Nov. 14, 2008

Hi everyone, this is Nicky!  I'm going to do something a little different in my blog this week.  Mike already broke down the Black and Gold wrestle-offs for you so instead of repeating him, I'm going to make this blog a little more personal.

 

This last week was a very stressful one for me, but I don't think it could have come at a better time. Wednesday, November 5, at 9:05 p.m. I was t-boned coming out of the Missouri Athletic Training Center parking lot. I was just leaving study hall crossing over Providence Blvd. to go park in the back of the Hernes Center. Long story short,  I get t-boned on the passenger side and the car gets thrown into a ditch, which pops me up.  I take out a tree and come to rest in the bumper of a parked car about 100 feet down the parking lot. I'm knocked out for most of this and the story was pieced together by a girls basketball player who leaving behind me.

 

At first I was pretty excited about getting to sit for a few days (kinda' the silver lining on the whole thing).  The only thing that was running through my mind was not making weight and no practice for a few days.  And, as you might suspect, other than a bad headache (which I later found out was a concussion) and stiff back, I was a pretty happy camper. 

 

Well Friday I went up to practice after doing a contrast bath (hot for 3 minutes, ice for 1, back and forth 4 times) to try to loosen up my muscles.  I was standing on a treadmill beside our trainer Sean and I feel a little out of place seeing all my teammates working hard and sweating up a storm. I felt as if I wasn't part of the team anymore, almost like a spectator. This was followed up by our Black and Gold the next day where I sat in the stands and watched all my other teammates compete in their Mizzou singlets for the first time under the Hearnes Center lights with the TigerStyle fans and family watching.

 

This really hit home for me. I understood that I was injured and couldn't wrestle.  But, it sparked something in me that had been fading as the season had been going on.  I really wanted to wrestle. Although I wasn't able to wrestle the next few days, I did whatever I could, whether it be lifting/rehab or cardio on the elliptical to the fullest.

 

Today, Friday, November 14, is my first day actually completing a whole practice even though it's only a pre-competition drill.  I'm very excited to get back in the room under the giant fan.

 

This weekend is the Central Missouri Open.  Although I cannot wrestle I will be there in the corners for my teammates supporting them. I know I'll be back next week with good news for this weekend and a good week of practice under my belt getting ready for the Missouri Open.

 

Sorry this blog was a little shorter than normal but next week I should be back with a full weeks worth of events to talk about.

 

See you next week Nicky Gregoris