MHS - Wrestling / January 23, 2022 By Kasey McDowell
It was August 26th, 2021, and just another day coming up for Mulvane junior Christopher Dietrich. School had just begun and Chris was looking forward to the upcoming Cross Country season as he was now going to be one of the veterans on the Mulvane team, and he was also on the radar for the pre-season top wrestlers of the area, but his plans and life changed in one split second as he was involved in a tragic car accident as he was crossing the road on his way to school.
Chris spent many days in ICU with extensive injuries and had a long road of recovery before him. "I had broken my ankle and tore a ligament in my foot," said Chris. "I had spinous and transverse process fractures, a fractured sacrum, a small right pneumothorax, a right shoulder AC separation, a bruised kidney, and a brain bleed. There is little to no memory of the week after the accident."
Being a tremendous athlete and a fighter, it wasn't long before Chris started to focus on his recovery and getting back into shape. His cross country season was not going to happen, but he started to look at making a comeback for wrestling, even if it was just a partial season. "It was about 1-2 weeks from when I got back from the rehab center when I started working out again," said Dietrich. "I was wheeling my way into the recreation center and doing the upper body exercises that I was able to do."
"That kid has been at every practice, all season, except for doctor's appointments," said Mulvane wrestling coach Jesse Myers. "As soon as he got the go-ahead to condition, he was all about it. I taught him some kettlebell basics and then took him through one of my favorite workouts. He did that work out religiously and even came up with some extra challenges. He also came to every event while banged up and consistently offered to do anything we needed him to."
"After the home duel last Thursday, I thought about it that whole night," said Chris. "I realized that I wasn’t necessarily scared of getting hurt anymore, but scared of what the time off did for me. I decided that it was time for me to start wrestling again. I asked Coach Myers if I could drill with the team that next day and he said that I can if I felt up for it. Being aware of my limits, I knew that wrestling at the Douglass Jamboree was a possibility if I stayed with my recovery exercises and icing my ankle.
The Douglass Jamboree was the perfect place for Dietrich to get back on the mat. There were no points or brackets, just kids on the mats getting experience and more mat time. After a timeout to address one of Chris's scars on his knees that started to bleed, he got back on the mat and was able to pin his opponent. "It felt amazing to finally wrestle again and to have that satisfaction of winning a match that I haven’t felt in almost a year," said Dietrich.
"I can think of 2 times I have had a tear in my eyes with wrestling and I have seen 1000’s of matches," said long-time former football coach and Assistant Principal Dave Fennewald. "The other two were when my son’s careers ended at the state tournament, and the other was tonight. The journey of this young man since August is incredible. Tonight he goes out and gets a pin! I Don’t know where the journey will end next month but he to us has won GOLD!"
