C.J., when he was 15 year old wrestler in Walkersville, MD, faced the battle of his life. He thought he had injured his groin wrestling but the intense pain lasted for weeks and C.J's parents took him to the hospital for diagnosis. The diagnosis was bad. The news was that he suffered from Ewing's sarcoma, a cancer that attacks the hip joint.

A choice of treatments was offered to C.J. The doctors could operate to remove the cancer in his pelvis or he could try a bit more risky combination of radiation and chemotherapy that, if successful, would give him a chance at a more normal life. The surgery would leave him walking with a cane for the rest of his life. Wrestling and other sports would never be anoption again.

C.J. chose the riskier Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) at the Sinai Hospital inBaltimore. He received a rigorous treatment option which lasted 8 months, through 14 chemo cycles and 31 radiation cycles. Only C.J. could describe the loss of hair, weight and energy and the pain endured during the treatments. When C.J. dropped to just 90 pounds he told his mother that he wouldn’t lose a pound more and he began to eat junk food to keep his weight up. He never lost another pound.

During treatment C.J. began to think about what he’d do when the treatment was successful. He thought about wrestling. Even though warned that he may never wrestle again, the thought of competing on the mats gave him optimism during the treatments. Several months after his final treatment his dad, Butch Cotterman, turned the basement into a personal gym for C.J.

The equipment included a mat, TV & VCR to watch wrestling, a bike, a bench-press and complete dumbbell set. C.J. disappeared for workouts six days a week and recorded his personal progress.

Given the clearance to wrestle in November of his sophomore year, even with an increased chance of breaking his hip, C.J. joined the Walkersville High School team. He pinned his first opponent in54 seconds and went on to win 12 straight matches. C.J. went on to compete in the prestigious Mount Mat Madness tournament and was honored with the 2006 Courage Award.

He completed his high school wrestling career in 2008 and qualified for the State Championships each year and won a 3rd place finish his senior year