Feb. 6, 2002

by Erika Rowell

Dipping his hands in chalk powder to help his grip, Scott Wetterling focused on the pommel horse before him. One of the all-around competitors on the Illinois men's gymnastics team, Wetterling was on his second event of the night in the competition against Minnesota. Scott rubbed down the equipment with his now white, powdery hands, and with his teammates looking on, signaled with a lift of his arm to the judges that he was ready to start. With shouts of encouragement from his teammates, Scott launched into his routine, his face was tense and focused as he used his arms to swing his body around the equipment.

"Scott, Scott" a young boy in an orange Illini T-shirt shouted from the front row, but his small voice was drowned out by the cheers and noise coming from the crowd that filled the bleachers at Huff Hall. The routine was over as quickly as it began, and the sophomore from New Jersey dismounted with a smile, obviously pleased with his performance. His teammates came forward to congratulate him with handshakes and slaps on the back as Wetterling stepped off the mat.

Scott Wetterling, one of Illinois' top performers, who had claimed the all-around title, along with individual victories in the high bar and vault at the meet against Nebraska Jan. 19, was able to hear the cheers from teammates and fans for only two of the events he performed in the Minnesota meet. Due to a form of hearing loss resulting from damaged hair nerves in his ear, Scott wears hearing aides to help magnify sounds.

"There are four stages of hearing loss (mild, moderate, severe and profound), my mom says I'm under the severe stage," said Wetterling. "I was born this way... my sister and I both have this.

The pommel horse and vault last a short enough time and don't involve as much flipping as other events, which allow Wetterling to keep his hearing aides in. He takes them out, however, for the floor exercise, rings, parallel bars, and high bar. For the events where Scott takes his hearing aides out, the room is completely silent. He said it is nice because he can concentrate better on what he is doing, but the downside is he can't hear his teammates cheering for him.

Although Wetterling thought his performance at the Minnesota meet was "sup-par" compared to what he is usually able to do, his coach, Yoshi Hayasaki, said Scott is in the process of upgrading his routine and working on some harder skills, which accounted for his performance being not quite where it usually is.

"I expect a lot from him, he expects a lot from himself," said Hayasaki. "He challenges himself every day. Physically, he is a very strong athlete, his strength will carry him a long way."

Wetterling has come a long way in his 21 years of his life to get where he is today, and credits his parents with helping him.

"My parents have done the world for me. We (my sister and I) went to a speech therapist when we were little, but we were taught normally in public school. They gave me the best childhood you could ask for," said Wetterling.

Scott's parents enrolled him in gymnastics at the age of four to help him burn energy. He said the initial event that provoked the decision was his parent's finding him trying to swing on a chandelier at a dinner party.

The start Wetterling's parents gave him in gymnastics helped produce a gymnast Hayasaki considers one of his top recruits from last year. Before college, Scott was a member of the 1998, 1999, and 2000 Junior Olympic Regional team-Level I, and placed third on the parallel bar event finals in 1999. In 2000, he placed 16th in the All-Around at the Junior Olympic National Meet.

Hayasaki said he saw a talent in Wetterling he knew would carry him on to college gymnastics and competition at a higher level. However, in his year-and-a-half at the University, Wetterling has excelled not on ly in the gym, but in the classroom as well.

"He is a very dedicated student athlete--he exemplifies these words," said Hayasaki. "He is one of the top students we have in the engineering department and one of the top performers on the team."

While the difficulty level of school work increases from high school to college, especially for an engineering major, Wetterling said the level of competition didn't change much going from club gymnastics to a Big Ten university team.

"It (the switch) wasn't that big of a jump," said Wetterling. "but with the club you have to worry more about yourself, and at college, you worry more about the team."

Gymnastics got easier for Scott in college in terms of travel and practice times. His club was 40 minutes away, while Huff Hall is only 10. He said he also spends less time in practice each week because of NCAA rules.

Gymnastics has taught Scott what he considers some of the same lessons as life, including staying focused on one thing and that hard work pays off. The sport has also helped him academically.

"I like the challenge," said Wetterling. "Not everyone can get up and do what we do. It's a very hard sport."

With the added difficulty of his hearing loss, Wetterling's advice to others with a disability is not to be discouraged.

"Don't think of it as a disability, but rather as being different in some way," said Wetterling. "I think of it as another challenge I have to overcome."

One source of constant encouragement to Wetterling throughout his many years of gymnastics has been his teammates.

"I worked out four to five hours a day (at the club), the people I worked around were like my family. I liked how close everyone was," he said.

Unlike other sports, gymnastics teams move from event to event within their team, rather than competing directly against each their opponents. The scene at Huff Hall that Saturday against Minnesota appeared similar to that of a circus, with music playing and multiple events going on before the crowd of more than 650 that had gathered in the bleachers. Each team seemed in a world of their own, as if they were the only people on the floor. The entire team moved as their event changed, and each competitor had his teammates and coach no more than about 10 feet away at all times. For the Illini, in a gym decorated with orange and blue, and a packed house cheering them on, it would be easy to block out the fact that Minnesota was even there at all. "We try not to look at the other teams because we want to concentrate on what we have to do," said Wetterling. "Competing in this format helps us focus more on the team aspect and not the individual. It is good because it keeps the meet going at a speedy pace and you are also able to cheer your team on."

So far, Wetterling's performances and talent have proven that he is an integral part of the men's gymnastics team, and both his coach and teammates see this.

"He's not the kind of person who gets down on himself," said teammate, junior Bob Spelic. "He is a good team player.... gym-wise, he is a good competitor on every event, which is what you need in gymnastics."