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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Hard work helps Shadle Park senior land on his feet at new school, win state wrestling title

Shadle Park High School senior Andrew (Dew) Rogers talks about his plans to wrestle in college at the school on Tuesday, April 18, 2017. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)
By Andy Buhler For the Spokesman-Review

Andrew “Dew” Rogers will be remembered in the Shadle Park High School record books as a standout wrestler.

But when Rogers describes himself, he doesn’t talk about the two state wrestling titles he won in Alaska before moving to Spokane, or the third one he won with Shadle Park in March.

To Rogers, those are not worth bragging about. Not many people, Rogers said, know about his love for comic books, superheroes and drawing.

“Only some people know that about me, and I think it’s the coolest thing about me,” he said.

The Shadle Park senior fancies himself an avid comic book collector, and draws inspirations from his favorite superheroes to sketch on his own. Earlier this year Rogers and his brothers went to the Emerald City Comic-Con in Seattle, where he met his comic idol, Scott Snyder, an artist who draws Batman for DC Comics.

“Meeting him was the same feeling as winning the state championship. No joke,” Rogers said. “My heart was pumping. I got to talk to him. Me and my brothers were telling him how much his comics helped through hard times.”

Rogers grew up the youngest of eight kids (he has six brothers, one sister). He credits his relationship with his siblings — four of whom are also wrestlers — for shielding him from some of the struggles the family faced during his childhood.

“We lived in a really rough place, pretty poor, single parent, hard life, but I didn’t know that until I looked back on it later,” Rogers said. “To me, life was happy, fun and always having a good time. Each one of them taught me so many things alone and made my life a positive environment to live in.”

Last summer, adversity came in the form of unexpected change for Rogers, his seven siblings and single mother. The family opted to move from North Pole, Alaska, where Dew had lived his entire life.

So the family loaded up a car and drove four days from Alaska, through Canada, then down to Spokane. Rogers isn’t a fan of car rides, and the family dog rode near his shoulders for the duration, but it would all turn out to be worth it once he got settled in Spokane.

Especially once he met Shadle Park wrestling coach Shawn Howard.

When Rogers first approached Howard about joining the wrestling team, the coach didn’t notice the typical wrestler giveaways, like cauliflower ear or any type of wrestling gear.

“The only thing he would tell me is that he works really hard,” Howard said of Rogers, who opted not to mention his two prior state titles. “My first impression of him was of this really nice, really humble kid.

“He wanted to earn everything. He didn’t want to say ‘I’m the guy, I’m going to take over.’ ”

As the season progressed, Rogers and Howard grew tighter. This spring, the senior tried his hand at tennis, a sport he had never played, largely because Howard is a junior varsity coach.

Rogers is thus far undecided on his next step, but leaning toward wrestling at a community college in the region. As for a career? He continues to draw in hopes of one day becoming a comic book artist.