ALTON, Ill. — In life, many of us believe in signs.
At Alton High School, wrestling head coach Eric Roberson saw a sign nearly three decades ago that would alter his life forever.
"Well, I've always wanted to coach wrestling, it's been a passion of mine for a long time," Roberson said.
Year after year, 26 in total, Roberson has poured his heart into the Alton High School Red Birds wrestling program. He's seen his fair share of talent, but none like junior, Antonia Phillips.
"She doesn’t make excuses, it’s a whole big package of components and she seems to have them all," he said.
Shortly after joining the wrestling program, Roberson would have nothing but good things to say about Antonia. The only thing is, Antonia has to get a little help understanding what the coach is saying.
"I just can't hear, that's it," Antonia said, signing toward our Ahmad Hicks in an interview.
Born with all of her senses, Antonia started to lose her hearing at the age of 1. Shortly after, she lost the ability to hear.
"I’m just deaf, that doesn’t make anything more challenging for me, I just can’t hear, that’s it," she explained, saying she's just a normal teenager. "There’s nothing really different for me."
In her household, excuses are for the weak, and weakness is something the high schooler and her family never display. Her dad has trouble hearing, while four of her eight siblings and mom are also deaf.
"Antonia would tell you more about how being deaf doesn't affect her more than how it affects her," Coach Roberson said, detailing Antonia's no-excuses mentality.
Growing up surrounded by boys, her parents knew the perfect outlet for her to express herself.
"I played football first and that's kind of how they saw that I was aggressive," Antonia reflected on where her athletic days began.
She would play football through her freshman year at Alton, but soon, signs pointed her in a different direction.
"I just wanted to focus on wrestling because I feel like that's more in my future than football," she said.
But Alton doesn't have a girls wrestling program, so that meant Antonia still got to beat up on the boys, including her younger brother, Antoine.
"He's actually starting to beat me now, but we are still very competitive," she said laughing.
Training against Antoine prepared Antonia for any obstacle thrown her way this season.
"I think she finished with 20 wins and only three losses, but about half of those matches were against boys," Roberson recalled about Antonia's historic season.
Soon, there would be signs about Antonia in every direction Roberson looked, he knew she was the real deal. Eventually, the rest of the state would too, as she captured Alton's first-ever state wrestling title.
"She deserves it," Roberson said. "She's earned it and she's put in a lot of time, she makes no excuses about anything."
In a world filled with darkness, Antonia has been a beacon of light for the deaf community.
"I just hope that I can show them that they can do something amazing, too," she said.
She's also a sign of hope.
"I would just say that you try and you just go for it," Antonia said. "It doesn't matter what other people say, you just try and use your skill, and sometimes people think that they can't do it because they are deaf, but that's not true."