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Wheeling Park High School’s Jason Waugh is recovering well and is expected to be released today after undergoing emergency surgery for a tear in his stomach lining, which caused severe internal bleeding.
The Patriot wrestler finished the three-day grind at the Ron Mauck OVAC Wrestling Tournament on Saturday afternoon and told his parents he was having a slight stomach ache.
Before that stomach ache took its toll on the 17-year old, he went out and defeated Beaver Local’s Jared McIntosh and Harrison Central’s Nick Risdon both by major decision to pocket a third place.
The tear in Waugh’s stomach lining left the senior grappler short 2 1/2 liters of blood.
“I mean can you imagine taking a 2-liter bottle out of your body?,” Waugh’s father said to WTOV9-TV. “He could’ve bled out. He could’ve died.”
Thank goodness Waugh has high caliber parents that knew he needed to head to the hospital, but as a wrestling fan you have to feel bad because he is going to miss the state tournament.
In the last set of West Virginia AAA Individual Wrestling Rankings, Waugh was perched as the No. 1 seeded wrestler at 125-pounds in West Virginia Class AAA.
“He is so disappointed he can’t be out there with his teammates,” his mother, Donna Waugh, said in a phone conversation. “I don’t think it’s really hit him yet what happened. All he is worried about is wrestling at states.”
During the surgery, Waugh had to be sliced from his umbilicus all the way up his sternum. Then it took over 200 internal stiches to repair the damage.
But his first question was, “When can I get back on the mat?”
Following doctor’s orders, Waugh won’t be able to participate in wrestling for two months — which is well past the West Virginia state tournament in Huntington.
“Its been really hard when the wrestling guys come in and talk about practice because he wants to be there,” his mother said.
The Park mat staff went on to acknowledge that it is much different without Waugh in the practice room. He was one of the key leaders on the squad and when you take someone with his determination out its hard for the team.
“In over 50 years involved in wrestling I have never, ever heard of anything involving a stomach issue,” West Virginia Rules Interpretor William Welker said.
The medical injury, however, has not made any changes into Waugh’s plans after college — joining the armed forces.
With such a bright young man, it is no surprise to me when I was told he should pursue the route to become an officer upon entry in the military.
Having the academic and athletic abilities this young man has makes one feel safe knowing he will be protecting our country one day.
The setback to the Park lineup isn’t one they anticipated Doyle said, but they will be able to readjust. Park’s Nick Taylor, who cut down to 119-pounds for the OVAC, will be taking Waugh’s spot in the rotation and the Patriots will wrestle off for the vacant spot.
We wish Waugh a most speedy recovery.
ASSEMBLY DUAL MEETS
Wednesday afternoon I had the pleasure of watching the Bridgeport mat program host a tri-match with Coshocton and Wheeling Park B during the school day. The John J. Havlicek gymnasium was crowded on both sides as the Bulldog pride overflowed.
Trying to build the program back to the level it once was, Bridgeport mat coach Ross Roskovich saw this as a great opportunity to showcase the sport to the student body.
During my prep days at Wheeling Park, we hosted assembly matches and it is different type of environment wrestling in front of your entire school. It makes you nervous and anxious at the same time, but it also promotes your sport — which wrestling needs. A lot of porgrams are down in the valley and this is definitely a way to show others that wrestling is a great sport.
BERTOLINO, ISU OPEN BIG 12 ACTIONS
AMES, Iowa — Buckeye Local graduate David Bertolino and No. 9 Iowa State (11-3) open Big 12 Conference action with a pair of duals in Oklahoma against No. 18 Oklahoma (11-2) on Friday and at No. 3/6 Oklahoma State (10-2-1) Sunday. The Oklahoma dual will be broadcast on TakedownRadio.com. Live stats for both duals will be available on cyclones.com.
RUSH SUFFERS TWO LOSSES
FAIRFAX, Va. – Wheeling Park wrestling standout Abbie Rush and the Boston University wrestling team put forth a strong effort but came up short against all three of its opponents on the final day of the Colonial Athletic Association Duals, held at George Mason. The Terriers were six points shy (24-18) of upsetting No. 22 Old Dominion and also lost to No. 12 Hofstra (38-7) and the host Patriots (25-13).
Individually, Rush wrestled in two of the three duals being pinned by Kyle Hutter of Old Dominion and decisioned 11-5 by Joe Coughlin of George Mason.
Rush and the Terriers will be back in action Friday as they host Drexel.
TUCKER WINS, OU FALLS
Athens — Martins Ferry’s Clay Tucker picked up a big win Sunday against Chris Gambino of NC State in their 157-pound bout, Making the transition from 147 to 157 pound this season, Tucker worked over the Wolfpack’s Gambino for the technical fall, 19-1.
Tucker and the Bobcats will be back in action this Saturday as Ohio University travels to Buffalo (N.Y.) for a dual match.
Cook can be reached at bcook@timesleaderonline.com