Andy Hartshorn jumps around with arms flailing in an attempt to loosen up during his pre-match routine, much like the rest of his teammates.
But Hartshorn isn't your ordinary wrestler.
The redshirt freshman has a disorder that many people are familiar with, but few fully understand: Tourette syndrome.
When he warms up, his motor tics may not stand out because many wrestlers have bizarre pre-match rituals.
Hartshorn wasn't diagnosed until high school. Most people are diagnosed as young children.
When I was in high school
I started getting tics he said. I started getting stressed easier and a lot of other things would just set me off. ... We didn't know what was going on.
Because his case is mild, Hartshorn has learned to suppress his motor tics. Those who have severe cases often have to take medication or psychotherapy and may never be able to control it.
At first it was unpredictable
Hartshorn said. It would be just at any time
but over the years
I've been able to control it a lot better
so really it's not very evident.
It's difficult to say exactly what causes Tourette syndrome, and even Hartshorn admits he doesn't know much about it. That's mostly because he vowed to never let it interfere with the way he lived his life, especially while wrestling.
That was one thing I just told myself I wasn't going to let it do
he said. I didn't want to let something like this get in the way of all my goals I had for wrestling.
Hartshorn wrestles in the heavyweight division and is 11-11 this season and 1-0 in the Mid-American Conference.
One of Hartshorn's closest teammates, redshirt freshman Michael Fennel, said he has another friend with the disorder, but the difference is that Hartshorn doesn't let it affect him as much.
Saying
'Tourette's is the reason I lost
' is unacceptable to him
Fennel said. He works so hard to win that he doesn't want to blame it on that.
Coach Joel Greenlee also said that Hartshorn makes it a non-issue.
I don't think he lets it interfere at all
