Wrestling: Sherando senior plotting his return (02-17-07)
Sidelined with rib injury, Kettlewell hoping to make up for lost ground -- By Tommy Keeler Jr. (Daily Staff Writer)
STEPHENS CITY — At the City/County meet Feb. 7, all Tim Kettlewell could do was watch as his friends and teammates competed on the mat.
Suffering from torn rib cartilage, the Sherando senior was reduced to a frustrated observer.
"It was really tough," Kettlewell said earlier this week. "The match with Millbrook was really close and I couldn't help the team because I was injured."
The Warriors lost to the Pioneers 36-30, but Kettlewell and his teammates will have a chance to make up for that today in the Northwestern District meet at Sherando. The action begins at 10 a.m.
Kettlewell hasn't wrestled in two weeks. He originally tore the cartilage Jan. 20 in the Richland (Pa.) duals; then, his ribs began to heal and he started wrestling again. He went 3-0 in a quad meet against Brentsville, Handley and Central on Jan. 27.
Two days later, he re-injured his ribs in practice and hasn't wrestled since. For a week, Kettlewell couldn't even run, but this week he spent significant practice time jogging and riding an exercise bike.
"It's just one of those lingering injuries," Sherando coach Pepper Martin said. "It's one of those things where it's not a serious injury, but it's painful and limits his range of motion."
Despite the pain, Kettlewell hopes to shine in the tournament where he began a strong run last season. Kettlewell wasn't overly successful his sophomore season, but after a dedicated offseason, he showed drastic improvement last year at 160 pounds.
Kettlewell won the Northwestern District and Region II tournaments last year. In the district final, he beat one of his biggest rivals — Warren County's Ed Hoisington.
From there, Kettlewell advanced to the Group AA state meet. The tournament started off great; on the first day, he won two matches and advanced to the semifinals.
"It was a lot of fun on Friday," he said. "Then in the semifinals, I lost and just fell apart from there."
Kettlewell lost two more matches and finished sixth. Martin said the experience proved to be a valuable one nonetheless.
"I think the mark of a champion is not only how you handle the accolades that come with success, but also how you handle adversity," he said. "Tim didn't let it affect him mentally. Instead, he used as a motivator. A couple weeks later he was back at it again — wrestling for his club team and in tournaments.
"He was proud of what he accomplished last year, but he wasn't satisfied."
Kettlewell is 47-4 this season, and the No. 2 seed behind Warren County's Trey Kirkland for today's district meet. Kettlewell is hoping to repeat last year's feat; he's also hoping the Warriors can celebrate a team title.
"We haven't won the title in my three years here," Kettlewell said. "I would love to get it this year in front of our home crowd."
That will be a difficult challenge; Kettlewell isn't the team's only injured wrestler. Sophomore Hunter Taylor (189) is out for the season after suffering torn cartilage in his knee in January. Sophomore heavyweight Derek Henson suffered the same injury but has since returned, and will be the fourth seed in today's meet.
"We're certainly not going to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves," Martin said. "In order for us to compete for the title, we need to have an excellent day — not an average day. Usually in a tournament like this, you have one guy that surprises you and one that's a bit of a disappointment.
"We need to have two surprises and no disappointments."
Today is just the first step for Kettlewell, who hopes to erase last year's state tournament frustrations.
"I want to win the state title," he said. "I think having been there last year will help me a lot. I'll know what to expect.
"I was worrying too much about winning instead of just wrestling my match. When I go out and wrestle my match to the best of my ability, I usually come out on the winning end."
