LEXINGTON — He was the last and least likely of the 11 area wrestlers to earn state bids at last week’s Division II Norwalk district.
And Lexington’s Aedan Nicol will likely be the lightest 285-pounder in the 16-man field when the state meet starts Friday afternoon.
Nicol punched his ticket to state with a fourth-place finish at Norwalk. He dropped his first match of the tournament Friday and had to win four in a row to secure his state bid. He fell in the consolation finals to Napoleon’s Isaac Lehman, but that was of little consequence after his pin of Toledo Central Catholic’s Michael Cannings in the consolation semifinals.
“I did it the hardest way you could,” Nicol said. “I didn’t think I had anything in me (after the first-round loss) but I guess I had something in me.”
Giving up as many as 35 pounds, the 250-pound Nicol’s philosophy was to extend matches as long as he could.
“I’m usually the smaller one so I just try to make it to the third period because I have a better gas tank than they do,” said Nicol, who returned to wrestling his senior year after getting injured as a sophomore and sitting out last year. “My sophomore year I got hurt after football and I just didn’t wrestle as a junior. This is my second year, freshman year and this year.”
Nicol’s unlikely state bid wasn’t the only compelling storyline to emerge from last week’s Norwalk district. Here are some of the others:
Eyes on the Prize
Madison 120-pound Mike Thomas earned a repeat trip to state after finishing fourth at Norwalk. That Thomas was able to wrestle is a testament to his fortitude after undergoing eye surgery in early February.
Thomas won a title at Marion Pleasant’s Sally George Invitational in late January when he began to notice what he called a “small black speck” in his vision.
It was discovered he had a hole in his retina that, if left untended, could result in a detached retina. His options were to have an invasive surgery that would have ended his season or a less invasive laser procedure that would allow him to return to the mat.
“They could do the laser and it might not be 100 percent. It’s not going to be as strong as the invasive surgery,” Thomas said. “I took that risk to be able to save my season. I was out for two weeks because of that.”
Recovery from the laser surgery, which was performed the day of his initial consultation, took two-and-a-half weeks. He was cleared to wrestle two days before the Ohio Cardinal Conference meet and won a title.
“I had two practices before conference,” Thomas said. “That was rough, too, because I wasn’t allowed to do anything.
“There was fluid where they did the repair and they said if my hear rate raises too high, it could cause that fluid to bust through.”
Thomas received good news at a recent follow-up exam.
“Everything is great,” Thomas said. “They said everything is looking good.”
Road to Recovery
Clear Fork 165-pounder Luke Schlosser took third last week in Norwalk. Considering all he had to overcome, a return trip to state was anything but given.
Schlosser suffered a leg injury in a 35-3 loss to Galion on Sept. 8. He had surgery to place screws in his ankle and originally hoped to be back in time to wrestle at the J.C. Gorman Invitational in early January.
That didn’t work out for Schlosser, who placed fourth at state at 165 last year.
“I didn’t get back until mid January. I still have screws in my ankle,” Schlosser said. “I feel like I’m pretty close to being where I need to be, but I still have work to do.”
The hardest part, Schlosser said, was regaining his cardio fitness and finding his timing.
“You’ve got to get the feel back,” Schlosser said. “You kind of forget the basic stuff, so you have to start all over. Then you have to get the cardio so you can wrestle six minutes.
“I’m going to have to wrestle better than I have all year if I want to reach my goal.”