Passion for wrestling pushes Smith through recovery
Lucas Smith knows a thing or two when it comes to rehabbing from an injury.
As a sophomore wrestler, Smith has been battling for the past year through a right shoulder injury and intense rehab in order to come back and compete in the sport he loves.
It was an injury he fought through for much of last season, until the pain became too much to handle.
Smith said the decision to have surgery came after the season when talking with his coaches and family.
“I was dealing with the injury all of last year,” Smith said. “It was something I could deal with throughout the season. I got to the NCAA tournament and my shoulder finally gave out, so after the season I talked with my coaches and family and we decided that I needed to get surgery on my right shoulder.”
Smith finished his first season with a 22-12 overall record. Since then, it has been a long road back to regain the strength in his shoulder.
“The recovery process was long,” Smith said. “It was a five to six month recovery process, but I pushed through physical therapy hard and came back earlier than expected. That was the first operation I’ve ever had. You go to physical therapy and try to get stronger. It’s a process that is similar to wrestling in that you have to be very disciplined and stay after it and work hard."
Head coach Tom Borrelli said Smith lost much of his offseason to the rehabilitation process.
“I think it affected him a lot,” he said. “The thing that sticks out to me is, first of all, he didn’t have a spring and summer to prepare and that’s really, really important in wrestling to be able to train all year round. You take usually two months off and then train for 10 months. He probably didn’t get to train for six months out of last year, so that really set him back.”
Not being able to be with his teammates was one of the toughest parts of the entire process for Smith.
“All these other guys had been training for the whole offseason and I was dormant for six months,” Smith said. “As much as I was doing therapy, it wasn’t straining. Coach just told me to keep working hard and that you have a lot of making up to do, so that’s all I’ve been doing is getting after it and working hard to catch up."
Once this season began, Smith said he believed he was ready, but a slow start was a sign that things weren’t quite ready. Smith was 1-4 in dual meets by the beginning of December.
“We probably used him too early because we needed to depend on him,” Borrelli said. “At the beginning of the year, he was just not in very good condition and not really confident in himself. His shoulder wasn’t quite ready yet and you can tell by looking at the results.”
After a few rough matches, Smith has improved and is returning to a higher level of competition. He is currently ranked No. 19 in the nation at the 157-pound weight class with a 12-7 record.
Since the beginning of January, Smith has a 4-1 record.
This success comes in part by gaining more confidence as the season has progressed with his shoulder and being able to wrestle the way he enjoys to.
“I don’t have to worry about my shoulder anymore like I was before," Smith said. "Opening up and being confident with my shoulder now that it’s secured, I feel like I can go out there and wrestle how I want to wrestle."
Borrelli said for Smith to bounce back the way he has says a lot about him.
“As a person, I really feel like Luke is maturing a lot,” Borrelli said. “He is turning into one of our outspoken leaders on the team and I feel like (he) has kind of grown into that role. He is becoming more and more of a positive influence on our team. I think he is pretty tough mentally."
Although it's been a challenge and an uphill climb to get back to where he is now, Smith said he has learned a lot about himself and just how much he loves wrestling.
“I think I learned how much I truly love the sport,” Smith said. “I knew I loved the sport and I knew this is what I wanted to do, but now seeing that injury, you have to love what you want to do if you want to be successful"
