For a student in upstate New York, high school’s wrestling career almost ended prematurely. Against all odds, Saranac High School senior Ryan Devins miraculously recovered from his broken leg and is back on the mat much quicker than he expected. “I didn’t think I would be able to,” Devins said “It was kind of a mental game. I had to keep pushing until I could walk again… It all worked out.” . Devins was trying to stop a pass to the opposing receiver when the accident happened.”It’s kind of crazy,” said Devins. “I was just going up to get the ball and I came down the wrong way… My leg was sideways, it was crazy .” His teammates said they couldn’t take it to see their friend in such pain. “There were a lot of tears,” said junior wrestler and football receiver Alex Clancy. “I remember that I was in the field I saw that he was in pain. I was like, ‘Oh no, that’s not good.'” With Devins on the sidelines, the Chiefs used his absence as motivation. They finished the Section VII Class C regular season and the section football champions. During the title hunt, they said, they would have always made sure to keep an eye on Devins.”The motivation throughout the season was that we did it for him,” Clancy said. “He wanted that championship so bad…we had to push ourselves to do our best.” To get that win for him.” In mid-December, Devins was cleared to return to wrestling and wasted no time in finding success. Devins took 2nd place in the Eastern States High School Boys’ Wrestling Tournament, an event , which included schools from seven other states.It was the first time he had placed in the top 3 in a regional-level competition.”It’s all I ever wanted to do,” said D evins. “Just to be in the finals of a big tournament like this.” Heath Smith has coached Saranac Wrestling for the past 25 years but said even he has never seen a journey quite like Devins’. “It’s amazing,” Smith said. “The sky is the limit with this performance in the Eastern States. It doesn’t look like anything is going to hold him back.” At the New York State Wrestling tournaments, taking place February 24-25 in Albany, New York, Devins has his sights set on a first place finish before graduation , after finishing sixth last year. “I can’t wait to see what the rest of this year has in store,” said Devins. “Hopefully I can do great things and be at the top by the end of the year.”
SARANAC, New York —
A high school wrestling career in upstate New York nearly ended prematurely for a student.
Against all odds, Saranac High School senior Ryan Devins miraculously recovered from his broken leg and is back on the mat much quicker than expected.
“I actually didn’t think I’d be able to do that,” Devins said. “It was a kind of mental game. I had to keep pushing until I could walk again… It all worked out.”
Devins fractured his tibia and fibula in his right leg on September 17 during a football game against Saranac Lake High School. Devins was about to interrupt a pass to the opposing receiver when the accident happened.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Devins said. “I just walked towards the ball and came down the wrong way… My leg was sideways, it was crazy.”
His teammates said they couldn’t bear to see their friend in such pain.
“There were a lot of tears,” said junior wrestler and football receiver Alex Clancy. “I remember being on the field. I saw that he was in pain. I was like, ‘Oh no, that’s not good.’”
With Devins on the sidelines, the Chiefs used his absence as motivation. They finished the Section VII Class C regular season and section football champions. During the title hunt, they said they always made sure to keep an eye on Devins.
“The motivation throughout the season was that we did it for him,” Clancy said. “He wanted this championship so bad… we had to work hard to do our best to get that win for him.”
In mid-December, Devins was cleared to return to wrestling and wasted no time finding success. Devins placed 2nd in the Eastern States High School Boys’ Wrestling Tournament, an event involving schools from seven other states. It was the first time he had finished in the top 3 at a regional level competition.
“It’s all I ever wanted to do,” Devins said. “Just to be in the final of a big tournament like this.”
Heath Smith has coached Saranac Wrestling for the past 25 years but said even he had never seen a journey like Devins’ before.
“It’s amazing,” Smith said. “The sky’s the limit on this Eastern States performance. It doesn’t look like anything can hold him back.”
At the New York State Wrestling tournaments, taking place February 24-25 in Albany, New York, Devins has his sights set on first place before graduation after finishing sixth last year.
“I can’t wait to see what the rest of this year has in store,” said Devins. “Hopefully I can do great things and be at the top by the end of the year.”
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