Late last season, sophomore Cole Weaver sustained an injury against Ohio State’s Micah Jordan, one that’s odd even for wrestling.
In that match, Weaver suffered an orbital floor fracture, an eye socket injury, which he called a freak accident.
“Cole has been through a ton of adversity,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “His eye injury was just a fluke, even within wrestling. Injuries are common but not that kind of injury.”
To add to an already tough recovery, Weaver was later involved in a car accident over the summer that resulted in a broken femur and another long recovery with the season a few months away.
Goldman said the accident was unfortunate for everyone involved but that it is great to have him back in the lineup, making progress and, most importantly, doing well.
Getting healthy again was one thing, but getting back into wrestling was entirely different. Weaver praised assistant coach Nick Simmons for getting him back on the mat.
“I have a rod in my leg,” Weaver said. “All of those motions were hard to get back into and get my leg to move how I want it to move. He has helped me a lot in getting my full range of motion back.”
He got back on the mat against George Mason on Nov. 17, a match he lost.
Just a couple weeks later, however, Weaver came through and won two matches that gave the Hoosiers the lead heading into the final match of the dual.
Against North Dakota State, Weaver defeated Taylor Nein 5-0 to give the Hoosiers a 17-14 lead, a dual meet that IU would go on to win 18-14.
Just an hour later, Weaver did it again. This time defeating Trevor Feagans of Southern Illinois — Edwardsville 7-4 to give the Hoosiers an 18-16 lead in a match IU would win 21-16.
Weaver said it felt great to get back onto the mat and get two important wins for his team. The last few weeks have allowed him the opportunity to knock off a lot of rust.
Now that his arm has been raised a few times and his leg continues to get stronger, Weaver heads home to Michigan to wrestle in front of friends and family in IU’s third double dual of the season against Eastern Michigan and Cleveland State.
“I have a lot of fans who will be there to watch,” Weaver said.
