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Zhaoyang Wang

Referee Chris Shears took Terence Haynes' left wrist in his right hand, pulled it into the air, and Haynes, 45, had the first win of his collegiate wrestling career.

Victory No. 1 for Baldwin-Wallace's middle-aged heavyweight will be one of his easiest: Case doesn't have a heavyweight and lost the match by forfeit. The Spartans hosted B-W on Nov. 23 and won the dual meet, 26-20.

Haynes has drawn local and national media attention. WOIO Channel 19 aired a piece on the Brunswick Hills resident and ESPN-360 producers want to tell his story, which begins 10 months ago with Haynes weighing 429 pounds.

After trying a local weight-loss center, but gaining 16 pounds because he manipulated the system, Haynes turned to personal trainer Paul Scianna. They met at a local gym, where Haynes watched Scianna work with other clients for months before they decided to work together. It took Haynes one week with Scianna to lose 10 pounds. Today, he weighs in at 255.

"It's been a battle, but very rewarding," said Scianna, camera in hand, after Haynes' win. Haynes' goal is to lose 200 pounds in a year, all by changing his diet and exercising.

Haynes got into college wrestling after running into B-W assistant wrestling coach Bryan Kmetz. Kmetz is also a personal trainer at the gym where Haynes belongs. They knew each other from wrestling back in junior high, the last time Haynes wrestled. He set a Franklin D. Roosevelt Junior High record with a six-second pin. Haynes decided he could make time to come out for the team; in addition to being a full-time student, he works a full-time job as a manager at Parmadale, a treatment center for adolescents with behavioral needs.

Haynes wants to finish school at B-W, which he left after his first year in 1982 to care for his ailing mother. The Glenville High graduate played on B-W's freshman football team that year. Today, the "non-traditional student" is back, pursuing a degree in computer information systems.

Haynes said he hasn't had a problem relating to his younger teammates. "They don't look at me as older, they look at me as wiser," he said, with a laugh.

"It's a bit unusual, but it's motivating to see someone who hasn't been on the mat in 30 years come out and push us," said 165-pound senior Joe Incorvaia.

Continued...

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