Fritz is from Lac du Flambeu, a small town far north in Wisconsin, where his closest neighbor was a mile away. Skiing was a big part of the lifestyle up there and Fritz started downhill skiing at the age of 10. In high school, he was involved in martial arts, wrestling, and football - playing both offense and defense.
After graduation, Fritz felt like a good next step would be to join the military. He moved to South Carolina, completing basic training. Since he’s always been good with his hands, Fritz went to mechanics school, with a focus in aviation. He was first stationed in Fort Eustis, Virginia, then was later transferred to Fort Drum in New York, where his main job was as a mechanic working on black hawks and other helicopters. Fritz enjoyed his time in the military, but decided to move back to Wisconsin when his term was up in 2000.
Back in the Oshkosh area, Fritz started school and worked a manufacturing job, where he quickly moved up the ranks. In 2001, he landed a job with Oshkosh Defense, an organization that builds military vehicles. He worked as a journeyman millwright, fixing anything and everything in the manufacturing plant. In his off time, he enjoyed weightlifting and keeping active.
On August 1st, 2012, Fritz was repairing his motorcycle. He took it for a quick test ride and less than 500 yards from his house was t-boned by a car that pulled out into traffic. Fritz never went into shock and remembers the entire incidence - looking down at his leg that he described as spaghetti.
The doctors did their best at limb salvage, but the next year was very difficult as Fritz endured 13 surgeries with little to no success. Finally, in July of 2013, he was able to get his right leg amputated which was a huge relief. Fritz was immediately ready to get to work, relearning how to walk and get back to life again. He had some issues with first prosthetic leg, but his life changed in 2015 when he found a prosthetic leg that really worked for him.
Now in a well-fitting leg, Fritz’s passion to be active was ignited. With the new free time away from work, he explored all types of sports: competition shooting, obstacle course racing, archery, fly fishing, hunting, hiking, and golfing - along with getting back into powerlifting and downhill skiing.
During his nine weeks at ATF, Fritz wants to focus on mind, body and spirit. His goal is to mentally reset and get himself back into good habits. On the training floor, he wants to increase his baseline numbers in all categories and increase both power and speed, which will help him in his various sports. Beyond that, Fritz is in the starting phases of having his own non-profit to bring adaptive opportunities and training to people with disabilities in the greater Wisconsin area and is hoping his knowledge gained at ATF will be a huge help with that.
