The Wells High School wrestling team presents a check for more than $12,000 to former WHS wrestler Nate Smith, his wife Alli and their son Spencer, who has a rare disease called Sanfilippo Syndrome. The team raised more than $13,000 this past season. PAT McDONALD/Journal Tribune

WELLS — The Wells High School wrestling team received jackets commemorating the program’s back-to-back state championships on Sunday afternoon. While that was certainly a special occassion for the Warriors, the real reason they gathered was to celebrate something much more important.
The Wells wrestling program started the 2017-18 season with a goal to raise $2,500 for former WHS wrestler Nate Smith’s son Spencer, who has a rare neurological disease known as Sanfilippo Syndrome. The disease, which currently has no known cure, is often referred to as “Childhood Alzheimers” because of the way it causes cognitive regression, including loss of skills such as hearing, talking and walking.
The Warriors worked hard to get pledges from family, friends and fans of Wells wrestling. Every time they picked up a win on the mat they would raise money for Spencer.
The Wells team was able to hand a check for more than $12,000 to Nate, Alli and Spencer Smith on Sunday — and the total amount that will be heading to the Cure Sanfilippo Foundation is over $13,000.
“When it all comes down to it, this was more important than winning states and that’s what I wanted to get across to the kids,” said Wells coach Scott Lewia. “There’s a bigger picture of things when you get out there in the world and things that mean a lot more than just the wins and losses.”
Nate Smith was surprised by the amount of money the Warriors raised for Spencer, who will turn 4 years old in July.
“It was way more than we expected. They had a goal of $2,500 and I thought maybe we’d get two or three thousand dollars, so to get over $13,000 is pretty impressive,” said Smith. “It speaks a lot to these guys. It’s amazing that you’ve got these 14-to-18-year old kids that wanted to do something to help a former wrestler in need.”
Sunday’s event was the second time Spencer was able to celebrate with the Wells team as the Smiths were able to attend the Class B state tournament at Wells in February.
“It was pretty emotional,” said Nate Smith of watching the Warriors win states. “This year was dedicated to Spencer and it made it so much more special that the kids were able to win the state championship, too. I graduated in 2000 and fast forward 18 years and you still feel like you’re part of the program. I was proud of those guys as could be.”
Smith credits Lewia with building a program where every wrestler — whether they are still on the mat or graduated close to two decades earlier — feels like they have a place in the Wells wrestling family.
“I grew up with both coach Scott Lewia and his brother, Mark Lewia, they have been huge to the program. They’ve made it incredibly successful,” said Smith. “Coach Lewia is kind of more like a fatherly figure and, as you can see from this year, he has your back … once a wrestler, always a wrestler.”
Lewia was proud of the work his team put in on the mat and, more importantly, off the mat this past season.
“They really surprised me. I would ask them periodically throughout the season ‘how you guys doing on that?’ And kids will be kids and they don’t really say much … and then when they started bringing the money in, I was blown away,” said Lewia.
Smith is hoping the money raised by the Warriors will help the Cure Sanfilippo Foundation get closer to finding a cure.
“If this was 10 years ago there would be no hope. The main problem is it’s such a rare disease that the pharmaceutical companies don’t want to invest in it because it’s not going to be profitable which I get. So it takes families like us to raise money and the Wells wrestling team to raise money, and then all the money goes to research and clinical trials,” said Smith.
The former Wells wrestler has seen some reason for hope as researchers and scientists try to help kids like Spencer.
“There’s a couple things out there right now. There’s some gene therapy, some stem cell research going on,” said Smith. “The results I’ve seen so far are pretty good but also part of the problem with a lot of these clinical trials, there’s only a handful of spots and of course every parent wants to get their child into them because it is the only option.”
As Nate, Alli and Spencer continue the fight against Sanfilippo, the Warriors will be right there with them as they will continue this fundraiser next season and ever year from here on out. And when the Smiths make the trip to Wells next season for a match, they will see the Warriors competing on a special mat thanks to Resilite.
“They actually made a four-foot decal that says ‘Win for Spencer and pin a cure.’ They just gave it to us,” said Lewia, who has been told Resilite will also be promoting the Cure Sanfilippo Foundation through social media.
NOTE: If you want to join the Warriors in fighting Sanfilippo go to www.mypalspencer.com.
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.