Best of 2020: How Wrestling Gave MIS Fifth-Grader Much More Than a Gold Medal
Profiling Primo Pinson, then a McCulloch Intermediate School fifth-grader, was one of People Newspapers sports editor Todd Jorgenson’s highlights of the year.
“This profile explains how wrestling enabled a youngster to overcome some of his insecurities and to find a home, both on the mat and within the welcoming Park Cities community,” he said.
When he was 4, Primo was adopted from Africa by Chad and Crystal Pinson of University Park. He was staying at a child soldier rehabilitation center in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the Pinsons had done missionary work. Primo was malnourished and had no access to electricity or running water.
He developed an affinity for sports, particularly football and baseball. But when he began wrestling alongside his older brother, Asher, he blossomed both competitively and socially.
The fifth-grader won an open heavyweight title for the Scots Wrestling Club at the Texas State Championships in March, proving that he could beat people his own age.
