Well folks, here's the nightmare playing out once again. Senior year, potential sq, freak accident on the mat fractures hand. Broke the 3rd met in his hand, requires screws/plates. Doc says recovery time...8 weeks! Just long enough to miss sectionals/districts and devastate a young man's dreams! You know where I'm going with this...we need options to get back on the mat in 6 weeks. Obviously, the recovery will vary depending on severity of the fracture and a million other factors. Does anyone know of sports specialists, surgeons, therapists, anyone that could lend advice? What kind of recovery devices are out there to speed his healing? This kid has sacrificed, completely dedicated himself, endured 2 knee surgeries and a nose surgery to get to this point in his career just to see it slip away at the very first invitational of his senior year...that's unacceptable! Please chime in with any and all advice.

I will give you the best advice I can think of from a person who has no medical training. I was wondering when I read this if there was any sort of protective soft cast you could wear to wrestle with? If they can make soft casts to withstand NFL games for D-linemen, I would think there would be something that would work. Wrestling safely with one hand would be better than nothing until it heals. For this, I would go to medical professionals who specialize in sports injuries. I would think someone at Ohio State sports information could refer you to someone they use. I think the best course of action (and I am sure you have thought of this) would be to have no contact for at least 3-4 weeks and then get x-rays to see how it is progressing. It seems that when medical professionals give a blanket "8 weeks" statement it is done as more of a guideline than an absolute certainty. The one thing I would do is be selective with which matches he wrestles when he does come back early, and people may disagree with me. If I am wrestling injured, I do not risk further injury in unwinnable matches if my eventual goal is to be a state placer/qualifier or whatever. What I mean is, why wrestle one of the Stiebers hurt if you have a .0000000000001 percent chance of winning? I would also wrestle just to district qualification in sectionals to buy another week of "rest" when he does come back early. Even great wrestlers ( I think Jake Ryan from Olentangy Liberty) do this. He was clearly hurt badly, so he wrestled the matches he needed to to qualify for districts and states to hopefully rest a bit more. Certainly all of these are open to discussion as you find out more about the specific situation I am sure.

My heart goes out to you and your son. Last year, 2 nights before the Central District All-Star preview my son (a senior) suffered what we thought to be a significant rib injury. I can remember all the thoughts that were flooding my mind as we sat in the urgent care facility waiting to see a doctor. So I know exactly where you are coming from. Luckily, for us things were not nearly as bad as was feared. So he had to miss the preview.....not a big deal at all.

I'd echo hippo......get your son to see a specialist with experience dealing with athletes. You don't say what area of the state you are in. Here in Central Ohio, maybe someone like Dr. Ray Tesner (a former Penn State football player) or Dr. Randy Wroble. Once you get into rehab, I can recommend the group at Cardinal Ortho http://www.cardinalortho.com/locations/gahanna-reynoldsburg/ They have numerous "sports guys" on staff there who would do all they can to get your son back on the mat.

Good luck to you and your son.....let us know how things turn out.

Dr. Randy Wroble if you're near the Columbus area. Personally I think he's one of the best sports med doctors around and he totally understands the sport of wrestling and the mentality and hard work we put in. He does a great job of getting kids back on the mat but not too soon to where they risk injury. I saw him when I dislocated my elbow senior year (dislocated day before thanksgiving) regular doctors told me I might be back by February. I saw Wroble, he put me in a sports physical therapy session and I was cleared to go full go practice in a month and was cleared to wrestle a match the first week of January. Now, I will say my dislocation was very clean and I had a knack of healing quickly so your recovery may not be the same as mine. Hope this helps and best of luck to you.

Ha! Dad4sports, just beat me I had mine all typed up but got side tracked with more pressing matters.

Steve Smith placed on Eagles' injured reserve

The New York Giants suffered a major setback when coach Tom Coughlin announced Wednesday that wide receiver Steve Smith had suffered a season-ending knee injury

DT Cedric Thornton was called up from the practice squad to take Smith’s roster spot.

Smith was inactive for the Eagles 26-10 win at Miami Sunday.

Smith had missed four games with a partially torn pectoral muscle. He returned for Monday night's 21-3 rout of the Minnesota Vikings only to severely damage his left knee when he was tackled awkwardly from behind. The Giants initially thought he had injured his hamstring but an MRI Tuesday showed otherwise.

His season, and likely his tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles, are now over.

Smith was a Pro Bowl performer last season who is a superb route-runner with an uncanny ability to rise to the occasion on third down. He finished with 48 catches for 529 yards and three touchdowns. The timing of his loss could not be worse because New York hosts the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday in a battle for the NFC East lead. Each team is at 9-4.

"We'd love to have him," quarterback Eli Manning said, "but it's the situation we're in and we have to move forward."

Torell Troup to undergo back surgery
Buffalo Bills defensive lineman Torell Troup will have back surgery this week to repair what he called "a minor fracture" in his spine.

In revealing then nature of the injury for the first time since being placed on injured reserve two weeks ago, Troup told The Associated Press on Monday that he should be fully recovered in about three months. That's a timetable that will allow him to be ready for the start of spring minicamps.

On this Friday would begin the surgery . "I'll be fine," Troup said.

The Buffalo Bills placed the second-year player on season-ending injured reserve on Nov. 30. Troup says he attempted to continue playing with the spine injury after he was hurt in Buffalo's preseason finale against Detroit Lions on Sept. 1.

Troup said he attempted to play through the spine injury after he was hurt in Buffalo's preseason finale against Detroit on Sept. 1. Troup, who also broke his right hand in training camp, said he didn't want to leave the team short-handed because of a nagging foot injury that eventually landed starting defensive tackle Kyle Williams on IR last month.

Chargers lineman released after practice fight
Chargers offensive lineman Ikechuku Ndukwe wasn’t happy with how his teammate Vaughn Martin was bull rushing him in practice, and asked him to stop.

Martin didn’t stop, so Ndukwe tried to beat the crap out of Martin. After that Ikechuku Ndukwe is no longer a member of the San Diego Chargers after he punched and kicked teammate Vaughn Martin in practice on Thursday.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the Chargers cut Ndukwe Friday after he dropped Martin with a punch and then kicked him during Thursday’s practice.

The San Diego Chargers have dealt with a number of injuries on the offensive line, but Ndukwe wasn’t a key member of the team. He’s appeared in two games as a reserve.

According to Acee, Ndukwe "dropped" defensive lineman Vaughn Martin with a punch and kicked Martin after becoming upset with how he was being bull-rushed. Signed when Kris Dielman was placed on injured reserve in November, Ndukwe appeared in two games before he was inactive for Monday night's 38-14 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Ditto on Dr Wroble!

what the heck is all that sherry?

What's the chances of permanent damage?

Grow up?

This is why I love this sport, tons of advice without even knowing my son. Thanks to everyone! I contacted Grant and got an appt with Dr. Millard (Wroble was full). Told them what happened at my local hospital and what the doctors said...he actually chuckled on the phone and said to get up there for some real help. He also mentioned an OHSAA wrestling approved plastic splint/brace that is formed to the patient. The fracture is bad but looks like there are at least options to possibly salvage a shot at his goal of being sq. They surgically repaired and rehabbed one of the Blue Jackets with the same fracture...had him on the ice in 4 weeks. Obviously wrestlers can't wear the padded gloves and casts/splints but it's a glimmer of hope for us.