ROSSVILLE (KSNT) – Five years ago, Rossville wrestling coach Cody Lambotte was diagnosed with ALS, commonly referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.” ALS has left Lambotte paralyzed from the neck down.
As hospital bills added up, Rossville assistant wrestling coach and Lambotte’s brother-in-law, Chris Graves, decided to help.
Graves reached out to his wrestling family about creating an alumni dual with wrestlers from the area. Graves was hoping to get ten matches. Within two hours, he had 20.
“When [Cody] was diagnosed, you can imagine what we went through as a family, as a wrestling family,” Graves said. “Wrestling as a whole is sort of a family network.”
Wrestlers traveled long distances to participate in the fundraiser, coming from as far as Hoxie and Norton to support Lambotte.
“Cody really embodied what wrestling is all about,” Silver Lake wrestling coach Colt Rogers said. “He wore his emotions on his sleeve. You see how much passion, and love and blood, sweat and tears into it, just by watching it in the corner.”
Lambotte’s mom, Alaina, said she knew how much the support means to Cody.
“He loves it,” Alaina Lambotte said. “[Cody’s] made a huge impact on this community, and for them to keep backing him…he loves it.”
Tickets to enter cost $10 for an individual or $30 for a family. No total count has been reported yet, but the gym was packed Friday night.
“A lot of this money comes out of pocket for certain things, or maybe insurance doesn’t cover,” Graves said. “So we’re just trying to do our part to give back to him.”
You can see video of the event at: https://www.ksnt.com video of alumni wrestling event
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