Once-injured wrestlers seeking momentum at Panhandle Championship

LYNN HAVEN — Some participants in the Panhandle Championship wrestling tournament were just happy to be there, while others watched from the sidelines with eager anticipation.

Area teams have endured a rash of injuries, most happening before Christmas. You’re unlikely to find a team without at least one long-term injury, with many losing wrestlers for the entire season. A quick glance around the Jim Redfern Gymnasium on Friday gave proof of the maladies, as some wrestlers sported knee braces and others hobbled on crutches.

This was the next-to-last tuneup for district tournaments in two weeks. Those who were able to wrestle this weekend could use their showings as momentum moving forward.

“There’s no doubt that this is the most injury-riddled season I’ve seen,” Bozeman coach J.D. Raybourne said. “Everyone I talk to has some tough injuries. I wish there was something we could attribute it to then we could know how to stop it.”

Bozeman lost two first-year wrestlers to a torn ACL and an ankle injury early in the season. The roster was relatively healthy in Friday’s competition, which featured two rounds of championship matches and several in the consolation rounds.

Bozeman has a trained Emergency Medical Technician, Shawn Campbell, as an assistant coach. Raybourne said Campbell’s presence has helped quickly tend to injuries at practice or in meets. Campbell said Bozeman was forced to take a look at how wrestlers prepared for matches to try to limit injuries.

But as Raybourne said, there is no exact reason for the perceived increase in injuries. And all it takes is a slip on the mat or to be caught in an awkward hold to send someone to the disabled list.

That was the case for Wewahitchka’s Casey Dauphin, who found himself on the wrong end of a grappling move Dec. 10. The result was a separated left shoulder and he has missed every Gator event since. He was cleared to wrestle on Monday, but coach Tracy Malcolm erred on the side of caution and held Dauphin out for the Panhandle Championship.

“It’s killing me to have to watch,” Dauphin said. “But I know I have to get my strength back.”

Dauphin has practiced and said the shoulder has held up. He said surgery will be needed at the end of the season. Wewa hosts Niceville Rocky Bayou, Bay and Tallahassee Godby on Monday in a dual event and Dauphin, a senior, hopes to be back in the lineup.

“That’s our Senior Night and I want to wrestle,” Dauphin said.

There is a chance that Dauphin will separate the shoulder again, but he’s prepared for the possibility.

“I’ll just need to try and stay away from moves that could hurt me,” Dauphin said. “That’s always going to be in your head.”

The same fear resides in Mosley’s Brock Carlan, a freshman who missed 11 weeks with a dislocated left knee. Friday marked his third week back healthy.

“It was terrible, I didn’t want to sit out, but I had to,” Carlan said. “I was nervous my first match back and it’s getting better.”

Carlan admitted he was tentative early, but that didn’t show as he won the 113-pound title at Gulf Breeze in his first tournament of the year earlier this month. His confidence has grown from there.

“I’m working back to the way I need to be,” Carlan said. “The doctor said there’s nothing to be worried about, so I feel good.”

Carlan’s teammate, Dillon Humphrey, also had a setback in December. He hyper extended his knee in the Arnold Invitational and was diagnosed with a slight ACL tear. He sat out a month and said his knee is healed.

He said a week of practice before his first tournament, also at Gulf Breeze, helped remove the fears of getting injured a second time.

“I took the month off and it felt a lot better,” Humphrey said. “Then when I wrestled (at Gulf Breeze) I pretty much knew it was better and I feel good.”

Both Carlan and Humphrey will attempt to win respective titles today, when the Panhandle Championship concludes. Wrestling begins at 10 a.m. Championship matches are slated for around 5 p.m. Admission is $5.