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CBN.com – Andrew Knox [reporting]: He’s a nationally ranked high school wrestler and a Virginia State champion two years in a row. He wrestles as tough as he looks, but this 189-pounder knows how to sear Mahi Mahi. But, more about that later… Meet Scott Cust. Now let’s talk wrestling.
Knox: Does it come easy to you?
Scott Cust: It takes a lot of hard work and dedication.
Knox [reporting]: Scott won’t admit how hard he works, but he will admit he isn’t the same person who he was when he brought home his first state championship.
Cust: If it wasn’t for wrestling, it actually would have been a lot worse. I had to stay clean for wrestling during season at least. But it was drinking, smoking, and I did coke once or twice. I was always offered different types of drugs because of the people I was hanging out with.
Knox [reporting]: Scott’s unruly living led to an arrest for possession of marijuana and a restricted driver’s license. Around the same time, Scott was trying to clean up his act by attending church with his girlfriend. He was also trying to remember the relationship he had with Jesus Christ – a commitment he made when he was 12 years old.
On September 11, 2005, after a night out, his girlfriend dropped him off at home. Scott realized he left his wallet at a friend’s house, so he took his mom’s SUV – something he should never had done.
Cust: I looked up and I saw this ditch and a tree. It was a 90-degree turn. There’s no way I’m going to be able to stop. I don’t even think [that] I hit the brakes. I let off the gas then over the ditch. That’s all I remember.
Knox [reporting]: Scott rammed into a tree at 65 miles-per-hour. He woke up in the back of an ambulance.
Knox: No seat belt?
Cust: No seat belt. My knees went into the dashboard, my wrist into the radio and my head went into the windshield.
Knox: What’ the first thing you remember?
Cust: Being in an ambulance.
Knox: Do you believe God gave you a second chance?
Cust: Oh yeah, it was a wake up call. Most definitely.
Knox [reporting]: Scott’s thoughts turned to why he had survived. Most of the reasons people told him didn’t make sense but one did.
Cust: I told someone from church, and they are like, “Man, God had a hand on you. He has a plan for your life.” That hit me. That was the reason I didn’t die in the accident. Ever since then, that stuck in my head. God’s really got a plan for me.
Knox [reporting]: A couple of weeks after the accident, Scott blew out his knee while wrestling.
Cust: I kept wrestling. I went to a national tournament, and I placed seventh. I was so mad. I could have done better. It was because of my knee. So I came back and had surgery that week. I was praying, “God, heal me quick.” I was trying to get back on the mat. Within 13 days of having surgery on my knee, I was back on the mat wrestling. People were like, “How in the world did you heal up that quick?” I was like, “It was God, man.” I peaked that season. I won state at the end of the year.
Knox: How does it feel to be a state champ now?
Cust: This year is my second year of winning states, and it’s pretty cool. Ever since I gave God my wrestling, it’s taken off.
Knox [reporting]: Now, back to the subject of cooking…
Knox: If you had to choose, would you pick cooking or wrestling?
Cust: Cooking.
Knox [reporting]: No argument here. Scott hopes one day to have his own restaurant and cooking show.
Cust: Living a life of Christ is the most important thing in the world -- so much more fun than anyone would ever think. People [think] church and God are so boring. It’s not. It’s like a journey. It’s so awesome. My life hasn’t been the same since. I wouldn’t change it for the world.
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