Nate Marmol remembers sleeping in a tunnel in a park on many nights, completely alone and hungry. Sometimes he sneaked into the shack at the local swimming pool, or slept at a friend's house. More than anything, he recalls not knowing where he would sleep from one night to the next.
It's an experience no child should ever know – but for Marmol, this was life throughout junior high.
His father left before he was born; his mother gave birth to him when she was 14 years old and was in and out of jail throughout his childhood, arrested more than 20 times and serving five short-term stints in jail by the time Marmol reached sixth grade. That year, Marmol told a judge, his grandmother kicked him out. His family says he left on his own, but neither party disputes that he no longer had a home.
Attempting to spend as much time at school as possible, Marmol joined the wrestling team at his Marion, Ohio middle school. When he wasn't with the team, he told the Cincinnati Enquirer, he was "lonely all the time – I really had no one." The sport, he adds, is what saved him.
Today he is a thriving senior at Taylor High School in North Bend, Ohio. He's 25-1 in matches this season and will compete for his third consecutive league championship later this month.
Marmol's life started to take a turn for the better during his freshman year of high school. By then his mother was married. Her husband's parents took Nate in for the year. He continued to run with a rough crowd, often stealing food from McDonald's – he'd call and say they messed up his order, so that they would offer food for free – and he was failing his classes. But at least he woke up knowing where he'd sleep each night.
Then, as the school year ended, his younger half-brother asked to see him. His half-brother is named Nick. Nick and Nate have the same mother, different fathers. Nick's father, Kevin Feaver, is married to ChristyLee Feaver. In addition to Nick, they had seven other children, including five adopted children.
Not knowing where to find Marmol, ChristyLee drove to Marion and stayed in a hotel until she tracked him down. Seeing how bad things had become, she decided he should live with her family in North Bend, about three hours from Marion. She and Kevin became his legal guardians.
The transition again put Nate's life in flux, but this time it was a positive transition. At Taylor High, he kept his story to himself until this year., when he decided to tell his football teammates. Once it was out there, everyone was in awe of how far he's come.
"Every time I feel I've had a hard go of things, I just look at Nate and how his tenacity has gotten him through the toughest of situations," his coach told reporter Adam Baum. "I wouldn't have been able to handle it like he did. I appreciate him and I admire him."
Marmol hopes to wrestle at Mount St. Joseph college next year. He says his experiences have taught him about forgiveness and empathy.
"Wrestling saved my life," he said. "It's given me a perspective... Even though you have a bad day, there's always someone who could have it worse."
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Danielle Elliot is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact her at delliot@yahoo-inc.com or find her on Twitter.
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