Baldwin ? Andreas Brandenberger learned to ride a bike when he was 4.

An ordinary feat, but it speaks volumes about the Baldwin High sophomore.

Brandenberger has phocomelia, a birth defect that caused undeveloped arms and two digits on each hand.

His arms extend to where his elbows would be, making routine things — like tying his shoes — difficult.

Learning to ride a bicycle was another matter.

His parents, William and Christine, never wanted to think of Andreas as handicapped, but when they bought the bicycle they weren’t sure how Andreas would adapt.

“We were sitting in the kitchen, trying to figure out how we were going to fix the handlebars so he could ride it,” Christine said. “Then we saw a flash of light from the window, and we looked out and Andreas was already riding it. He just did it. I think that’s the way he attacks life.”

“Yeah, I guess I’m just that kind of person,” he said. “Go, go, go.”

Few things deter Brandenberger, whether it’s riding a bike, driving a car or wrestling.

Baldwin High athletic trainer Gary Stevanus, left, bandages ring worm -- a common wrestling malady -- on Andreas Brandenberger's right shoulder. Brandenberger has phocomelia, a birth defect that left him with undeveloped arms.

In just his second year competing, Brandenberger has been the Bulldogs’ 140-pound varsity wrestler all season.

He’s not amazing, as his 13-23 record indicates, but for someone who must focus on using his legs in what can be an upper-body-oriented sport, Brandenberger has excelled.

At the Topeka Washburn Rural Championship Duals last month, Brandenberger was voted most outstanding wrestler.

“His progression has been outstanding,” Baldwin coach Kit Harris said. “He’s always listening, always working, always trying new ways to help himself get better.”

Smart, amiable and perpetually upbeat, Brandenberger typifies a high school student.

He has close friends, gets good grades, always has some activity to attend and, though he won’t go into details, occasionally causes trouble.

Baldwin sophomore Andreas Brandenberger, left, wrestles Paola's Paul Oliphant during last week's double dual in Eudora. Brandenberger lost, 21-6, to Oliphant, ranked fourth in Class 4A by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Assn. Despite the score, Oliphant was relieved the challenging match was over.

“I don’t consider myself disabled by any means,” he said. “It’s like a person who’s been blind their whole life. That’s the only thing they know, so it’s not like they’ve had to adjust. I’ve always been like this.”

Hardly handicapped

Phocomelia is defined by medical dictionaries as a congenital deformity resulting from prenatal interference with the development of the fetal limbs, characterized especially by short stubby hands or feet attached close to the body. Sometimes, it’s the arms and feet that are affected. In serious cases, intestines can be affected as well, resulting in multiple surgeries.

Brandenberger’s case is mild. Only his arms are affected, and he hasn’t had lasting side effects. He has full use of his arms and is only limited by what he can grip with his right hand.

Both hands have two digits, but his left hand is more developed and slightly curved, allowing him to grip items. The muscles in both hands are dense, except for soft spots on the side of his main digit.

“Feel it,” BHS freshman Troy Gilges said. “It’s the gushy thing.”

Brandenberger smiles at Gilges’ ease in describing his hand. There’s no malice in his phrasing, just friendly banter. Brandenberger will joke about his arms around friends, but he doesn’t want to make strangers uncomfortable.

Andreas Brandenberger's mother, Christine, left, and his father, Bill, prepare a salad for dinner in their home west of Baldwin.

He has taken verbal abuse in the past, but always ignored it.

“Even as a little guy when kids made fun of him — kids can be cruel, you know, he had his fair share of those things — he never said, ‘Oh, poor me. I wish this wouldn’t happen,'” Christine said. “He’s so busy living life that he had no time to whine.”

Brandenberger was adopted from Greece when he was two, and has adapted to everything that has come his way. He can type, write easily — though he does have to bend over quite a bit — and he’s a good swimmer.

Brandenberger soon will have his driver’s license, though it doesn’t matter what type of car he drives — no artificial adaptations here.

“I can drive a stick just as good as an automatic,” he said.

He learned to tie his shoes long ago and does his chores without complaint, but struggles with one thing.

“He does have trouble loading the dishwasher,” Christine said.

Andreas Brandenberger writes in his Spanish workbook during class at Baldwin High. Brandenberger is on course to graduate with honors.

The pitch

But for all that normalcy, the Brandenbergers weren’t sure wrestling would be a good idea.

“We weren’t going to let him go out for wrestling,” Christine said. “We had a bit of a football disaster. They had sought him out and were going to make him a kicker, then they benched him. I thought they had an obligation to him since they sought him out.

“Then he came to us and said he wanted to wrestle, and we couldn’t imagine him wrestling. But the coach called us and talked to us for 45 minutes.”

Harris, a Baldwin graduate who spends most of his spare time thinking about the sport, recognized Brandenberger’s athletic ability and was simple in his pitch.

“This is a sport that kids with disabilities seem to take a liking to,” Harris said. “There’s blind kids, hearing-impaired kids, to name a few. It’s hard for those kids to sometimes play basketball or football, but they seem to do well in wrestling.”

Coffeyville senior Earl Jones, a two-time Class 4A state champion, is a classic case. Born without most of his left leg, Jones relies on his superior upper-body strength and technique to dominate foes.

During wrestling practice at Baldwin High, Andreas Brandenberger, background, waits for his chance to wrestle. Brandenberger, who was born with phocomelia, a birth defect that left him with undeveloped arms, hopes to reach the Class 4A state wrestling tournament this year.

He hasn’t lost a match in three years.

Brandenberger may never excel at wrestling, but that’s fine with him. Soccer is his favorite sport; he wrestles because he enjoys the challenge. Plus, like any little brother, he had to develop wrestling skills to survive childhood with his older brothers, Will and Joe.

“They would always beat me up or whatever,” Brandenberger said. “But I think it helped me with wrestling. I’m really squirrely. I had to be to get out of it. It helps that they can’t hold on to me.”

Brandenberger is quite agile, which frustrates his opponents. In last Thursday’s double dual against Paola and Eudora, Brandenberger lost 21-6 to the Panthers’ Paul Oliphant, ranked fourth by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Assn. Despite the score, Oliphant was relieved the match was over.

“I didn’t know what to do with him,” he said. “I usually just stay on top and ride people out, but my coach told me to keep cutting him. I never do that. He’s just real hard to turn over.”

Imagine what will happen when Brandenberger has more than two years of practice.

Still developing

Andreas Brandenberger and freshman Annie Parr laugh during Spanish class at Baldwin High. Brandenberger, who wrestles for the Bulldogs, can type, write easily and swim, but soccer is his favorite sport.

So what’s it like wrestling with those arms?

Brandenberger shrugs.

“I don’t shoot a lot,” he said. “If I do, I have to go double, and that doesn’t always work. I’m all legs, more or less.”

His teammates know better.

“He tells you he can’t shoot legs and stuff, but he can,” BHS sophomore Luke Halford said. “When we practice shooting legs at practice, he does it. I make him, but he can do it.”

Brandenberger is tall and lean, particularly for his weight class. Most 140-pounders are stout, muscled grapplers. Brandenberger is like he says — all legs. He had a weightlifting class last fall, but the upper-body exercises he can perform are limited to what he can grip. He’s not scrawny for a 15-year-old, but it will take awhile to build muscle mass in his shoulders and arms.

Regardless, his trademark move has become the scissors hold.

Note to opponents: If he catches you in this grip, you’re probably toast.

“It pisses people off by putting people in the scissors hold,” Brandenberger said. “You just squeeze the life out of them.”

Brandenberger hopes to be one of the top four wrestlers at this weekend’s Class 4A regional wrestling tournament at Santa Fe Trail. If he does that, he’ll qualify for state, which was his goal entering the season. Even if he falls short, Brandenberger won’t complain.

It’s not in his nature.

“He’s one of the most positive human beings I’ve ever come into contact with,” Harris said. “It’s easy for a lot of us to go around and complain about how hard some things are, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard him complain.”