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‘He was loved by everyone’: Chelmsford High athlete, 18, dies of cancer
Sidelined by a 2021 cancer diagnosis, Chelmsford's Nik Sperounis continued to show up and push his teammates to give their all.
Even after a 2021 cancer diagnosis sidelined Nik Sperounis, the Chelmsford High School athlete continued to show up for his teammates, rallying on game days and rescheduling radiation and chemotherapy so he could attend home meets.
When Sperounis was around — or even when his name was mentioned in practice — athletes strived to do better, wrestling teammates told The Boston Globe earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Sperounis waged a battle of his own against the rare and aggressive angiosarcoma. On Tuesday, the Chelmsford High School wrestling team announced that the 18-year-old has died of cancer.
“Nik was one of the toughest, most positive, and athletic kids I have ever coached,” a post on the team’s Facebook page reads. “It is hard for me to put into words the impact he had on the program, students, school district, and me over the past 4 years. He was loved by everyone. Sometimes things don’t make sense.”
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On the football field as an honorary captain, Sperounis would give inspirational speeches before kickoff, according to The Lowell Sun. A sledgehammer with Sperounis’s number — 21 — served as a motivational tool.
“During the whole time, there was never a single negative thought that came from him. There was never ‘oh why me’ type mentality,” CHS football coach George Peterson told the Sun in February. “It was always, ‘I’m going to lift (weights) in the offseason and I’m going to get myself ready for my senior year.’”
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Peterson continued: “That was his approach and it just inspired everybody — it inspired everybody to give everything they could possibly give to the program because on the other side of it, there was Nik wishing he had that opportunity to be out there with us.”
Sperounis was able to attend his prom and graduation before he passed, The Boston Globe reported.
“It’s tough to put into words what he meant to everyone, especially the kids he grew up with,” wrestling coach Chris Piscione told the Globe. “He meant everything to them.”
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