It’s November of 2022 and I’m live wrestling—simulating a live wrestling match with a partner—until I’m on the ground about to get pinned—when both of a wrestler’s shoulder blades touch the mat and end the match. As I feel my back turn toward the ground, I catch myself by bridging, or anchoring my head and feet close together, putting my body in a state of tension and forcing my shoulder blades to stay above the mat. My partner, who had hopes of pinning me down with his body weight, can’t stay leveled and falls onto his back, which allows me to cover him and get the pin instead.
Bridging and pinning was my signature move from my sophomore year of wrestling to my short-lived junior year of off-season wrestling. The move was effective because of the way that it combined my flexibility and size, two factors that usually don’t mix in other wrestlers. Although the move served me well for a short time, it’s also part of the reason that I had to miss my entire junior year of wrestling during the high school season.
By consistently bridging under heavyweights, I passively eroded my spine and caused a painful fracture to form. As flexible as my body was, bones aren’t meant to be bent. Day in and day out, the pain was nearly unbearable. I vividly remember having to sit in my mom’s car to go home after a wrestling practice, but my spine was in so much pain that when I sat down, I realized that pulling my legs into the vehicle would put too much strain on my back. I had to brace my core and use my arms to pick up both of my legs individually, which is when I realized that I couldn’t stand the injury any longer.
After I got checked up by my doctor, my parents sat me down and had me listen to a message that he left—“I can’t allow Isaiah to wrestle, his injury needs time to heal or else he’s going to feel the repercussions of it for the rest of his life.” I was heartbroken, my sophomore year of wrestling was spent in and out of the junior varsity (JV) and varsity teams; junior year was supposed to be my year to shine. On top of my lofty expectations for the year was my offseason work that had essentially gone to waste. Prior to my injury, I worked tirelessly to drop fifteen pounds of weight by drinking a gallon of water a day and going on long runs in multi-layered sweatsuits during the nighttime.
When I got the news that I had to miss the season, it felt like all the work that I did to improve was for nothing. All of the miserable emotions and insecurities that I had to endure in order to cut weight and improve my technique went down the drain because I couldn’t pull off any other move except the bridge. I felt guilty for the wrestling partners that I had to leave, tired from the work that I had to recover from and existentially meaningless from having the sport swept from me.
The only certain way to recover from my spinal injury was to get rest, specifically three months of it. It was the end of November when I was informed of my injury, so if I waited it out then I wouldn’t be back on the mat until late February to early March, which is when the season ends. I had no other choice but to sit and wait for this year’s season, which I’m currently prepping for.
Although my doctor recommended that I rest, I tried my best to stay active in the forms of running, lifting weights and physical therapy. Since my injury, I’ve been doing my recovery exercises more sporadically than I intended to, but as of late I have been lifting weights with this year’s wrestling team rather than alone.
As a team, we have found a way to use the school’s weight room early in the morning so that we can prepare for the season. Being able to work out with my peers gives me the proper motivation and community to achieve the speedy recovery that I want to obtain. Although we start our workouts incredibly early in the morning, I try my best to attend whenever I can, so that I can be the best version of myself for the season.
Even in my recovery and improvement, I still find hardship with my back even if I’m just lifting weights. One recent instance of my back pain returning was when the team was deadlifting. We were lifting heavy that day, and in an icarian show of wit I lifted way too heavy for the state of my back. As my legs boosted upward off of the ground, my back extended with rigorous power, but as the weight jolted into my abdomen, I felt a sharp and sudden pain in my lower back. I quickly dropped the bar and knelt down accepting all of the pain from the moment.
It took a week for the pain to subside, but during those days my back felt as uncomfortable and irritating as it did the year prior. I was afraid that all of my waiting went to waste until the pain left on its own.
I’ve been taking preventative measures to stop any possibility of severe back pain from affecting me again. Specifically, I have been visiting Bonita Vista High’s sports clinic during lunch so that I can get the proper exercise that I need for a better recovery. As of late, the clinic’s student volunteers have been having me focus on core exercises so that my body can learn to stabilize itself with my core muscles rather than my spine.
The road to recovery is a rocky one, but I’m confident that I can make it through and succeed during this wrestling season. I am stronger, smarter and more cautious than I was last year, and there’s nowhere to go but up.
