ROSSFORD — Rossford senior Markus Santiago showed up at the high school a new student from Florida in December 2020 weighing 350 pounds.

He decided to do something about it.

Not only did the 5-foot-11 Santiago lose 70 pounds, he has become a three-sport athlete, overcoming challenges most of us can only dream about. Now, he would like to further his athletic career into college if possible.

“What makes me want to do it is a few years ago I felt out of shape and stuff. I decided enough is enough and it is time to better myself,” Santiago said. “I feel a lot better. I couldn’t even have imagined doing the things I do now a few years ago.”

Santiago started by participating on the track team last fall, and then he chose to play football for coach Todd Drusback even though he had never played organized tackle football before. Next, was wrestling.

When he showed up at the wrestling room there was one issue. The unlimited heavyweight class was eliminated eons ago, and now the heaviest class is 280 pounds, which means you can weigh no more than that.

That did not deter Santiago.

“He came into this season, a first-year wrestler as a senior, which is something you don’t see happen very often,” Rossford wrestling coach Randy Hussar said.

“He was right around 350 pounds, and the maximum weight is 280, so we really didn’t know why he came in. You don’t get many seniors who come in as first year wrestlers, and basically, we sat him down and talked to him after the first couple days of practice and he said, he just wanted to try something new.

“We told him, ‘You are more than welcome to practice,’ but there is not a very good chance that he is ever going to be able to compete. He said he didn’t care and said, ‘I’m willing to do my best to try and get there.’

“Which once again at the beginning of the season, I didn’t think that was possible — 60 to 70 pounds is a lot,” Hussar continued.

Since Santiago decided to stick with it, assistant coach D.J. Recknagel was the only person in the room big enough to wrestle with him.

“I can’t allow him to wrestle even with my 220 and my heavyweight because he’s just too big. What if somebody gets hurt? So D.J. said, ‘You know what, I’ll wrestle with him every day,’” Hussar said.

“And that’s what he did, and we pushed him, and he kept working and working. Then, a couple of the other kids on the team and my youngest daughter started helping him with meals and stuff.

“Before you know, he had lost maybe 40 pounds, and we thought, ‘You know what, this might happen,’” added Hussar.

Hussar had to write a letter to the OHSAA because Hussar was not going to get to 280 before the eligibility deadline, and since he was losing weight at a rapid pace, the OHSAA granted a waiver so he could participate in meets and the sectionals.

“I think it was two weeks before sectionals he finally made it and he was able to compete,” Hussar said.

“He came real close to winning some matches, but with the inexperience, he just couldn’t do it. He tried hard. He went three periods with kids.

“His first high school match we were at Whitmer, and he wrestled the kid from Whitmer, who was ranked seventh or eighth in the state, and Markus went two periods with this kid. But it was fantastic.”

Santiago said once the wrestling workouts began, it seemed as if it might be over his head, but he stuck with it.

“I loved it. It made me feel great. I trained hard enough and I’m starting to see some results,” Santiago said. “I felt like when I started training, I was not getting anything done. So, when I started to get some results, I thought to myself, ‘It’s starting to come together.’

“From the beginning, it was tough. Then, after like two months of it, I decided to put some extra work in because I wanted to get this over with. So, I decided to work before I get to practice, work during practice, and after practice I continued to work,” Santiago added.

Santiago said Recknagel was one of his biggest motivators and he deserves some of the credit, too.

“It gives me a chance to challenge myself. Wrestling with him, who is already a real good wrestler, gave me a challenge,” Santiago said.

“Working with him was helping me push forward, and we’ve continued to be good friends, not just as a coach.”

Even though his prep wrestling career is over, after just two weeks competing, he still comes to open mat events at the school two days a week to work out with the team.

“What’s keeping me going is I’ve been doing it this long, so there is no sense in stopping now. So, I’m in the mindset now so I’m just going to continue,” Santiago said.

He is a thrower on the track team again this year.

“Markus has developed a work ethic and a commitment in focusing on improving himself. He is winning not because of his accomplishment on the field, mat, or throwing circle, but is winning because of his improved confidence, self-esteem, and resiliency,” Drusback said.

“Many seniors would maybe have thrown in the towel but not him. He is such an inspiration to those wanting to make self-improvements and not worrying about comparing themselves to what others can maybe do better.

“Because of this, Markus will be a winner when he leaves high school because he will be hard working, loyal, honest and ,most importantly when adversity strikes, he will not throw in the towel.”

Santiago said he is not a 4.0 student, but his grades are good enough that he plans to attend college. He loves English, sports and literature classes, and is an expert on boxing legend Muhammad Ali. He has plans to visit the Muhammad Ali Center, a museum in Louisville, Kentucky, this summer.

“It is because, as he says, ‘He’s the greatest.’ I like how he doesn’t mind doing things that are controversial at the time and that he’s not afraid of saying it. He says what he wants,” Santiago said.