Back in the late 1990s, Taylorsville resident Matt Leon was a wrestler. Matter of fact, he was a JV team member on the 1997-98 Taylorsville High School state champion wrestling team.

But that was more than a quarter-century ago. Between then and now, Leon has served 19 years in the United States Navy. He saw four tours of overseas duty and sustained debilitating back injuries.

Leon’s sports these days include: wheelchair basketball, archery, recumbent bike racing, swimming and wheelchair rugby.

Taylorsville High School graduate Matt Leon recently competed on a wheelchair basketball team during a military-sponsored competition. (Photo courtesy US Navy)

“Just a few months ago, I had never tried any of these sports,” Leon said. “I mean, yes, of course, I had swam – and ridden a bike, although not a recumbent bike. But I’d never participated in archery – or certainly not wheelchair basketball or rugby. It’s all very new. I’m grateful to the Navy for introducing me to the Warrior Games.”

Leon was one of more than 250 seriously wounded, ill and injured military service members and veterans who competed at the 15th annual Department of Defense Warrior Games Challenge July 18-26 at Colorado College in Colorado Springs.

Leon’s path to the games passed through a host of states and countries, starting just a few years out of Taylorsville High.

“I tried college for a little while after high school but soon realized that wasn’t a good way for me to make my way in life,” Leon said. “My dad had been a Marine for eight years, and my oldest brother for four years before he transferred to the Army. I also had friends who joined the military. My dad asked me about joining the Marines. I told him, ‘I need discipline…but not Marine kind of discipline.’ I joined the Navy instead.”

In April 2006, Leon entered eight weeks of basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Base on Lake Michigan, north of Chicago.

“I originally studied Business Management in college,” he added. “I’ve always had an interest in tracking finance numbers. When I studied the subject in the Navy, the position was called ‘Storekeeper.’ The military title for what I do was changed to ‘Logistics Specialist’ a few years later.” 

Following another round of training in Mississippi, Leon soon found himself departing on his first Naval deployment.

“I shipped out for the Persian Gulf in January 2007, serving on the USS John C. Stennis (Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier),” he said. “That first deployment was for seven months.”

A nearly 20-year US Navy veteran who grew up in Taylorsville, Matt Leon participated in the military’s Warrior Games Challenge this summer. (Photo courtesy US Navy)

 Subsequent deployments came in 2012, 2014 and 2020 – each of them ranging from six to 12 months. Throw a dart at a globe, and there’s a good chance it will hit a country Leon has visited.

Serving on Navy vessels, Leon was never on a combat “front line.” Instead, he sustained multiple injuries simply through his day-to-day job aboard his ship.

“Throughout my nearly 20 years of military service, I developed two herniated discs, requiring three back surgeries,” he explained. “My logistics job required me to move a lot of supplies. I often carried boxes weighing as much as 50 pounds up and down seven flights of stairs aboard aircraft carriers.”

Leon underwent his first surgery in 2016, followed by two more last year. They have helped – but Leon is still far from “whole.”

“I now have six screws in my body and two titanium rods,” he added. “I still have numbness below the knees. I can walk; but I have no pelvic motion so it creates a limp.”

Still on active duty, Leon is working toward a retirement date, next May 1. That’s his 20-year mark in the Navy, making him eligible for 50% retirement pay for the rest of his life.

But following his pair of surgeries last year, Leon found himself at a low point.

“I couldn’t do anything; laying on my couch, just trying to recover,” Leon said. “That’s when my doctor recommended me for the Navy Wounded Warrior program. He told me ‘I really think you would benefit from this.’ Not long after that, they called to talk with me about getting involved in adaptive sports.”

Leon’s first trip through the Wounded Warrior program was back here to his home state. Last March, he visited the world-renowned National Ability Center in Park City.

According to their website (discovernac.org), “At the National Ability Center, we are dedicated to serving individuals, families and groups with disabilities by providing a safe and inclusive environment to discover their untapped potential. Whether you’re here seeking community connection, personal development or support, we are here to guide you on your journey. We celebrate all abilities and bridge the gap between perceived limitations and what is possible through the spirit of ‘I Can.’”

“They introduced me to winter sports when I was at the National Ability Center,” Matt said. “I tried adaptive ice hockey. I also got on the hill for adaptive skiing. I wasn’t good – but I skied.”

Poised at the starting line for his recumbent bicycle race, former Taylorsville resident Matt Leon was one of more than 250 injured current and former members of the military who competed in the Warrior Games Challenge. (Photo courtesy US Navy)

Following that trip, Leon was all in, as he discovered both the physical and psychological benefits of becoming active in adaptive sports.

 That’s what led U.S. Navy Logistics Specialist First Class Leon to his late-July Warrior Games Challenge, where he competed against athletes representing the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Space Force and Special Operations Command.

“The Wounded Warrior program has been so rewarding – and such a great cap off to a year with so many medical appointments and challenges,” Leon said. “Everything they have done for me has been so amazing, so beneficial.”

Married since 2022 and with no children, Leon and his wife are now stationed in Florida. His intention is to continue adaptive sports training through the winter and to return to the Wounded Warrior Challenge next year.

“There are various training camps throughout the year,” he added. “Some are sponsored by the military and there are many nonmilitary adaptive sports clinics and activities. I am so grateful to the Navy for standing behind me 1000 percent after I was injured. I never lost my job – never had a pay cut – and they have provided me with the best medical care.”

In just eight months – May 1, after he retires from the military – Leon plans to search for civilian work…possibly back here in Utah.

“My parents moved from Taylorsville to Houston in 2015 and my stepdad died in 2021,” Leon concluded. “I have one brother in Washington State and the other in Herriman (Utah). There’s always a good reason to return to Utah. I love Utah. But it depends on what kinds of jobs are available.”

Regardless of where he lands as a civilian, Leon hopes to make the Wounded Warrior Challenge a part of his future for many years to come.