The meteoric rise for De’Alcapon Veazy in amateur wrestling starts with humble beginnings from a quiet young man who has turned his turn at the family sport into dominance on the mat.
“When I first started, I was like 5 or 6, and I wasn’t doing it for me,” De’Alcapone, an eighth-grader at Blackhawk Middle School, tells ParkviewSportsMedicine.com. “I was doing it because my cousin [Reakus Shelton] was doing it. Afterwhile—age 10 or 11—was when I really started taking it serious.”
De’Alcapon’s athletic talent and dedication to his craft has made him one of the top wrestlers for his age in Indiana and across America. In April, De’Alcapon won the United World Wrestling U15 freestyle national championship and was the 15U Greco-Roman national runner-up.
At the Indiana State Wrestling Association State Finals in May, De’Alcapon won Cadet division state championships in the freestyle, Greco-Roman and folkstyle disciplines—the coveted Triple Crown of Indiana wrestling. He is a reigning IHSWA back-to-back ISWA middle school state champion, as well.
“It’s all a learning experience,” De’Alcapon adds. “The more championships, the more titles, the more experience I gain, I just want to keep doing it.
De’Alcapon has wrestled for both the Snider Wrestling Club and the Warrior Elite Wrestling Club the last three years. Coaches describe De’Alcapon—sometimes “Pon” for short—as fearless, motivated, and coachable. Next year, he will wrestle at Snider High School, where his father, Eric, is an assistant coach.
“The first time I met him, he was a sixth-grader, and we were challenging our guys to push themselves, to have goals,” Snider wrestling coach Matt Cochran says. “Pon pointed to the big state championship board and said he wants his name up there four times.”
Additionally, De’Alcapon was selected to Team USA’s U15 team that will compete in the Pan-American Championships in October in Mexico City.
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“He’s definitely the face of Fort Wayne wrestling right now,” Warrior Elite Wrestling Club coach Early says. “People are amazed by his size, his strength and his ability to wrestle and compete. He picks up things very well; and that’s what has catapulted him from just an average middle school wrestler to one of the best in the nation.”
Snider is one of 26 high schools that partner with Parkview Sports Medicine for athletic training, sports performance, nutrition, athletic rehab and other sports medicine services for Panther student-athletes. Learn more at www.parkviewsportsmedicine.com.
written & produced by Eric Dutkiewicz