Injury doesn’t stop college-bound PHS grappler

PALMER — Wyatt McGann’s senior season of wrestling didn’t end the way he’d pictured it.

Rather than fighting for a state title, the Palmer High School standout battled a major shoulder injury. Instead of capping his career with a referee raising his arm, McGann struggled to keep his injured shoulder in place. McGann was forced to forfeit the final match of his high school career — the third-place match in the 138-pound bracket of the 2015 4A state tournament. But McGann, driven by a work ethic that’s powered him throughout his career, forged ahead. That may have marked the final moment as a high school athlete, but not his final feat as a wrestler.

McGann has the next chapter in his career waiting for him.

McGann has committed to Morningside College and will wrestle for the Sioux City, Iowa, program next year.

“I’m elated,” McGann said recently. “I’d pretty much give up on the idea of wrestling in college after placing fourth in state my senior year. Now I’m feeling more confident about it.”

Undergoing successful rehabilitation of the injured shoulder has also helped with McGann’s confidence. The damage included multiple tears and a broken bone.

“It pretty much refused to stay in place by the end of the season,” McGann said.

McGann endured multiple stoppages during his matches in the Northern Lights Conference and state tournaments. He was able to will his way to a third-place finish in a top-heavy 138 class in the NLC tourney. He fought his way into the third-place match at state. By that point, McGann said he was starting to lose feeling in his hand. For fear of doing permanent nerve damage, McGann was pulled from the third-place match at state.

Luckily there was no nerve damage, and McGann is now on his road to recovery. McGann is out of the sling, and trying to be patient enough to let the injury heal completely.

“It’s getting better and better every day,” McGann said.

With his move to Morningside, McGann will be reunited with a friend a former teammate, Caleb Deemer, a 2015 graduate of Palmer High School. McGann had other opportunities, including Alderson Broaddus University in West Virginia, but Morningside proved to be the right fit, he said.

“Everything really stacked up,” McGann said.

McGann wrestled at 138 pounds as both a junior and a senior, finishing third in state as a junior and fourth his senior year. At Morningside, an NAIA school, McGann said he could be anywhere from 141 to 165 pounds.

“Wherever the coach wants me,” McGann said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.