Deaf wrestler auditions for Real World

University of Memphis student and former high school wrestler Ashten Johnson is hoping to make history as the first deaf cast member on "The Real World" television show.

As he stood in front of Newby's on Highland Avenue for MTV reality television show auditions last week, the junior business major said he liked his chances of being selected for the show, known for its colorful array of characters.

While some could see the disability as a handicap, Johnson said he sees his ailment as a window of opportunity.

"There are so many different forms of communication nowadays, such as texting and e-mail," he said. "It would be interesting to see how others interact with a deaf person on shows like 'The Real World.' I think an audience would want to see that."

If Johnson were selected by MTV, it wouldn't be the 21-year-old's first time in the television spotlight.

When he was 7 years old and living on the West Coast, Johnson acted in two feature commercials, one for U.S. West Communications and one for Johnsonville Sausage before his father, Larrick Johnson, transferred to the naval base in Millington, Tenn.

He attended Brighton middle and high schools where he picked up football, basketball, baseball and soccer - every school sport he had time for - until it became clear team sports weren't his best option.

"He wouldn't get the ball hardly any because he was deaf," his father Larrick explained. "He wanted to find something that relied on him and no one else."

Johnson found his sport in the sixth grade when he took up wrestling at Brighton High School where his father coached.

Johnson and his younger brother Demetrious idolized wrestler Dan Gable, who won a gold medal in the 1972 U.S. Summer Olympics in Munich. They practiced relentlessly every day, either in the backyard or in the house.

"It was a 24/7 commitment for the boys," Larrick said. "We would even take some weekends to critique what they did wrong in the last competition."

Despite his disability, Ashten won more than 100 matches in his career at Brighton and placed as high as seventh in the state during his junior year.

"He wouldn't be able to hear his dad coaching him like the other wrestler could," said his mother, Christine Johnson. "I would have loved to translate what his dad was saying, but I wasn't allowed to get too close to the mat because of certain regulations."

After Ashten enrolled at The University, he decided to start a wrestling program on campus. Larrick, a current office coordinator with The U of M's women's basketball program, plans to help his son draft the constitution for Ashten's Tiger Elite Wrestling Program, already in the process of becoming a registered student organization this semester.

Larrick said wrestling practice could begin before Thanksgiving for the 24 wrestlers who have already signed up.

Wrestling is more than a sport to his two sons, he said, it's a passion. The two brothers both want to make the U.S. Olympic wrestling team one day but are unsure about the likelihood of that happening.

"As a dad, I couldn't be prouder of Ashten, but as a wrestler, he's still not done. He wants to be in the Olympics," he said. "I'm not sure how or if that's going to happen, but it's the journey that builds character. The end result is not always as important."

While being unable to hear is difficult, Ashten said he has become stronger because of his disability.

"Being deaf has its obvious challenges, but I don't think about that," he said. "My motto is to move forward no matter what those challenges are."