Forreston grappler reaches 100th win, all despite limb difference

POLO – Lucas Nelson watched intently Saturday as his opponents in the 132-pound weight class competed at the Polo Wrestling Invitational.

With each twist and turn, Nelson, an 18-year-old senior grappler from Forreston, was calculating how he would approach his next match.

But before he squared off against Oregon sophomore Nelson Benesh for the 132-pound tournament title, Polo High School athletic director Ted Alston quieted the crowd for a special presentation.

Alston told the wrestling fans who packed the school’s gymnasium that Nelson had recorded his 100th win earlier in the week while competing for the Polo/Eastland/Milledgeville/Forreston wrestling co-op.

“We want to honor Lucas today,” Alston said as the lanky senior quietly walked across the mats between the fan-packed bleachers to receive the award.

Nelson has wrestled for 12 years and has been on the varsity team for four years. His 100th win came Jan. 9 at a meet at Winnebago. With 69 pins, his is only three away from tying the school’s 72-pin record.

What’s not in those stats is that he wrestles with a limb difference – a condition he was born with in China before being adopted by Shawn and Jennifer Nelson of Forreston.

All that is a nonfactor for Lucas. He is focused on one goal this year: qualifying for the state wrestling tournament.

“My goal is to go to state. I just wrestle,” Lucas said.

That focus has been a constant in Lucas' life, said his dad Shawn, who was volunteering at the meet Saturday.

“Lucas’ effort is his desire to succeed. It’s what puts him apart. There are things he can do that no one else can do,” Shawn said.

Lucas started wrestling when Shawn and Jennifer wanted to find an activity for their two sons.

“We started his older brother, who is a year older than Lucas, with wrestling, and it just stuck,” Shawn said.

Lucas’ left arm stops above the elbow, a condition Shawn believes may have been the reason he was put up for adoption.

“We are honored that we were able to adopt him,” Shawn said.

Arm length has not stopped Lucas from winning on the wrestling mat or competing in track and field. And he also had a part in his high school’s spring 2024 play “Annie” as Rooster, the flashy, self-assured brother of Miss Hanningan, who runs the orphanage that houses orphan Annie.

The casting requirements for that character included bringing a “sense of fun to the character and having a good sense of comic timing.”

Timing is one of the things that the normally soft-spoken Lucas brings every day to the wrestling mat.

“You can make suggestions to Lucas, but he always finds his own way to do something,” Polo wrestling coach Jesse Culbertson said. “Lucas is one of our team captains. He does a great job of knowing when to be serious and when to pop a joke off in the practice room.”

The co-op’s last 100-win wrestler was Wyatt Doty in 2023, Culbertson said.

Lucas boosted his wrestling record to 23-4 in his first match Saturday but fell to Benesh – a 26-4 wrestler – in the final.

Lucas’ wrestling prowess has not gone unnoticed in the regional wrestling world.

“He’s a very tough wrestler,” Oregon High School wrestling coach Justin Lahman said. “He has found a way to adapt to do what he does best. He’s an awesome kid.”

Lucas said he does not plan on wrestling in college. Instead, he would like to attend the University of Illinois and study food science.

“Hopefully,” he said, smiling.