Unfortunately, in sports, injuries are a part of every game as the actually play itself. Athletes get injured all the time in their respective sports, some injuries are minor and the athlete can get through them, but other times they are significant enough for them to miss games or matches for extended periods of time.

For the Waynesburg University wrestling, the 2017-18 season has been riddled with injuries, minor and major, since the season started in November. Head coach Ron Headlee, who is also the head coach for both men’s and women’s tennis at Waynesburg, said that this campaign has been one of the most difficult in regards to injuries between the three sports he coaches.

One of the most taxing days of the season for the Yellow Jackets was the Waynesburg Invitational on Jan. 6, which featured 16 teams and most wrestlers taking the mats for five matches during the afternoon. While the team placed third in the event, it came at the expense of some key starters going down with injury, including freshman 184 pounder Mike Mahon and sophomore Zach Mackall at 157 pounds, who suffered season ending injuries.

“I think it’s my worst year ever in all of my sporting events. Losing two guys in the same day for the year—I mean major injuries—fractured wrist and an elbow that needed surgery,” Headlee said. “That same day, [freshman 174 pounder] Caleb Baxter hurt his ribs, so that put him out for a week. Also, [junior 184 pounder] Mike Millero was injured in the tournament. You lose your number one and number two 184 pounders there.”

At the beginning of the season, the Yellow Jackets also lost senior DJ Grindle, who was slated to start at either 141 pounds or 149 pounds, for the season. This is the second straight year that Grindle suffered a season-ending injury.

Freshman Matt Lascola at 141 pounds, sophomore 157/165 pounder Dan Verhovsek, freshman Dillion Charlton at 174 pounds and sophomore 197 pounder Ken Burrs are among other regulars that have missed time because of injury or the flu, something that Headlee said impacted multiple wrestlers over the course of a few weeks this season as well.

The plethora of injuries has affected the team not only in matches, but in practices as well.

“It’s hard like that because then your practices, [as a coach] you back down a little bit from your live stuff because you don’t have the depth,” said Headlee. “You’re afraid someone else is going to get injured in that, so you don’t want to go too extra hard in your practice sessions like that. It changes your coaching a little bit.”

In terms of matches, following the Waynesburg Invitational was the first Presidents’ Athletic Conference match of the season against Washington & Jefferson. Even with multiple regular starters missing, the team gutted out a 24-22 decision thanks part to junior 197 pounder Josh Sneeringer stepping in for Burrs and pinning his opponent for six key points before Evans walked it off with a pin of his own.

“That was a big win for us at W&J,” Headlee said. “Going into it, we needed a big win at 197, and to come through like [Sneeringer] did, that was great. He just stepped up.”

The Yellow Jackets started to feel the pain from the numerous injuries after W&J at the Budd Whitehill National Duals, going just 1-4 over the weekend. However, according to Headlee, the team has responded nicely since then by rattling off four straight wins, including two against PAC opponents, something he accredits to returning starters and wrestlers who were initially backups coming through in key situations.

“For the backups, to give the recognition, they have stepped in [well]. If we didn’t have the depth that we did, we would have been forfeiting three or four matches…,” said Headlee. “We have a different lineup almost every time we go out. That’s why I prepare them each time—they could be the starter…Almost all of those guys have been in as a starter at some time. As we recruit, I think that’s one of our big selling points—‘hey, you’re going to get time here.’ Our backups right now are getting about 20 matches, and the starters are getting about 35.”

With all the uncertainties of the injury bug this year, the consistency of senior 125 pounder Tristan Buxton and junior heavyweight Jake Evans has been vital to the team staying afloat in some of these recent matches, as both typically score bonus points in their respective bouts. Baxter, when healthy, has also helped the overall team point total with many wins coming by bonus points as well.

“One of the parents said to me the other day after the Thomas More match, ‘hey, it’s pretty nice looking up at the score and you’re not down by more than six and you have Jake [Evans] coming up, you have a pretty good feeling that he can pull it out for you,’” Headlee said. “That’s a big confidence builder for us. Baxter has been doing a good job getting those bonus points for us. He’s a pinner, and that helps us. That’s been a big thing, him being able to do that and Tristan usually getting a major.”

Looking forward, Headlee thinks that the amount of mat time that wrestlers who typically haven’t been starters this season, such as Charlton, freshman RJ Hall, senior Landon Lohr, sophomore Adam Rigney and Sneeringer, will be vital down the road.

“I think it’s going to be competitive without our two starters in there. It’s definitely going to make it tougher on us,” said Headlee. “We talk about our backups, they can help us by knocking the other guys out. That’s why it’s important for our depth—believing in each other and everyone we send out there. The time that they get is going to help them when it comes down to PAC time with just that experience that they’ve had in those dual meets.”

The wrestling team has one more dual match before the PAC Championships, which is held at the Rudy Marisa Field House Saturday, Feb. 10, against West Liberty Wednesday night, after the publication of this article. The team also will travel to Berea, Ohio, for the John Summa Invitational as a final tune-up.